With her students, Paula do Vale Pereira performs research on technology development for the exploration of deep space, mainly through the use of small spacecraft and probes for the exploration of Ocean Worlds, such as Europa and Enceladus. She has worked on the development, integration, testing and operations of three spacecraft and the development, testing and modeling of melt probes for subsurface descent in the cryogenic vacuum ice found in icy moons in the outer solar system.

She received her doctoral degree in space systems and master's degree in aerospace engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also holds an master's degree in thermal sciences and engineering, a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and a B.S. in business and management. She has worked as an assistant professor at Florida Institute of Technology, a visiting researcher at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a graduate researcher at Stone Aerospace, and an Optical and Satellite Systems Intern at Facebook Connectivity Labs.

Do Vale Pereira has published a patent, two book chapters, more than 30 papers and has over 600 citations. She is the chair of technical affairs of the AIAA Small Satellite Technical Committee, a member of the AIAA Space Exploration Integration Committee, and co-lead of the technology subgroup of the Ocean Worlds Working Group, chartered by NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group to develop a technology roadmap for exploring Ocean Worlds.

She is also a member of the American Astronomical Society, the American Geophysical Union and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She has received various awards, including the AAS Molly Macauley Award, the Aviation Week/AIAA 20 Twenties Award, the TVML fellowship and the Amelia Earhart Fellowship. Finally, she has mentored over 50 graduate and undergraduate students and has excellent teaching evaluation scores.

• P. do Vale Pereira, M. J. Durka, B. P. Hogan, K. Richmond, M. W. E. Smith, D. P. Winebrenner, W. T. Elam, B. J. Hockman, A. Lopez, N. Tanner, J. Moor, J. Ralston, M. Alexander, W. Zimmerman, N. Flannery, W. Kuhl, S. Wielgosz, K. L. Cahoy, T. A. Cwik, W. C. Stone. Experimental Validation of Cryobot Thermal Models for the Exploration of Ocean Worlds, AAS Planetary Science Journal, 2023.


• E. M. Spiers, J. M. Weber, C. Venigalla, A. M. Annex, C. P. Chen, C. Lee, P. C. Gray, K. J. McIntyre, J. R. Berdis, S. R. Carberry-Mogan, P. do Vale Pereira, S. Kumar, W. O’Neill, E. A. Czajka, P. E. Johnson, A. Pascuzzo, S. Tallapragada, D. Phillips, K. Mitchell, A. Nash, J. Scully, L. Lowes. Tiger: Concept Study for a New Frontiers Enceladus Habitability Mission, AAS Planetary Science Journal, 2 (195), 2021.


• R. E. Morgan, E. S. Douglas, G. Allan, P. do Vale Pereira, J. N. Gubner, C. Haughwout, B. G. Holden, T. J. Murphy, J. Merk, M. D. Egan, G. Furész, D. Roascio, Y. Xin, K. L. Cahoy. Optical calibration and first light for the deformable mirror demonstration mission CubeSat (DeMi), Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems 7(2), 2021.


• P. do Vale Pereira, B. Holden, R. Morgan, J. Gubner, T. J. Murphy, C. Haughwout, G. Allan, Y. Xin, W. Kammerer, K. Cahoy, E. Douglas, J. Merk, M. Egan, G. Furesz. Thermomechanical Design and Testing of the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat, Small Satellite Conference, 2020.


• P. do Vale Pereira, M. Garcia, M. Schroeder, H. Caldelas, C. Lindsay, A. Choi, K. Pfrang, A. Gagnon, P. McKeen, J. Clark, T. J. Murphy, C. Haughwout, K. Cahoy. BeaverCube: Coastal Imaging with VIS/LWIR CubeSats, Small Satellite Conference, 2020.


• P. do Vale Pereira, M. T. Hunwardsen, K. Cahoy. Characterization of Laser Thermal Loading on Microelectromechanical Systems-Based Fast Steering Mirror in Vacuum, Optical Engineering 59(5), 2020.