Sergio Pellegrino

Sergio Pellegrino is the Joyce and Kent Kresa Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering at California Institute of Technology and a Jet Propulsion Laboratory Senior Research Scientist. He co-directs the Space-Based Solar Power Project and directs the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories. His research spans structural mechanics, deployable space structures, and composite materials.

• Aerospace & Civil Engineering Professor
• JPL Senior Research Scientist
• Co-Director, Space-Based Solar Power Project
• Director, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories

His work focuses on lightweight deployable structures for space applications, including ultra-thin composites, deployment kinematics, and stability analysis. Key projects involve the Space Solar Power Demonstrator and modular telescope assembly. Publications emphasize dynamics, failure modeling, and novel packaging concepts.

Recent research trends include multi-configuration rigidity theory, vibration damping in coiled structures, and scalable mesh reflector antennas. His Google Scholar articles (2022-2025) cover topics like bistable structures, thin-shell deployment, and fiber Bragg grating sensors, reflecting expertise in aerospace structural innovation.

• AIAA Best Paper Award
• Torroja Medal
• Co-Director of Caltech's Space-Based Solar Power Project

Professor Pellegrino has advised numerous graduate students and leads a research group focused on in-space assembly technologies, constitutive modeling, and experimental validation. The Space Structures Lab under his direction supports projects like AAReST (Autonomous Assembly of a Reconfigurable Space Telescope) and DOLCE (Deployable On-Orbit Ultra-Light Composite Experiment).