Keynotes/Features > Feature Speakers

Research expertise: Granular mechanics, particle technology, and multi-scale experiments and computing in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary applications, including the reuse of conventional waste in concrete, bio-stress measurements, and space granular processing. Additionally, the impacts of pandemics such as due to the COVID-19 on engineering industries and national economies are also considered.

Dr S. Joseph Antony is an Associate Professor at the School of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Leeds, U.K. His research expertise spans multi-scale modelling and experimental mechanics of materials in both discrete and continuum forms. He has strong proficiency in materials modelling, including MD, DEM, FEM, and analytical methods. His experimental work involves a wide range of advanced characterization and stress sensor techniques, such as photonics (PSA), AFM, SEM, PSAT, IR tomography, and DPIV. He focuses on linking material properties at exceedingly small scales (molecular/nano/micro) to the mechanical, electrical, and chemo-mechanical properties at the bulk scale in various engineering applications.

Emilien AZÉMA is a Full Professor at the University of Montpellier, affiliated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Faculty of Sciences) and the Mechanical & Civil Engineering Lab (LMGC). He holds a Research Chair from the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF, 2020–2025) and has been appointed as Professeur Associé at Polytechnique Montréal in the Department of Civil, Geological, and Mining Engineering. Emilien earned both his Master’s and PhD at the University of Montpellier, where he investigated the rheological and micromechanical behavior of realistic granular media with applications to railway ballast.

Béatrice Baudet received her undergraduate engineering degree from the Ecole Spéciale des Travaux Publics (Paris) in 1997, and pursued her postgraduate MSc (Glasgow University, 1997) and PhD (City University London, 2001) studies in the UK. She joined University College London as a lecturer in 2001, which she left in 2010 to work at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) for six years, then she came back to UCL in 2016 where she is now Professor of Soil Mechanics. Her research career started as a constitutive modeller of natural clays, then at UCL she developed expertise in laboratory characterisation of soils including time effects, soil reinforcement, or granular soil mechanics. While at HKU, she developed a unique microscopy facility which allowed her explore soils at the microscale, noticeably the characterisation of sand grain surface roughness and its change during loading, work which was awarded the 2021 British Geotechnical Association medal.

Dr. Andreas Becker is an extraordinary Professor in the Civil Engineering Department of the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University in Kaiserslautern, Germany. He holds a Dipl.‐Ing. degree in civil engineering, a Dr.‐Ing. degree, and a habilitation in theoretical soil mechanics from that university. Courses taught include theoretical soil mechanics, numerical methods, geotechnical engineering, ground improvement methods, and special foundation works. Besides extra-terrestrial soil mechanics his expertise covers soil mechanics, cyclic loading of soils, foundation engineering, advanced field testing of soils by static and seismic methods, vibration protection, numerical methods in geomechanics, advanced soil mechanical laboratory testing, as well as modelling of and testing for terramechanical problems. He was involved in the interdisciplinary Helmholtz Alliance “Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments – ROBEX”.

Dr. Bilén has over three decades of experience designing, building, and fielding innovative systems for harsh and demanding environments—from space to the Arctic. He employs a systems design approach to ensure mission success, translating early stage needs into verified requirements and validated deployed systems. Since 2000, Dr. Bilén has been on faculty at Penn State, where he is professor of engineering design, electrical engineering, and aerospace engineering, reflecting his belief that innovation happens at the interfaces of disciplines. Employing his broad skill set, Dr. Bilén has built satellites and satellite systems; wireless sensor networks; cognitive and software-defined radio systems; high-power microwave delivery systems for space propulsion; and robotic concrete printing systems.

Dr. Radlińska is a professor at Penn State University. Her research focuses on the development of innovative materials for extreme environments, including 3D-printed concrete and regolith-based construction for lunar and Martian infrastructure. Dr. Radlińska's work has been featured in groundbreaking projects such as the MICS, which studies materials mixed aboard the International Space Station. She is dedicated to advancing sustainable and resilient construction technologies for both Earth and space exploration, contributing to NASA's Artemis mission and beyond.
Dr. Radlińska is the Chair of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) 565 Lunar Concrete Committee, past chair of the Concrete Research Council that helps transform academic research into industrial applications, and past chair of ACI Committee 123 Research and Current Developments.

Dr. Cortes is the Principal Investigator of the NASA Funded MUREP Advancing Regolith-related Technologies and Education (MARTE) Project. He is also a senior investigator for the NSF research Center on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG), where he is working on the development of annelid inspired self-excavating subsurface exploration robots, and bio-inspired enhanced geothermal energy harvesting systems. Doug is an expert on thermo-mechanical soil characterization and modification, mineral and non-mineral cementation, and the development of non-conventional laboratory and field soil characterization and sensing methods. He has managed research projects with a combined budget in excess of $3 million including collaborative research across multiple universities.

Nathan Gelino is a Senior Principal Investigator for Off-Earth Construction in the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations laboratory, a.k.a. Swamp Works, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.  The primary focus of his work is in the areas of planetary in-situ construction technologies, excavation, site preparation, and robotics. His goal is to develop the technologies that will enable a sustained presence on the Moon and facilitate a vibrant lunar economy.

