Carmen Guerra-Garcia

Atlantic Richfield Career Development Professor in Energy Studies
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Pronouns She/Hers
My research interests lie at the intersection of aerospace engineering, low-temperature plasma technologies, and gas discharge physics.

Contact Info

Office Phone

617.258.6762

Email

Office

Website/Lab

Lab

Administrative Contact

Andrés Forero
617.253.4926

Financial Contact

Jennifer Leith
617.253.4929

Specialization and Research Interests

My current efforts span from aircraft safety issues (interaction of lightning with aircraft, novel methods for protection and mitigation against lightning strike damage), to plasma technologies for ignition and combustion, and combine multi-physics modeling, computation, and experimentation.

Teaching Interests

Ionized gases, Aerospace Propulsion, Space Propulsion

Academic Degrees

Ingeniero Aeronautico, 2007, Madrid Polytechnic University; S.M. Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2011, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D. Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2014, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Positions Held at MIT

Boeing Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018-2020; Postdoctoral Associate, 2015-2016

Positions Held outside MIT

Research Engineer, Boeing Research & Technology – Europe, 2016-2017; Exchange scholar, Princeton University, Nov 2013 – Jan 2014; Mission Analysis Engineer, Deimos Space, 2007-2009

Featured Story

How airplanes counteract St. Elmo’s fire during thunderstorms
On the ground, windy conditions strengthen these electrical flashes, but new experiments tell a different story for flying objects.
See all stories

Awards & Honors

2024
Junior Bose Award, School of Engineernig
2024
NSF CAREER Award
2021
Young Investigator Award, Office of Naval Research (ONR)
2021
Earll M. Murman Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising, MIT
2021
EU-US Frontiers of Engineering, National Academy of Engineering
2019
Senior Member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
2013
Vos Fellow, MIT AeroAstro
2012
Amelia Earhart Fellow, Zonta International
2012
Fellow, Foundation Caja Madrid
2009
International Fulbright Science and Technology Award, U.S. Department of State
2007
First National Award in Aeronautical Engineering, Spanish Ministry of Education
2007
Award Francisco Arranz, Spanish Society of Aeronautical Engineers

Key publications