Hongru Chen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Director of AstroPlorers Lab
2015, Ph.D. Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyushu University, Japan
2010, B.Eng. Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China
Biography
Dr. Hongru Chen (known as “Chen-san” by Japanese colleagues) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, which she joined in December 2024. She conducted her Ph.D. research at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and once worked at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Paris Observatory, Kyushu University in Japan, and the University of Southampton in the UK. She has contributed to JAXA and CNES’ interplanetary projects, such as the first interplanetary micro-spacecraft PROCYON, DESTINY, and the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX).
Research interests
Astrodynamics; space trajectory design; planetary geodesy; nanosatellite engineering; upper atmosphere
Professional experience
- Assist. Prof (tenure-track), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Eng., University of Texas at Arlington, USA, 01/2025
- Assist. Prof (permanent), Department of Aero. and Astro. Eng., University of Southampton, UK, 05/2024 – 12/2024
- Assist. Prof (permanent), Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyushu University, Japan, 02/2021 – 04/2024
- Postdoc & Affiliate, IMCCE, Paris Observatory, France, 10/2017 – 12/2021
- Assistant Researcher, Eng. and Tech. Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CSU/CAS), China, 11/2015 – 08/2017
- Joint-research fellow, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), Japan, 04/2013 – 09/2015
- Trainee, École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, France, 04/2010 – 06/2010
Awards (selected)
- Excellent Reviewer for the Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 10/2021-09/2022
- COSPAR Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scientists, 2014 & 2020
Service
Astrodynamics Young Editorial Board, 2024
Grants-in-aid (selected)
- JSPS for Early-Career Scientists, 2022
- CASIO Science Promotion Foundation, 2022
- CNES R&T, 2019
- CSU/CAS Advanced Studies Program, 2017