I'm an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the University of Central Florida (UCF). My research is focused on technology development for small satellites and probes for the exploration of Ocean Worlds, such as Europa and Enceladus.

I am passionate about engineering, space exploration, and hands-on learning.

Published Journal Papers

•  R. E. Morgan, E. S. Douglas, G. Allan, P. do Vale Pereira, J. N. Gubner, C. Haughwout, T. Murphy, J. Merk, M. Egan, G. Furesz, D. Roascio, Y. Xin, K. Cahoy. “Optical calibration and first light for the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission CubeSat (DeMi)”, Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 2021, 7, 2.

•  E. S. Douglas, G. Alla, R. Morgan, B. G. Holden, J. Gubner, C. Haughwout, P. do Vale Pereira, Y. Xin, J. Merk, K. Cahoy. “Small Mirrors for Small Satellites: Design of the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission CubeSat (DeMi) Payload”, Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 2021, 8, 126.

•  E. M. Spiers, J. M. Weber, C. Venigalla, A. M. Annex, C. P. Chen, C. Lerr, P. C. Gray, K. J. McIntyre, J. R. Berdis, S. R. Carberry Mgan, P. do Vale Pereira, S. Kumar, W. O’Neill, E. A. Czajka, P. E. Johnson, A. Pascuzzo, S. Tallapragada, D. Phillips, K. Mitchell, A. Nash, J. Scully, L. Lowes. “Tiger: Concept Study for a New Frontiers Enceladus Habitability Mission”, The Planetary Science Journal, 2021, 2, 195.

•  P. do Vale Pereira, M. T. Hunwardsen, and K. Cahoy. “Characterization of Laser Thermal Loading on Microelectromechanical Systems-Based Fast Steering Mirror in Vacuum”, Optical Engineering, 2020, 59, 5.

•  P. do Vale Pereira and C. Melo. “A Methodology to measure the rates of air infiltration into refrigerated compartments”, International Journal of Refrigeration, 2019, 97, 88-96.

•  R. E. Morgan, E. S. Douglas, G. Allan, P. Bierden, S. Chakrabarti, T. Cook, M. Egan, G. Furesz, J. N. Gubner, T. Groff, C. A. Haughwout, B. G. Holden, C. B. Mendillo, M. Ouellet, P. do Vale Pereira, A. J. Stein, S. Thibault, X. Wu, Y. Xin, and K. Cahoy. “MEMS Deformable Mirrors for Space-Based High-Contrast Imaging”, Micromachines, 2019, 10, 6.

•  S. Barg, F. M. Perez, N. Ni, P. do Vale Pereira, R. C. Maher, E. Garcia-Tuñon, S. Eslava, S. Agnoli, C. Mattevi, E. Saiz. “Mesoscale assembly of Chemically modified graphene into complex cellular networks”, Nature Communications, 2014, 5:4328.

•  L. L. C. Wong, S. Barg, A. Menner, P. do Vale Pereira, G. Eda, M. Chowalla, E. Saiz, A. Bismarck. “Macroporous polymer nanocomposites synthesised from high internal phase emulsion templates stabilised by reduced graphene oxide”, Polymer, 2014, 55, 395-402.

•  C. Melo, F. T. Knabben, P. do Vale Pereira. “An experimental study on defrost heaters applied to frost-free household refrigerators”, Applied Thermal Engineering, 2013, 51, 239-245.

Patent

•  K. Cahoy, C. Haughwout, J. Clark, P. do Vale Pereira. “Liquid-lens Based Optical Steering System for Free-Space Laser Communication”, Patent US10,826,609.

Journal Papers in Preparation

•  P. do Vale Pereira, M. Durka, B. P. Hogan, K. Richmond, M. W. Smith, D. P. Winebrenner, T. W. Elam, B. J. Hockman, A. Lopez, N. Tanner, J. Moor, J. Ralston, W. Zimmerman, N. Flannery, W. Kuhl, K. Cahoy, T. A. Cwik, W. C. Stone. “Demonstration and Model Validation of Melt Probes for Ocean Worlds”, to be submitted to The Planetary Science Journal.

•  M. W. Smith, P. do Vale Pereira, S. Howell. “Likelihood of Time to Reach the Ocean of Europa”, to be submitted to Acta Astronautica.

