Maria Sakovsky

Maria Sakovsky is an Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, affiliated with the School of Engineering. She holds a position in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and is part of the Stanford SystemX Alliance. Her research focuses on shape adaptation in space structures, reconfigurable antennas, and lightweight composites. She received BSc from the University of Toronto, and MSc/PhD from Caltech, where she developed deployable satellite antennas using elastomer composites. She worked with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on cryogenic antennas for deep-space missions and holds awards like the ETH Zurich Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018) and DARPA Young Faculty Award (2024).

Her work integrates mechanics of thin composite materials, material-geometry interactions, and embedded actuation. Applications include deployable space structures, reconfigurable antennas, and soft robotics. She advises doctoral and master’s students and teaches courses like Introduction to Mechanics of Composite Materials (AA 156) and Large Spacecraft Structures (AA 114Q).

• Awards: ETH Zurich Postdoc Fellowship, DARPA Young Faculty Award
• Advising: 10+ advisees across doctoral and master’s programs
• Labs: Reconfigurable & Active Structures Lab (website: reactlab.stanford.edu)