By Christy Bui
Air Force Institute of Technology

The Center for Space Research and Assurance takes education seriously—some might say it is out of this world! We could not provide quality education without the knowledge and dedication of our faculty. CSRA is excited to welcome and spotlight the newest members of our team: Lieutenant Colonel Rachel Derbis and Major Rachel Oliver.

Lieutenant Colonel Rachel Derbis
Lt. Col. Rachel Derbis has always had an interest in space, from the time she was young she spent her summers participating in space and engineering programs. Her curiosity for engineering came from her grandfather, who was a civil engineer. During high school and college, she was active in Civil Air Patrol, where she earned the coveted Spaatz Award.

Derbis teaches courses related to foundational astrodynamics, cislunar dynamics, and attitude dynamics, all of which align with her research. She enjoys teaching and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. Her advice to anyone interested in an engineering career, is to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, focus, learn from each job you’re in, and always make learning a priority.

Left: Lt. Col. Rachel Derbis. Right: Captains Rachel and Rich Derbis with Bill Nye.

She is passionate about education and is a founding board member for a classical high school that opened last year. She shares a fun fact: “Professionally I have spent almost as much time working cyber projects as I have in space assignments.”

One highlight of her journey to the Air Force Institute of Technology was working as the Mission Manager for STP-S26. “It was very rewarding,” Derbis said. “At the time it was the most complex mission the DoD Space Test Program had launched. It had a total of seven satellites, carrying 16 experiments and one technology demonstrator to prove a dual-orbit capability for future missions.”
 

Major Rachel Oliver
Maj. Rachel Oliver praises her family for inspiring her academically and professionally. Her father played a big role in igniting her love of space.

“I spent my earliest years in Manitoba, Canada, and I remember being dragged out of bed to look up at the night sky in the harshest of winters,” Oliver said. “While the times were numerous, I particularly remember a red aurora borealis and a pass-over of the ISS.”

These experiences led to family vacations to the space museum in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Kennedy Space Center, hoping to see a launch.

Left: Maj. Rachel Oliver with her family at her promotion ceremony.
Right: Maj. Oliver visiting Haleakala in Hawaii with AFRL.
 

When it comes to education, Oliver is part of three generations of women who have inspired her desire for knowledge. Her grandmother, aunt, mother, and sister all hold Doctorate degrees in non-space related fields. Oliver’s lifelong role models are the reason she has a passion for learning, a love for conducting valuable research, and a desire to be an educator.

Oliver is currently teaching astrodynamics, controls, satellite design, and remote sensing. She has specialized in space domain awareness throughout her career and enjoyed working with summer scholars at the Air Force Research Laboratory. This hands-on experience encouraged her to explore teaching at the graduate level.

Oliver advises anyone interested in pursuing astronautical engineering to be open to possibilities. Advocate for yourself, re-routes may not change your end goals, however they expose you to new people, places, and things. While it is possible to end up in a less-than-ideal job, the only way to change it is by being proactive.

A fun fact about Oliver: “I love martial arts. I have black belts in taekwondo and judo. I also practice jujitsu. I used to compete and made it to the World University Games in 2015 for team USA Judo.”