Welcome to my website! My name is Sydney Dolan. Currently, I am a graduate student with Professor Balakrishnan in DINAMo in the AeroAstro Department at MIT . My research interests lie at the intersection of astrodynamics, machine learning, and optimization. I am passionate about leveraging the exciting work going on in artificial intelligence to spacecraft and mission design, particularly space traffic management. This is my personal website, where I post the status of my side projects, research, and hobbies. On this website you can find my educational and work experience, as well as my contact information, which serves to supplement my resume. For all professional and personal inquiries, see the information on my contact page.
So You Signed up for Bubba’s Backyard Ultra and You Want to Do Above Average
The registration for Bubba’s Backyard Ultra opens today! Just for my running goals this year, I don’t think I will be running the race this year, but I did learn a lot about backyards from running the race last year + doing moderately well (#2 woman, 7th overall, 34hours and 1st place woman did 35,…
Healing– 2022 in review
Some years of your life you look back on and think about how they flew by. The experiences you had, the chances that brought opportunities to your doorstep, some years you reflect on and warmly reminiscence about how everything came together in a blink of an eye. 2022 was not one of those years for…
Thoughts on Bubba’s Round 2
Over the weekend, I had the extraordinary privilege to run in Bubba’s Backyard Ultra in North Conway, New Hampshire. This was my second year running the event, and I wrote about my experience running it last year in this post. Through some miraculous chain of events, I managed to pull off 34 hours at 119.0…
How to Change Advisors in Grad School Part 2
At the start of the year, I posted an instructional article about things to consider when you’re switching advisors, but mostly leaving on a good note with your prior advisor and free to search around. Now, I would like to talk about how to change advisors when you are switching away from a toxic advisor.…
Now That’s What I Call Grad School Advice – Finding a Good Advisor
In the next post of this series on advise to first year graduate students, I wanted to discuss finding a good advisor. Now many students entering grad school have already selected an advisor, but I think it is still worthwhile to discuss what a good advisor looks like, what an okay advisor looks like, and…
Boy Did I Find Out – Reflections on Summer 2022
When I started the year, I flippantly stated that I wanted to fuck around and find out. To live fearlessly and accept the consequences. To try new things and be unafraid to look foolish. To grab life by the nips and twist. Well, God decided I really was meant to find out. Lord did I…
Now That’s What I Call Grad School Advice– Building a Support Network
The arrival of August and Leo season means that the new academic year is just around the corner. I’ve been seeing a lot of advice for first year grad students, and as a now fourth year grad student (my only qualification tbh), I would like to try to pass on advice I wish I received…
Hardrock Year 2
In my one self-approved break this summer, I opted to volunteer for the Hardrock 100 again this year. The Hardrock 100 is a 100 mile footrace in the San Juan Mountains. Its lottery process for entry is notoriously difficult, potentially even more difficult than the race itself, which features 66,000 feet of elevation change over…
4 Ways That Running A 50 Miler Was A Lot Like Writing My Masters Thesis
When I tell other graduate students I like to run ultramarathons, they ask why I would ever do something so long and pointless. Irony aside, instead of writing a traditional race report, I had a fun time thinking about how running the Dirty German 50 Miler this past weekend was similar to my experience writing…
How To Change Advisors In Graduate School (with pictures) (jk I was too lazy to make pictures)
When I was first looking at switching labs and consulted my age old friend Google, I did not see a lot of relevant results. So, for any other anxious graduate student that is considering switching labs and wants steps and an email template of what to send, hopefully this article helps. As is said over…
Cracked Eggs and Other Miscellaneous Thoughts on Gender
My egg has cracked. Or at least I think it has, it’s been a rather long and ambiguous process. Unlike my experiences with sexuality, where I quickly recognized and accepted what I was about once I realized it was an option, gender has been much more difficult to navigate. I work in a field with…
Lessons Learned from 2021 and Plans for 2022
Here is my obligatory green juice girl pseudo deep reflective post about how 2021 went. Unlike anyone else that has written one of these things, my year had highs and lows. Some of my successes were: getting my masters (in a panoramic no less), running my first backyard ultra, running some of my dream trails,…
Answering Questions That Kids Ask Me About Aerospace Engineering that I was Definitely Never Taught But Now Know
Why is space black? Well first lets talk about what we do know, why is the sky blue. The sky is blue because light from the sun hits molecules in Earth’s atmosphere and scatters off in all directions. Blue light is scattered more than other colors because it travels in shorter, smaller waves. At night,…
Bubba’s Backyard Ultra 2021 Race Recap
This past weekend I ran Bubba’s Backyard Ultra in Conway, New Hampshire. For those unfamiliar with the format, a backyard ultra is a type of race where you run a set distance at the top of every hour, and you see how many consecutive hours you can go. The distance is set to be very…
National Suicide Prevention Awareness Day
TW: Mentions of Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts Every year I write something during Suicide Prevention Awareness month. While I try my best to share helpful educational information, I’ve always avoided talking about my own experiences with suicide. I’ve felt a little bit like a fraud in doing so, encouraging people to reach out and that their mental…
Reflections on Summer 2021
The best way I can summarize this summer is by quoting a book summary I read and then promptly judged the shit out of: “[REDACTED TITLE] is more than just a coming of age memoir. It is the story of me. Of you. Of us.” Now I still cannot tell you what this book is…
Analyzing My Carbon Footprint
Pre-pandemic, I loved airports. Gazing at all the planes, seeing the people load and unload luggage, it is so inspiring to think about the engineering and reliability that goes into planes. Presently, the amount of time I’ve been spending in airports has me horrified with the sheer amount of dubious mask wearing. I’ve had to…
Podcasts That I’ve Been Vibing With
As a proud card carrying member of the elite class of people that listen to podcasts when they work, I go through podcasts fairly quickly. My spotify told me I spent 90 continuous days in 2020 listening on the app, I’m aware I have a problem. I’ve been in a bit of a rut with…
Last Couple Months of Books
My new years resolution was to read 52 books (spoiler, I’m way behind schedule). Despite being behind schedule, this lofty goal has led me to read a lot more for fun. Here are some highlights from the books I’ve read so far this year: THE GOOD A Libertarian Walks Into A Bear: The Utopian Plot…
A Eulogy For My 2015 Honda Accord
I got the call today that my car is officially totaled, and I’m far more emotional about it then I thought I would be. Last Friday, a deer decided to seal team 6 out of the grassy ditch divider on the highway and hit my car. The deer proceeded to parkour down the side, warping…
On Volunteering as a HAM Radio Operator for Hardrock 100
This past month I had the opportunity to be a Communications volunteer for the Hardrock 100 race. When I searched for more information about what this sort of role entails, especially on the Ultra Scene, my search came up short. Hopefully this will provide some helpful information about what to expect when you volunteer to…
Sydney Dolan 