Sepideh Kianbakht is a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Her thesis work includes control systems co-design on the ARPA-E-funded SUMR (Segmented Ultra-Light Morphing Rotor) 50 MW 2-bladed, downwind wind turbine. Sepideh's goal is to apply control system engineering to help improve human life on earth by increasing opportunity and resources through renewable energy, automation, remote medicine, and spaceflight. She received her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in the power system area from Allameh Mohades University, Iran, and her master's degree in Electrical engineering, focusing on control systems with a minor in mechanical engineering from Colorado School of Mines. Sepideh was a member of CSM’s moon mining team, which won first place nationally in the NASA RASC-AL competition. Sepideh’s passion for making the world a better place led her to take on projects such as leading a UNICEF-funded project at Kiyana NGO to fight against immigrant child labor in her native Iran, and to join an NSF-funded project integrating social justice with control systems engineering project. Sepideh is an experienced mountaineer and rock climber and was a member of the Iran National Team for an expedition to Momhil Sar peak in the Himalayas. In addition to climbing, Sepideh loves to travel, ski, and has recently discovered scuba diving.