•  P. do Vale Pereira, K. G. Rosa, L. F. Back, J. R. BarbosaJr , C. Melo. “Frost formation on airplane windows – Part A: Numerical Approach”, to be submitted to the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.

•  P. do Vale Pereira, L. F. Back, K. G. Rosa, J. R. Barbosa Jr, C. Melo. “Frost formation on airplane windows – Part B: Experimental Approach”, to be submitted to the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.

Book Chapters

•  P. do Vale Pereira, K. Chun, M. Contreras, C. Lindsay, S. Kacker, C. Houghwout, K. Cahoy. “FLAPS”. “Into the Anthropocosmos: A Whole Space Catalog from the MIT Space Exploration Initiative”, edited by A. Ekblaw, The MIT Press, 2021.

•  A. Normandin, D. Najjar, P. do Vale Pereira, M. Sarang, S. Stickley, T. SabellShavit, F. Santos, R. Freedline, R. Kundargi, “Climate CubeSat Co-Build (C3)”. “Into the Anthropocosmos: A Whole Space Catalog from the MIT Space Exploration Initiative”, edited by A. Ekblaw, The MIT Press, 2021.

Conference Papers

• P. C. Serra, H. Tomio, O. Cierny, W. Kammerer, P. Grenfell, G. Gunnison, J. Kusters, C. Payne, P. do Vale Pereira, D. Mayer, J. Stupl, J. Hanson, S. Barke, M. Clark, T. Ritz, D. Coogan, J. Conklin, K. Cahoy. “CubeSat laser infrared crosslink mission status”, International Conference on Space Optics, 2021.

•  E. M. Spiers, J. M. Weber, C. Venigalla, A. M. Annex, J. Berdis, C. P. Chen, C. Lee, A. C. Pascuzzo, E. Czajka, P. do Vale Pereira, P. Gray, S. Kumar, K. J. McIntyre, D. Phillips, S. Tallapragada, S. R. Carberry Mogan, P. Johnson, W. O'Neill, K. L. Mitchell, A. E. Nash, J. E. Scully. “TIGER: JPL PSSS Architecture and Feasibility Study for a New Frontiers 5 Mission Concept to Enceladus”, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 2021.

• P. do Vale Pereira, B. Holden, R. Morgan, J. Gubner, T. J. Murphy, C. Haughwout, G. Allan, Y. Xin, W. Kammerer, K. Cahoy, E. Douglas, J. Merk, M. Egan, and G. Furesz. “Thermomechanical Design and Testing of the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat”, 34th Small Satellite Annual Conference, 2020. 

•  P. do Vale Pereira, M. Garcia, M. Schroeder, H. Caldelas, C. Lindsay, A. Choi, K. Pfrang, A. Gagnon, P. McKeen, J. Clark, T. J. Murphy, C. Haughwout, and K. Cahoy. “BeaverCube: Coastal Imaging with VIS/LWIR CubeSats”, 34th Small Satellite Annual Conference, 2020.

•  O. Cierny, P. Serra, W. Kammerer, P. Grenfell, G. Gunnison, J. Kusters, C. Payne, P. do Vale Pereira, K. Cahoy, T. Ritz, J. Conklin, D. Mayer, J. Stupl, and J. Hanson. “Testing of the CubeSat Laser Infrared Crosslink (CLICK-A) Payload”, 34th Small Satellite Annual Conference, 2020.

•  G. C. Lordos, C. Amy, B. Browder, M. Chan, C. Dawson, P. do Vale Pereira, S. I. Dolan, T. Hank, E. D. Hinterman, B. Martell, A. Miller, C. O’Neill, N. Stamler, J. Todd, N. Wang, M.-A. Begin, V. T. Padia, D. J. Newman, O. L. de Weck, J. Hoffman. “Autonomously Deployable Tower Infrastructure for Exploration and Communication in Lunar Permanently Shadowed Regions”, AIAA ASCEND Conference, 2020.

•  F. Fogle, O. Cierny, P. do Vale Pereira, W. Kammerer, and K. Cahoy. “Miniature Optical Steerable Antenna for Intersatellite Communications Liquid Lens Characterization”, IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2020.

•  M. T. Hunwardsen, P. do Vale Pereira, and K. Cahoy. “Characterization of Laser Thermal Loading on a MEMS FSM in Vacuum”, IEEE International Conference on Space Optical Systems and Applications, 2019.

