Personal Statement
Dr Stefania Soldini is UKRI FL Fellow and Senior Lecturer (Assoc. Prof.) in Space Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She is member of ESA's Hera mission, NASA's DART and the Hayabusa2 Joint Science Team (HJST) as astrodynamics Co-I. Dr Soldini was PI of the "Hayabusa 2" superior solar conjunction mission phase in late 2018. She worked at the JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) from 2016 until 2019 after completing a one year JSPS Postdoc Research Fellowship at the same institution. Dr Soldini received her Ph.D. in October 2016 from the Astronautical Research Group of the University of Southampton, UK after she graduated for both her MSc and BEng degrees in Space and Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Her research interests are in Astrodynamics, Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) algorithms for proximity operations around small celestial bodies, ejecta particles dynamics, planetary science, space robotics, solar sail technology and AI.