Jiro Kasahara received his B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Nagoya University in 1992. He received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Nagoya University in 1997. 

Dr. Kasahara’s research interests include detonation combustion, high speed combustion, detonation engines, and aerospace propulsion application of detonation combustion phenomena. 

He published more than 100 refereed journal articles. He is a Fellow of the Japan Society of Aeronautical and Space Science (JSASS) and the Combustion Institute (CI) and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). 

Kasahara received number of awards including the Rem I. Soloukhin Award from the Institute of Dynamics of Explosion and Reactive Systems, the Best Paper Award from the Combustion Society of Japan, the Glass Memorial Lecture Award from the Shock Wave Research Society of Japan, and Pressure Gain Combustion Best Paper Award from the AIAA.

Dr. Borja Pozo Larrocha is a Mechanisms Engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA), based at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands. He currently works on the development and assessment of advanced space propulsion technologies, with a particular focus on Space Nuclear Fission Power and Propulsion and propulsion-mechanism technologies.

Borja has experience in turbomachinery and propulsion systems for space applications, specializing in cryogenic/chemical turbopumps and EPumps and associated subcomponents for launchers, spacecrafts, and lunar landers. His technical background spans the design, analysis, testing, and failure investigation of propulsion hardware operating in demanding environments.

At ESA, he contributes to technology strategy, roadmap development, and international collaboration activities aimed at advancing European capabilities in nuclear-powered space exploration. His works include Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP), Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP), Fission Surface Power (FSP), and the mechanical challenges associated with next-generation space transportation systems.

Borja is passionate about hypervelocity and enabling sustainable exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Tommaso Andreussi is Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Mechanical Intelligence Institute of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. He received his PhD from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa in 2008. In the following years, he focused on the theoretical modelling and experimental investigation of plasma thrusters for space applications. 

From 2010 to 2022, he worked as senior researcher and later as technical manager at a leading Italian space company, where he was responsible for R&D activities and the qualification of electric propulsion systems. His work during this period concentrated on high-power Hall thrusters, air-breathing electric propulsion, and plasma diagnostics. Since 2023, 

Dr. Andreussi joined the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, where he leads the Space Technologies research group. His current research, carried out within the framework of ERC, MUR, and ESA projects, focuses on advancing air-breathing electric propulsion toward its in-orbit demonstration.

Federico Pasciuti is Head of RAMS for New Developments at AVIO S.p.A., where he leads Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety activities for advanced space transportation systems, including new launchers, reusable stages, propulsion systems, and orbital platforms. 

He holds a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Pisa and is a Chartered Engineer. 

During more than 20 years of professional experience, he has worked in the aerospace, defense, railway, and research sectors, specializing in system safety, reliability engineering, probabilistic risk assessment, FMECA, and Integrated Logistic Support. Before joining AVIO, he held technical and managerial positions at Leonardo, Hitachi Rail STS, IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi, and MerMec Engineering. 

His current research interests include RAMS methodologies for space systems, uncertainty quantification, and new reliability models for criogenic engines.

Davide Poli is an assistant professor at the Universidad  Carlos III de Madrid. He obtained his master's degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Pisa and completed his PhD in fluid modelling of Hall thrusters at UC3M. 

His research is centred on the application of fluid models to the study of Hall effect thrusters, with emphasis on the instability-induced cross-field transport in HETs and other ExB plasmas. 

Recently, he expanded his research line to the simulation of applied-field MPDs using hybrid modelling techniques.