Elena Koukina is a mechanical engineer at NK Labs. Her expertise includes mechanical design, control systems optimization and algorithms, analysis, and prototyping.  

 

Previous to NK Labs, Elena worked in the aviation division at General Electric, focusing on optimization of feedback control systems for helicopter engines and tuning the feedforward loops for auto-rotation helicopter recovery. Most recently, she worked as a lead algorithms engineer at GE Ventures' Airxos with the FAA to safely integrate commercial drones into national airspace. Her focus was system-level response to a drone that stops in-flight communication, which included probabilistic position modeling and rerouting other aircraft. 

 

At NK Labs, Elena worked on mechanical design and analysis for Airbus’s Transpose modular aircraft cabin among other projects. Her master’s thesis work was focused on hardware in the loop based power optimization of floating wind turbines. She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Olin College of Engineering and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Outside of work, she volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster youth.