•  P. do Vale Pereira, K. S. Chun, M. M. Contreras, C. Lindsay, S. Kacker, R. Huffman, C. Haughwout, and K. Cahoy. “Folded Lightweight Actuator Positioning System (FLAPS)”, 33rd Small Satellite Annual Conference, 2019.

•  B. Holden, R. Morgan, G. Allan, P. do Vale Pereira, W. Grunwald, J. Gubner, C. Haughwout, A. Stein, Y. Xin, K. Cahoy, E. Douglas, J. Merk, M. Egan, and G. Furesz. “Calibration and Testing of the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat Payload”, 33rd Small Satellite Annual Conference, 2019.

•  P. Serra, O. Cierny, R. Diez, P. Grenfell, G. Gunnison, W. Kammerer, J. Kusters, C. Payne, T. J. Murphy, T. Sevigny, P. do Vale Pereira, L. Yenchesky, and K. Cahoy. “Optical Communications Crosslink Payload Prototype Development for the CubeSat Laser Infrared Crosslink (CLICK) Mission”, 33rd Small Satellite Annual Conference, 2019.

•  L. Yenchesky, O. Cierny, P. Grenfell, W. Kammerer, P. do Vale Pereira, T. Sevigny, and K. Cahoy. “Optomechanical Design and Analysis for Nanosatellite Laser Communications”, 33rd Small Satellite Annual Conference, 2019.

• R. Morgan, G. Allan, E. Douglas, P. do Vale Pereira, M. Egan, G. Furesz, J. Gubner, C. Haughwout, B. Holden, J. Merk, T. J. Murphy, A. Stein, Y. Xin, and K. Cahoy. “Optical Modeling and Testing of the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat Payload”, Astronomical Optics Conference: Design, Manufacture, and Test of the Space and Ground Systems II, 2019.

•  G. Allan, E. S. Douglas, D. Barnes, M. Egan, G. Furesz, W. Grunwald, J. Gubner, C. Haughwout, B. G. Holden, P. do Vale Pereira, A. J. Stein, and K. Cahoy. “The Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat: Optomechanical Design Validation and Laboratory Calibration”, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation Conference: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 2018.

•  P. do Vale Pereira, A. Sgrott, L. F. Back, D. T. Kohara, and C. Melo. “A Methodology to measure the rates of air infiltration into refrigerated compartments”, International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, 2016.

• NASA Early-Stage Innovations, 2018

  • • I collaborated on the idea development and proposal writing of the “Miniature Optical Steered Antenna for Intersatellite Communication”.

• NASA Scientific Exploration Subsurface Access Mechanism for Europa (SESAME), 2019

  • • Grant number: 80NSSC19K0612

    • I collaborated on the proposal writing of “Prometheus” with Stone Aerospace. This award funds my Ph.D. research.

• NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative, 2019 & 2020

  • • I collaborated on the proposals of BeaverCube 1 (in 2019) and BeaverCube 2 (in 2020) and I am currently working on those projects.

• NASA Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing Idea Challenge, 2020

  • • I collaborated on the proposal of a multifunctional lunar tower, which is competing for a launch in the Artemis Program. 

• NASA Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage – Special Edition, 2020 & 2021

  • • I collaborated on the proposal of a drill-heater rig for the extraction of water on Mars and currently working on the project.

• First Place & Most Water Collected, NASA, 2021

  • • For extraction of water under regolith (RASC-AL SE Challenge).

• AAS Molly K. Macauley Award, 2021

  • • As a future space industry leader.

• MIT OGE TVML Fellow, 2021/22

  • • For strong academic, research, and community involvement.

• Rising Star in Aerospace, 2021

  • • Hosted at MIT, organized by UC Boulder, Stanford & MIT.

• Best Path to Flight Award, NASA, 2020

  • • For innovative tower for lunar infrastructure (BIG Idea).

• Rising Star in Mechanical Engineering, 2020

  • • Hosted at UC Berkeley, organized by UC B., Stanford, & MIT.

• MIT AeroAstro Student Leadership Award, 2020

  • • For commitment to student support during the pandemic.

• AIAA/Aviation Week 20 Twenties, 2020

  • • 20 tomorrow’s technologies leaders, all STEM students.

• Líderes Estudar Fellowship, 2019

  • • Among the 40 finalists selected from over 50,000 applicants.

• Amelia Earhart Fellow, 2019/20

  • • 30 women w/ superior academic record in aerospace.

