SELGRA Webinar #1

Post date: Jul 07, 2019 9:28:3 PM

Jack van Loon will talk about the use of clinostats, random positioning machines (RPMs) and the Large Diameter Centrifuge in life and physical sciences experiments. Advantages and drawbacks of each instrument/platform will be discussed. Jack will also address the future challenges in terms of scientific research and further development of these instruments and platforms.

About Jack van Loon

Expertise

Gravity research instrumentation: hypergravity (centrifuges), microgravity simulations (RPMs, clinostats) and partial gravity simulators. Life sciences gravity related experiments.

Short biography

Jack Van Loon is affiliated to the Dept. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery / Oral Pathology of the VU University Medical Center & Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam. He is also a cooperating scientist at the Life & Physical Science, Instrumentation and Life Support Lab (TEC-MMG) at ESA/ESTEC, in Noordwijk.

He was Co-I and PI of several space experiments in parabolic flight, Shuttle, Bion, Soyuz and the ISS. He was experiment coordinator for all life sciences and education experiments for the Dutch Soyuz mission DELTA (with ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers). He also worked at Bradford Engineering as responsible person for science implementation in microgravity payloads.

He was involved in various Dutch and ESA educational projects (e.g. Spin Your Thesis campaigns; Lecturer at ESA/ELGRA gravity-related research summer schools). He participated in the development of the ESA Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) at ESA-ESTEC and he currently coordinates its use. He also was involved in the establishment of the Large Human Centrifuge, the Human Hypergravity Habitat (H³).

Over the years Jack co-authored more than 120 papers in both life and physical sciences peer reviewed journals and was a co-editor on several books regarding space and gravity related research.

Jack Van Loon was president of ELGRA from 2007 till 2011 and ELGRA medallist in 2017.