Welcome to Keita Nishii's homepage. I am working on both electric and chemical propulsion systems for spacecraft. In particular, I am researching and developing new propulsion systems for use on small spacecraft. I am also investigating the effects of ground tests on the propulsion systems that will eventually be used in space through experiments and numerical simulations.
Research Interests: Space propulsion / Electric propulsion / Micropropulsion / CubeSat / Resistojet / Hybrid rocket / Green propellant / Metal combustion / Microgravity / Thermal engineering / Rarefied gas dynamics / High-performance computing
CV here (Mar. 2024)
Education
Sep. 2021: Ph.D. of Engineering in Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Aug. 2018: Master of Science in Advanced Energy, The University of Tokyo
Sep. 2016: Bachelor of Engineering in Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Employment History
May. 2023 – Present: Research Consultant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, US
Apr. 2023 – Present: Assistant Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
Mar. 2022 – Mar. 2023: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, US
Oct. 2021 – Mar. 2022: Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Sep. 2021 – Feb. 2022: Visiting Scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, US
Apr. 2019 – Sep. 2021: Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
Apr. 2020 – Sep. 2020: Lecturer, Tokyo Metropolitan College of Industrial Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Dec. 2018 – Mar. 2019: Project Researcher, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Professional Memberships
Oct. 2023 – Present: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
May. 2022 – Present: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Apr. 2016 – Present: The Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences
Academic Awards
Apr. 2022: JSASS Young Researcher Award, 2021.
Jan. 2020: Space Transportation Symposium FY2020, Outstanding Student Award (co-authored).
Aug. 2019: Small Satellite Conference 2019, Student Poster Award, Second Place.
Apr. 2018: 49th Annual Meeting of JSASS, Student Presentation Award, Japan, 2018.
Oct. 2017: 61st the Space Sciences and Technology Conference, Student Poster Award, Japan, 2017.
Grants / Fellowships
Grants
Apr. 2024 – Mar. 2026: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, 24K17447, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Oct. 2023 – Mar. 2025: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up, 23K19099, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Apr. 2022 (withdraw): Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (PD), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,
Apr. 2019 – Mar. 2022: Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (DC-1), 19J21437, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Sep. 2021 – Dec. 2021: Overseas Challenge Program for Young Researchers, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Joint Usages
Apr. 2024 – Mar. 2025: Multidisciplinary Cooperative Research Program for Cygnus/Pegasus, "Establishing Methods for Modeling Neutral Gas Flows towards the Realization of a Numerical Vacuum Chamber," Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba
Apr. 2024 – Mar. 2025: Recommendation Program for Young Researchers and Woman Researchers, 2024-A-006, Supercomputing Division, Information Technology Center, The University of Tokyo
Oct. 2023 – Mar. 2025: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up, 23K19099, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Apr. 2023 – Mar. 2024: Allocation of supercomputer time on Delta at UIUC, "Kinetic Simulations of Collisional Plasmas and Multiphase Flows Using Heterogeneous Computational Strategies," PHY220158, National Science Foundation through ACCESS
Apr. 2022 – Mar. 2023: Allocation of supercomputer time on Expanse at SDC and Delta at UIUC, "Kinetic modeling of collisional plasmas for electric propulsion and plasma sheath applications," TG-PHY220010, National Science Foundation through ACCESS
External Links
Tokyo Metropolitan University
Research map
Google Scholar
Research gate
Linked In
Orcid