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Research Interests

• Conceptual design of electric aircraft, eVTOLs, and drones
• System-level MDO
• Trajectory optimization and control co-design
• Continuous optimization algorithms (SQP)
• Mixed-integer nonlinear optimization

Education

• Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering and Scientific Computing, University of Michigan, 2019 - 2024
• M.Sc., Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, 2019 - 2022
• B.Eng., Aerospace Engineering, Kyushu University, 2014 - 2019

Online Profiles

• Personal Website
• LinkedIn
• Google Scholar
• Research Gate

Publications

1. Gradient-Based MDAO Framework for Advanced Aircraft Concepts

   S. Kaneko, M. Arnson, H. Hajdik, G. Cinar, J. R. R. A. Martins, A. Uranga, and ra

   AIAA SciTech Forum, 2026

   doi:10.2514/6.2026-1302

   Details

2. Battery Modeling To Enable Gradient-Based Optimization of Electrified Aircraft Mission and Design

   A. S. Sebastian, S. Kaneko, H. M. Hajdik, A. Uranga, ra, J. R. R. A. Martins, and V. Viswanathan

   AIAA Aviation Forum, 2026

   doi:10.2514/6.2026-4539

   Details

3. Coupled Trajectory and Aerostructural Optimization of a UAV with Modular Morphing Wings

   S. A. Bakhshi, S. Kaneko, A. Sharma, and J. R. R. A. Martins

   AIAA Aviation 2025 Forum, 2025

   doi:10.2514/6.2025-3626

   Details

4. Simultaneous Design and Trajectory Optimization Strategies for Computationally Expensive Models

   S. Kaneko, and J. R. R. A. Martins

   AIAA Journal, 63(2):420–438, 2025

   doi:10.2514/1.J063976

   Details

5. Accelerating coupled derivative computations with nested-hierarchical linear solver strategies

   S. Kaneko, E. J. Adler, J. S. Gray, J. P. Jasa, and J. R. R. A. Martins

   Optimization and Engineering, 2025

   doi:10.1007/s11081-025-09965-0

   Details

6. Rapid Aerostructural Optimization of Wing-Propeller Systems

   J. Exalto, B. Pacini, S. Kaneko, J. R. R. A. Martins, and M. Hoogreef

   AIAA SciTech Forum, 2024

   doi:10.2514/6.2024-0374

   Details

7. MDO Formulations for Simultaneous Design and Trajectory Optimization

   S. Kaneko, and J. R. R. A. Martins

   AIAA SciTech Forum, 2024

   doi:10.2514/6.2024-2231

   Details

8. Simultaneous optimization of design and takeoff trajectory for an eVTOL aircraft

   S. Kaneko, and J. R. R. A. Martins

   Aerospace Science and Technology, 155109617, 2024

   doi:10.1016/j.ast.2024.109617

   Details

9. Simultaneous Optimization of Conceptual Design and Takeoff Trajectory of a Lift-Plus-Cruise UAV

   S. Kaneko, and J. R. R. A. Martins

   10th Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting, 2023

   Details

10. Fleet Design Optimization of Package Delivery Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Considering Operations

    S. Kaneko, and J. R. R. A. Martins

    Journal of Aircraft, 2023

    doi:10.2514/1.C036921

    Details

11. Fleet Design Optimization of Package Delivery UAVs Considering Operations

    S. Kaneko, and J. R. R. A. Martins

    AIAA SciTech Forum, 2022

    doi:10.2514/6.2022-1503

    Details

Honors and Awards

• MICDE Fellowship, 2022 - 2023
• Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) Fellowship, 2019 - 2022