Mario is a full professor at the Aerospace Engineering department of UC3M, working on the design, modeling, simulation, and testing of electrodeless space plasma thrusters as part of the EP2 research group. He is most interested on understanding the physics of these devices through modeling, simulation, testing and data analysis.

Jaume is the laboratory manager of the EP2 research group, and works on the design, development, and testing of plasma diagnostics and plasma thrusters. Together with Mario, he is advising the PhD thesis of Célian Boyé on the development and testing of the first Magnetic Arch thruster prototype.

Filippo is part of the Mathematics Department at UC3M and works on reduced order models of fluid and dynamical systems, modal decompositions, data-driven processing techniques, and numerical simulation of biological processes.

Pablo works on the fluid and kinetic modeling of space plasma thrusters, plasma diagnostics, and the design of electric propulsion systems as part of the EP2 research group.

Eduardo is the head of the EP2 research group, and has a long academic trajectory in the modeling and simulation of Hall thrusters and other devices. Together with Mario, he is advising the PhD thesis of Diego García Lahuerta on the fluid modeling of advanced electrodeless plasma thrusters.

Pedro is researching advanced modelling and simulation techniques for radiofrequency and microwave plasmas. His work focuses on electromagnetic wave propagation and absorption in electrodeless plasma thrusters. He is also exploring modern High Performance Computing (HPC) tools applied to plasma physics. 

Célian‘s thesis is a central contribution to ZARATHUSTRA, as he is in charge of the design, construction, and experimental characterization of the first Magnetic Arch electrodeless plasma thruster.

Diego‘s work as a ZARATHUSTRA PhD student focuses on the development of Multi-fluid models and codes, essential to unravel the physics of their operation, plasma transport, and heating.

Matteo’s current focus as a PhD student in the ZARATHUSTRA framework is to investigate plasma oscillations and instabilities that may occur in Magnetic Nozzles, developing both theoretical and numerical models to shed a light on the physics behind these devices.

Hugo will develop electromagnetic and kinetic codes to model and simulate the physics of electrodeless plasma thrusters, in order to identify optimal configurations.

Borja worked on establishing interpretable models of the oscillations in plasma thruster discharges using data-driven techniques, aiming to identify their effects on the dynamics and operation of these devices.

Matteo’s PhD thesis focuses on the study of electric propulsion plasma plumes in space and in experimental facilities. In this context, he collaborates on the modeling and simulation of plasma expansions in magnetic arches with hybrid PIC/fluid codes.

Manuel is a last year BSc student working on the analysis of magnetized plasma expansions with fluid models. He enjoys a Research Collaboration Scholarship from the Ministry of Education.

We are always on the lookout for outstanding students and postdocs to join the team. If you have a brilliant academic record with a solid background in mathematics, physics, and/or engineering, and are able to work autonomously and in a team, do not hesitate to contact us. International students are particularly welcome!

Olympia is the project administrative of ZARATHUSTRA and another ERC project in the Aerospace Engineering Department. She supports and assists the rest of the team.

Clara carried out her bachelor thesis on the review and critical discussion of advanced data-driven analysis techniques that could be of pivotal importance to extract valuable information from ZARATHUSTRA’s numerical and experimental data.

Enrique’s research focused on plasma instabilities and oscillations and their role in the anomalous electron transport from a theoretical and simulation perspective. For his thesis, he developed several fluid codes to analyze the equilibrium and stability of the Hall discharge and a particle-in-cell code to study kinetic instabilities in Hall and other ExB plasmas.

Davide’s researched focused on the data-driven analysis techniques such as POD, high-order DMD, EMD, and others, and their application to unearth hidden features and trends in numerical and experimental thruster data.