Davide Conte

Ciao!

I am Dr. Davide Conte, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. I am very excited to have moved to a warmer climate and have started new thrilling adventures! I was born and raised in Genova, Italy as shown in the cover picture above.

I am one of the two authors of the book Interplanetary Astrodynamics (you can also find it on Amazon) along with Dr. David B. Spencer.

In the summer of 2019, I finished my Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at the Department of Aerospace Engineering of The Pennsylvania State University where I had been doing research in astrodynamics with Dr. David B. Spencer. I also received an M.S. in aerospace engineering, a B.S. in aerospace engineering, and a B.S. in mathematics with honors as a Schreyer Honors Scholar and received the best thesis award in 2014 from Penn State. For further details regarding my education, please refer to my CV.

My research interests and areas of study in the field of aerospace engineering include:

• Proximity Operations in the Restricted Three-Body Problem (dissertation topic)

• Orbital Transfers in the Restricted Three-Body Problem

• Spacecraft Mission Design and Engineering

• Trajectory Optimization for Interplanetary Transfers

• Low-Thrust Orbital Transfers

Details regarding publications related to the above research topics are available here.

My doctoral research was focused on proximity operations in the three-body problem (e.g. Earth-Moon system). For my masters thesis, I have worked on trajectory optimization to target the moons of Mars. Other interests include space mission design and participating in design competitions and workshops. I was also part of the Astrodynamics Research Group of Penn State (ARGoPS).