Joel Sercel, PhD, is a member of the research staff
in Controls and Dynamical Systems at the California Institute
of Technology. Previously, he was on assignment with the Air
Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) assisting in the establishment
of a new network of innovation centers. He has also served as
chief engineer of the transformational communications, Military
Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) Joint Program Office, Space
and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command.
Formerly, he was director of Caltech’s Laboratory for
Spacecraft and Mission Design and a lecturer on aeronautics.
He is also president and founder of ICS Associates. At NASA’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Dr. Sercel worked in space
technology development, systems engineering, and software development.
He led the conception, proposal, and definition of the NSTAR
ion propulsion systems, the first deep space application of
ion propulsion technology.
Dr. Sercel has worked with the Advanced Technology Institute,
Alliance Space Systems, Boeing, DARPA, ITT Gilfillan,
the Office of the Secretary of Defense, NASA, Northrop Grumman,
Raytheon Systems, Space Systems Loral, TRW, the United States
Air Force, and United Technologies.
Dr. Sercel received his PhD and master’s degrees in mechanical
engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He earned
his degree in engineering physics from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Sercel is a certified consultant to the Department of Defense.
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