• MIT Graduate Woman of Excellence, 2019

  • • For dedication to improvement in student experience.

• AIAA Achievement Award, 2018

  • • For designing and building a wind tunnel for outreach.

• Summa cum Laude, 2014

  • • Undergrad in Mechanical Eng., Fed. Univ. Santa Catarina.

• SAE AeroDesign International Competition, 2013

  • • Third place overall Micro Class, Best Payload Fraction.

• SAE AeroDesign National Competition, 2012

  • • First place overall Micro Class.

• State Univ. Santa Catarina Entrance Exam, 2008

  • • First place of 11,837 contestants.

• Federal Univ. Santa Catarina Entrance Exam, 2008

  • • First place of 30,854 contestants.

• Summa cum Laude, 2008

  • • High school: Curso e Colégio Energia.

• Summa cum Laude & Valedictorian, 2005

  • • Middle school: Educandário Imaculada Conceição.

• Regional Math. Olympiad Gold Medal, 2005

  • • First place of middle school students in the state.

• Certificate in Aerospace Innovation, 2022

  • • By MIT AeroAstro & MIT Innovation Initiative.

• NASA Space Mission Operator, 2021

  • • By Teaching Science and Technology, Inc.

• Graduate Certificate in Technical Leadership, 2021

  • • By MIT Gordon Engineering Leadership Program.

• Amateur Radio Technician Operator License, 2018

  • • By the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

• Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission

  • • Designed, modelled, and iterated on payload structure;

    • Made detailed CAD models and drawings for fabrication;

    • Worked on satellite manufacturing, integration, and testing;

    • Launched on February 15th, 2020; deployed on July 13th, 2020;

    • Currently in the ground command team, uplinking commands and downlinking telemetry and data packets.

• BeaverCube 1 & 2

  • • Designed, modeled, and iterated on satellite structure;

    • Made detailed CAD models and drawings for fabrication;

    • Currently leading assembly, integration and testing;

    • To be launched in mid 2022.

• CLICK A, B/C

  • • Tested mirror thermomechanical integrity under heating;

    • Supported the mechanical design of the payload;

    • Worked on the optical fiber routing in the payload;

    • CLICK A to be launched in 2022, B/C to be launched in 2023.

• Folded Lightweight Actuation Positioning System

  • • Designed preliminary payload and guided final design;

    • To be launched in 2022 onboard Slingshot (Aerospace Corp).

• AIAA Small Satellite Technical Committee

  • • Subcommittee on Technical Affairs, Subcommittee on Communications.

• MIT Institute Committees

  • • Presidential Advisory Cabinet, Ad Hoc Committee on Graduate Advising and Mentoring.

• Conference and Journal Reviewer

  • • Journal of Small Satellites, AIAA ASCEND Conference, AIAA SciTech Conference.

• Technical Judge

  • • NASA TechRise Future Engineers, Imperial College Aerospace Hackathon.

• HYDRATION II & III – NASA RASC-AL SE Challenge

  • • Drilling and water collection subsystem; Oct. 2019 – On-going

• MELLTT – NASA BIG Idea Challenge

  • • Ideation, payload mech. design, testing; Oct. 2019 – Jan 2021

• MIT Maker Works Machine Shop

  • • Mentor & 3D Printer Team Member, Jan. 2018 – On-going

• Graduate Women of Aerospace Engineering

  • • Mentoring and Outreach Director, Sept. 2017 – On-going

• Céu Azul Aerodesign Competition Team

  • • Leader of the aerodynamics team, Dec. 2011– Aug. 2013

• The Innovation League: High-School Teacher

  • • Teach space exploration to underprivileged students, 2018

• English Debate Society Floripa: Co-founder

  • • Help undergrads develop argumentation skills in English, 2017

• NGO Brasil Cursinhos: Partnerships Coordinator

  • • Help financially maintain the education-focused NGO, 2017

• NGO Einstein Floripa: High-School Teacher

  • • Teach mathematics to underprivileged students, 2015 & 2016

• Space Systems, Thermomechanical Engineering, Satellite Engineering, Heat Transfer, Electromechanical Systems, Instrumentation, Design of Experiments, CAD, CAM, FEA, Matlab, STK, Python.

• Portuguese (native), English (fluent), German (limited working proficiency), Spanish (limited working proficiency).