Nathan has developed large and medium scale additive construction systems and materials for ambient and simulated lunar environments.   He has developed robotic site preparation implements, interlocking sintered pavers, robotic emplacement systems, and tested launch/landing pad materials under hot fire conditions.  His highest priority lunar infrastructure items are launch/landing pads protective shelters. Nathan actively participates in the NASA SBIR/STTR programs as sub-topic manager and supports the ASCE Aerospace Division Space Engineering and Construction Technical Committee’s effort to develop Lunar Infrastructure Engineering, Design, Analysis and Construction guidelines.

Prof. Goddard received his BS ChE from UIUC in 1957 and his PhD ChE from UC, Berkeley in 1962. He joined the chemical engineering faculty of the University of Michigan in 1963 and in 1976 accepted the position of Fluor Professor and Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering at USC, Los Angeles. He has been professor at UC San Diego since 1991 and emeritus recalled to research since 2016.

Prof. Harkness obtained his MEng at The Queen’s University of Belfast in 2003, and his PhD at Cranfield in 2007. His work on exploration concepts includes research on penetrators, augers, scoops, and novel concepts such as the pulse-elevator – a Tesla valve for granular materials. Patrick is interested in how sonic and ultrasonic vibration can cause local fluidisation that may be exploited to reduce resistance forces, auger speeds and power requirements. Separately, he and his colleagues work on technology development for extreme exploration tools, such as autonomous subglacial bedrock samplers. These devices enable terrestrial science while providing field-test opportunities for planetary technologies. We have taken our subsurface access and sampling concepts to both trial and practical applications in evaporite deposits, hot deserts, and the polar regions.

Katerina Ioannidou is a CNRS Research Scientist at the Laboratory of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, University of Montpellier, France. She holds an undergraduate degree in Physics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, and a PhD in Science from ETH Zurich (2014). Prior to joining CNRS, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Her research focuses on the Physics and Mechanics of Porous Materials, with an emphasis on artificial and natural multi-scale materials. Dr. Ioannidou combines simulation methods from soft matter and granular physics with 3D imaging and mechanical characterization to understand the link between material texture and performance, aiming to design new multifunctional materials. In 2024, she was awarded the CNRS Bronze Medal for her outstanding contributions to multi-scale modelling in materials science.

Michel Louge joined Cornell University in 1985 after earning a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University and working for Shell in the Netherlands. His research has contributed to chemical kinetics, circulating fluidized beds, pneumatic transport, particle impact, gas-solid heat transfer, granular flows down inclines, granular segregation, heat and mass transfer through desert sands, powder snow avalanches, fluid imbibition into unsaturated porous media, and the hysteretic behavior of the triple gas-solid-liquid contact line. His group has developed capacitance instrumentation that records solid concentration, velocity and water content in snow avalanches, fluidized suspensions, sand dunes and alpine snowpacks. Applications of his research are found in Chemical Engineering, Pharmacy and Geophysics.

Dr. Pooneh Maghoul is a Full Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Director of the Sustainable Infrastructure and Geoengineering Research Laboratory (SIGLab) and the Space Resources and Infrastructure Engineering Research Unit (Astrolith) at Polytechnique Montréal. She is also the Lead for Sustainable Infrastructure in Cold Regions at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and co-Chair of the Geotechnical Engineering and Foundation sub-group of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Lunar Engineering Design, Analysis, and Construction. Dr. Maghoul’s research focuses on developing resilient and sustainable infrastructure in extreme environments, including space and cold regions.

Rob Mueller is a senior technologist and principal investigator in the Exploration Research and Technology Programs Directorate at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He is the co-founder of the NASA Swamp Works innovation labs and the Kennedy Granular Mechanics & Regolith Operations (GMRO) Lab.
Mueller has 35 years of engineering and management experience working for NASA in the space industry. Technical expertise includes regolith geotechnics, robotics, mechanical systems design, composite materials, in-situ resource utilization, planetary outpost construction and excavation, spaceport design, surface and ground operations, conceptual systems design, and mission architecture design. He has worked on the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, X-33, Atlas V, Orbital Space Plane, Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicles, Asteroid Retrieval Mission, Martian Moon Exploration, Mars Exploration Studies, and both Constellation and Artemis Lunar Exploration programs including the Commercial Lunar Payloads Services program. He currently serves as the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) topic manager for Excavation, Construction and Outfitting (ECO).

Naomi Murdoch is a physicist and planetary scientist at ISAE-SUPAERO. She has been involved in several planetary space missions including the InSight mission, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, and the DART planetary defence mission. She is the Principal Investigator for the WheelCams on the French/German IDEFIX MMX rover, and is a co-investigator for the ESA Hera mission. Naomi is also leading the ERC Consolidator grant GRAVITE focusing on geotechnical research in low-gravity environments. 

Her research activities span a number of fields such as planetary science, granular physics, geophysics, seismology and acoustics with research methodologies including experiments, theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and analysis of space mission data. However, the vast majority of her research has been linked to understanding the physical properties and behaviour of planetary surfaces.