Eduardo Ahedo

Eduardo Ahedo holds a Chair of Excellence at UC3M, granted in 2013 to  develop the Aerospace Engineering Department. Previously, he was faculty at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid for three decades. Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in different periods, and Visiting Professor in France and Italy. World-recognized expert in Electric Space Propulsion Technologies, which, in the New Space age, have superseded chemical rockets to propel spacecraft in space. Author with seminal contributions to the physics of Hall thrusters, propulsive magnetic nozzles, electrodeless thrusters, and expansion of rarefied plasma jets. Active researcher on developing innovative plasma prototypes, envisaging plasma-based techniques for space debris removal, and achieving predictive tools for thruster design and testing. Co-inventor of the Bare Electrodynamic Tether and their application to satellite operation and deorbiting.

Founder of the Equipo de Propulsión Espacial y Plasmas (EP2), a  research group which, with more than 20 researchers, is today one of the larger university groups in investigating plasma propulsion. Researcher with large experience in collaborative projects of the Framework Programs of the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA), leading activities on developing models and simulation tools of plasma thrusters and their transfer to the aerospace industrial sector.

Active promoter of synergistic research on magnetically confined plasmas for propulsion and fusion, centered on the common challenging subjects of turbulent transport, plasma-material interaction, and wave-based plasma heating. Author of about 100 papers in prestigious journals and 200 in conference proceedings, relevant investigator in about 60 competitive projects (EC, ESA, AFOSR,…), co-author of patents on electrodynamic booms and on steerable magnetic nozzle for thrust control, and supervisor of 24 doctoral Theses.