WSSU graduate student's research leads to prestigious NASA internship
Winston-Salem State University graduate student Kris Mannino has been selected for a prestigious summer internship at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in Pasadena, Calif.
Mannino will contribute to a cutting-edge project titled, “Fire Intelligence & Risk Evaluation – Maturing Advanced Products from Space,” working with JPL’s Radar Science and Engineering group, under the mentorship of Dr. Yunling Lou and Dr. Karen An, both affiliated with JPL and Caltech.
His work will focus on developing an artificial intelligence (AI) tool designed to assess wildfire risk using radar data. Specifically, he will help develop data products to support the AI system intended for NASA’s upcoming NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) spaceborne mission. The goal is to create a data-driven tool to aid fire management decisions and long-term planning efforts on both local and global scales, he said.
“I think I am still processing the whole thing, but the idea that I’ll be working with the JPL on such a meaningful project with a global impact is kind of amazing to me. I am really hoping to make the most of this and one day have some of my code in space,” he said.
A native of Davie County, Mannino earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science with a minor in data science from WSSU. He expects to graduate from WSSU with his master’s degree in computer science in December.
At WSSU, Mannino has been actively involved in high-level research. From 2022 to 2024, he was mentored by Dr. Muztaba Fuad, professor and interim chair of computer science at WSSU, through a National Science Foundation-supported mobile crowd sensing grant. Over the past year and half, he has also served as a graduate assistant at WSSU’s Center for Applied Data Science (CADS), working in partnership with NASA’s IMPACT project on burn severity prediction and wildfire modeling.
His research focused on developing an AI model that uses radar data to predict burn severity in areas at risk before a fire starts. That work led directly to this internship opportunity, he said.
Mannino has presented his wildfire modeling research at several academic conferences and has had his findings published. Dr. Debzani Deb, RJ Reynolds endowed professor of computer science and founding director of CADS, said his achievements exemplify the caliber of work coming out of CADS.
“We are incredibly proud of Kris and wish him continued success. His accomplishments set a high standard, and we look forward to seeing more CADS research assistants earn placements at world-renowned research facilities like NASA JPL & Caltech,” Deb said.
“It is an exciting time. With the avalanche of data and AI capabilities, it is now possible to develop new and impactful tools and to develop them in ways previously unthought of,” Mannino said. “My goal is to continue to work on meaningful data and software projects that have a positive impact. And working with NASA on such a timely and important area as wildfire research is an amazing opportunity.”
He also offered some advice to his fellow Rams. “I would be remiss not to say to my fellow students that WSSU may be a small school, but it’s full of many talented and motivated professors who will help you along the way. I encourage everyone to reach out to them for research opportunities because you never know what it will lead to - I sure didn’t.
The 12-week internship begins June 2.
About JPLThe Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a leader in robotic space exploration, sending rovers to Mars, probes into the farthest reaches of the solar system, and satellites to advance understanding of our home planet. For more information, visit https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/who-we-are/
