Dr. Ian Johnson joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Santa Clara University as a lecturer in 2024. He graduated from the University of Washington in 2015 where his research focused on integrating an alternative propellant Pulsed Plasma Thruster into the High-Power Helicon Thruster Experiment. Ian is currently a Principal Engineer at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, where he leads the propulsion team for the Psyche mission with JPL, the OSAM-1 mission with NASA Goddard, and the Lunar Artemis Gateway Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) with NASA Glenn, in addition to supporting numerous geostationary communication spacecraft for commercial customers. He has research and industry experience with both electric and chemical propulsion subsystems.
Adjunct Lecturer
Curriculum vitae
