Rousseau Nutter has always loved outer space, but he appreciates practicality too. As space programs became less prominent in the U.S., his initial plan to become an engineer fell by the wayside, and he decided to pursue a B.A. in architecture. After interning with a small architecture firm, Roue realized he wanted to design space habitats that are functional and aesthetic. His architecture degree gave him an aesthetic edge. He decided to pursue his master’s in mechanical engineering through Boston University College of Engineering Late Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP), to deepen his understanding of functionality.
After graduating in December, 2019, Rousseau plans to pursue a career in deep space habitat design. “Space design combines function with aesthetics. Obviously, in space function is central because its space, but also people get cabin fever, so it’s important to make them feel like they’re not thousands of miles away.”
For the past two years Rousseau has been working on a particularly challenging project, a 6U cubesat that ejects microsats that collect data as a swarm”. Rousseau, who is working towards his master’s in mechanical engineering, was surprised when the task of rewriting and debugging the flight software became one of his most satisfying experiences as a student. As well as putting together the engineering model that he and a peer machined in EPIC during the summer of 2018, and “having it actually work, and do what we need it to do, was an amazing thing.”