Dr. James Brouk is a navigation engineer in the Navigation section of the Astrodynamics and Controls (SAC) group in the Space Exploration Sector (SES) at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and serves as an adjunct professor in the engineering for professionals (EP) program at JHU. In his work at APL, he is currently working on a variety of navigation and estimation projects for both national security and civil space flight, focusing on spacecraft navigation in the cislunar domain and multitarget tracking/sensor scheduling. Dr. Brouk received his B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) in 2017 and 2019, respectively, and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M in 2024. His PhD research focused on terrain relative navigation techniques for lunar descent and landing, fusing advanced estimation capabilities with modern techniques from multitarget tracking. While at Texas A&M, Dr. Brouk was a recipient of the NASA Space Technologist Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) fellowship. His research interests include advanced estimation techniques for non-Gaussian dynamical systems, spacecraft navigation, and multitarget tracking.
Education History
- B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
- M.S., Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
- Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University
Work Experience
Senior Professional Staff, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory
Publications
Theses:
Brouk, J. D. “Crater Navigation and Map-Based Localization with Probabilistic Extent Models and Multi-Feature Assignments.” Doctoral Dissertation, Texas A&M University. 2024.
Brouk, J. D. “Propagation of Uncertainty through Coning, Sculling, and Scrolling Corrections for Inertial Navigation.” Master’s Thesis, Missouri University of Science and Technology. 2019.
Journal Publications:
Brouk, J. D., DeMars, K. J. “An Anonymous, Extent-Informed Approach to Feature-Based Navigation.” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 61, issue 3. 2025.
Brouk, J. D., DeMars, K. J. “Kalman Filtering with Uncertain and Asynchronous Measurement Epochs.” NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, vol. 71, no. 3, 2024.
Brouk, J. D., DeMars, K.J. “Uncertainty propagation for inertial navigation with coning, sculling, and scrolling corrections.” Sensors 21, no. 24. 2021.
Honors and Awards
- NASA Space Technologies Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) Fellowship (2021)
Professional Organizations
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers