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Hisham Ali
Research Engineer and Post-Doctoral Fellow, Aerospace Engineering @ Georgia Tech
Monday, Feb. 15 | 9:00 A.M. | Zoom Webinar

Abstract: Proposed missions such as a Mars sample return mission and a human mission to Mars require landed payload masses in excess of any previous Mars mission. Whether human or robotic, these missions present numerous engineering challenges due to their increased mass and complexity. To overcome these challenges, new technologies must be developed, and existing technologies advanced. Resource utilization technologies are particularly critical in this effort.

This investigation aims to study the reclamation and harnessing of vehicle kinetic energy through magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) interaction with the high temperature entry plasma. Potential mission designs, power generation and power storage configurations are explored, as well as uses for the reclaimed energy. Furthermore, the impact and utility of MHD flow interaction for vehicle control is assessed.

The state of the art for analysis of MHD equipped planetary entry systems is advanced, with the specific goals including: development of performance analysis capabilities for potential MHD equipped systems, identification of systems or configurations that show promise as effective uses of MHD power generation, experimental designs for developing technologies applicable to MHD power generation systems, assessment of MHD flow interaction and beneficial use for entry vehicle control through drag modulation, and increasing the technology readiness level of MHD power generation architectures for entry, descent and landing.

Bio: Hisham is a currently an Aerospace Engineer and Member of Technical Staff within the Colorado Springs Defense and Space industry. Prior to that, he was a Research Engineer and Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. During his tenure at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Hisham conducted research in the High Power Electric Propulsion Laboratory (HPEPL) and Space Systems Design Laboratory (SSDL). Also, he was the Co-Program Coordinator for the Georgia Tech University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM).

Since 2013, Hisham has worked to develop performance modeling capabilities and advance the state-of-the-art for magnetohydrodynamics-based in-situ resource utilization during planetary entry. He has advanced this research while in residence as a Visiting Space Technologist at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center, Langley Research Center, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In addition, he has designed and created an experimental testing platform for magnetohydrodynamic energy generation in conditions and configurations relevant to planetary entry.

Hisham earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with minors in Mathematics and Computer Based Honors from the University of Alabama in May 2013. In addition, he earned a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in May 2015 and August 2019, respectively. Hisham’s current research interests are in space systems, magnetohydrodynamics, hypersonics, and plasma physics.