Skip to main content
Aerospace Engineering Program

Faculty and Staff

Ian K. Johnson
Adjunct Lecturer

Dr. Ian Johnson joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Santa Clara University as a lecturer in 2024. He graduated from the University of Washington in 2015 where his research focused on integrating an alternative propellant Pulsed Plasma Thruster into the High-Power Helicon Thruster Experiment. Ian is currently a Principal Engineer at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, where he leads the propulsion team for the Psyche mission with JPL, the OSAM-1 mission with NASA Goddard, and the Lunar Artemis Gateway Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) with NASA Glenn, in addition to supporting numerous geostationary communication spacecraft for commercial customers. He has research and industry experience with both electric and chemical propulsion subsystems.

Curriculum vitae

Contact Us

Program Director: Mohammad Ayoubi

Mechanical Engineering
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053

Heafey 235

408-554-5205