Ariel Caitlyn Ekblaw is an American aerospace architect and astronautical engineer who designs space architecture.
[1] Her great-grandfather, Walter Elmer Ekblaw, was an Antarctic and Arctic explorer who served as a scientist on the 1913 Crocker Land Expedition.
[3] Ekblaw earned her BS cum laude from Yale University in 2014, double majoring in physics, and Mathematics and Philosophy.
Her doctoral advisor was Joseph A. Paradiso and her thesis was "Self-Aware Self-Assembly for Space Architecture: Growth Paradigms for In-Space Manufacturing".
[11] The Space Exploration Initiative's AstroAnt MIT Micro rover was inspired by the 2015 Neal Stephenson novel Seveneves and has been tested in microgravity.
[11] In addition to TESSERAE technology, Ekblaw's projects have included designs for waste management and HVAC systems in space.