Disruptive Space Innovation: Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be an interesting ride

MAE 480 Guest Lecture – October, 8 2019 

Presenter: Prof. Scott Madry, 

Research Associate Professor of Archaeology, UNC – Chapel Hill 

Abstract: 

Space is going through a series of revolutions today, and much of this is being driven by the new, disruptive innovation of personalities like Elon Musk, and the “Silicon Valley-ization” of space. Dr. Madry is the author of the recent book entitled “Disruptive Space Technologies and Innovations: The Next Chapter”, published by Springer Press. In this lecture, he will present his analysis of the current disruptive space technology environment, and present several examples of how disruptive innovation has impacted other fields. 

Biography: 

Scott Madry is on the archaeology faculty of UNC-CH, but he has worked for over 30 years in the space sector, beginning with his time working on remote sensing systems for NASA at the John C. Stennis space center. He was on the faculty at Rutgers University for 10 years, and then returned to UNC, from which he received his Ph.D. in 1986. He was on the faculty of the International Space University in Strasbourg, France for some 25 years, and participated in over 30 graduate space programs around the world for ISU. His research is on the applications of space technologies like remote sensing, GPS, and GIS for natural and cultural resources applications, including archaeology and disaster management. He is the author of 6 books, including being editor of the Springer Handbook of Satellite Applications, a two-volume, 1,200 page reference volume that has over 370,000 downloads to date.