Hello, I’m Dr. Alexis Nicole Benini, an Engineer Subject Matter Expert at Space Ingenuity, LLC, in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. I’m currently working as GN&C Engineer (consultant) for the Artemis Mission, in collaboration with Lockheed Martin Human Space Division and NASA Johnson Space Center.

From May 2018 to December 2023, I worked at RedWire Space (formerly Deep Space Systems Inc.) in Littleton, Colorado, where I advanced to Subject Matter Expert and Optical Navigation Capability Lead. During my final 18 months there, I supported Lockheed Martin and NASA on Artemis, assisting the GN&C and TT&V Teams.

Prior to that, I served as a Research Scientist at Germandrones GmbH in Berlin, designing and implementing navigation and control algorithms for VTOL UAVs.

Before moving to Germany, I was a Research Scientist at the Unmanned Systems Research Institute (DU2SRI) in Denver, Colorado, and also had the opportunity to teach Computer Vision as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver.

In 2014, I worked as an Algorithm Engineer at Civitanavi Systems in Italy, focusing on Inertial Navigation Systems and AHRS based on proprietary Fiber Optic Gyroscope technology.

During my Ph.D. exchange at the University of Denver in 2013, I developed vision-aided autonomous landing techniques for UAVs using inertial sensors and GPU-based parallel computing.

I earned my Ph.D. in Automation Engineering from Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy, in 2014. My doctoral work included collaboration with Thales Italia on localization algorithms using Ultra Wide Band technology and simulation tools for unmanned robot prototyping. My research interests span localization and navigation algorithms for UAVs, sensor fusion, image processing (including GPU computing), and embedded high-performance systems. I have authored 16 publications in international conferences and journals, and hold 2 patents developed alongside the University of Denver’s Unmanned Systems Research Institute.

Outside of engineering, I find joy in playing piano (and violin since March 2025), hiking, traveling, painting, and drawing. These creative pursuits help me maintain balance and inspiration in both my professional and personal life.