Guest Speakers

Maurizio Cheli

Astronaut

After having passed a strict selection by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (Italian Space Agency), in 1992 Maurizio Cheli joined the European Space Agency (ESA) and was sent to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston where he would train as Mission Specialist, that is professional astronaut. Before then, Italians who had flown to space, did so as Payload Specialists, that is, specialists of useful load. Therefore, their participation to the mission was tied exclusively to their specific scientific skills of one of the on-board experiments.

After years of training, in 1996 he attended the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-75 Tethered Satellite mission, first Italian to assume the role of Mission Specialist.

For a complete biography: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Cheli

Dario Costa

Professional Red Bull Air Race competitor and aerobatic pilot

Dario Costa was born in Manchester, UK, with a dual citizenship. Growing up in Bologna, he started aviation as a 13-year-old in high school. Shortly after, he flew his first solo flight in 1996 at the age of sixteen. Dario lives in Salzburg, first working as Flight Operations Manager and Development Pilot in the Red Bull Air Race Team. Dario is currently competing in the Red Bull Air Race Challenger Class to qualify for the prestigious Master Class.

Dario has achieved more than five thousand hours of flight on more than 50 different models of airplanes. He is also known for some firsts in aviation; in particular, in 2021 an incredible challenge earned him 5 world records: he was in fact the first in the world to fly inside a tunnel, making the longest flight ever (1730 meters).

He is the first Italian to have participated, raced and won in the Red Bull Air Race.

Dario Costa complete biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Costa

Prof. Paolo Tortora

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Director of CIRI- Aerospace

Full Professor at University of Bologna since 2017, carries out his research in the field of Space Systems.
His research interests include small satellites and innovative spacecraft subsystems, including the ground segment, and planetary exploration focusing on radio science experiments with deep space missions.
Scientific director of several national and international research projects, he collaborates with European and US-based companies and space agencies.

He is currently Head of the CIRI- Aerospace

Prof. Fabrizio Giulietti

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Director of the Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering

Fabrizio Giulietti is Associate Professor in Flight Mechanics at the University of Bologna. His research interests mainly involve performance analysis, control system design for atmospheric and space vehicles. Since 2006 he is the coordinator of the Flight Mechanics Laboratory. He co-authored more than 60 scientific papers and he was involved several national and international collaborative project related on civil applications of remotely piloted aircraft.

He is the Director of Master's Degree of Aerospace Engineering.

Prof. Alessandro Talamelli

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Coordinator of PhD Programme in Aerospace Science and Technology

Graduated in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pisa, in 1994 he obtained his PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the Politecnico of Milano. In 1995 he became Researcher at the University of Pisa. Full Professor in Aerodynamics at the University of Bologna, he has been Director of the Interdepartmental Center for Aerospace Industrial Research till 2019. Coordinator of the CICLoPE project (Center for International Cooperation in Long Pipe Experiments) in Predappio where he realized a large infrastructure for the turbulence studiesand for which in 2016 he received honorary citizenship. Since 2003 Guest Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm. Coordinator of the Ph.D Program in “Aerospace Science and Technologies” (DAST). Editor of Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science (Elsevier); he is author of more than 130 publications in journals and international conference proceedings. Passionate triathlete, IronMan in Kalmar, 2016 and Cervia (Italy) in 2017and 2019.

He is the Coordinator of PhD Programme in Aerospace Science and Technology