Dionna S. Parina

Prior to joining L&A, Dionna gained extensive engineering experience through academic research, industry internships, and leadership roles in multidisciplinary engineering teams. Most recently, she served as a Resilient Communications Graduate Intern at MITRE, where she developed software used to analyze various digitally modulated interference scenarios for applications in satellite communications link budget analysis software and worked on testing and evaluating reference design board options to expedite software compilation times. She previously worked an Avionics Test Engineering Intern at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), where she developed software and test infrastructure for vibration and thermal testing of mission-critical avionics systems, helping reduce testing labor and improve operator monitoring capabilities. Dionna also gained experience as a Software Engineering Intern at L3Harris Technologies, where she designed and implemented Python-based automation tools to support large-scale software testing and validation efforts.

Dionna received a Master of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a Dyson Business Minor for Engineers, both from Cornell University. Her academic focus included digital and analog circuit design, embedded systems, communication systems, photonics, and integrated hardware–software architectures.

While at Cornell, Dionna held several technical leadership roles including serving as Avionics Team Lead for the Space System Design Studio’s “Sailing to the Stars” mission. In this role, she led development of multiple iterations of flight hardware for a CubeSat avionics system designed for International Space Station testing. Dionna was also active member of the engineering community and previously served as President of the Cornell University chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), where she led programming, professional development, and industry engagement initiatives for undergraduate engineers.