Mario De Stefano Fumo

Dr. Mario De Stefano Fumo is the Head of the Materials and Thermostructures Unit for Space Applications within the Space Directorate of the Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA). His activities include the management of Research and Development projects focused on materials and structures for high temperatures, as well as the supervision of the development and qualification of advanced thermal protection systems for space re-entry and hypersonic vehicles. He is currently the System & Technology Manager of the ceramic TPS of Space Rider, the reusable re-entry vehicle funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). Before joining CIRA in 2011, he spent one year at Thales Alenia Space (Turin) as a Development and Qualification Engineer for the TPS of the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV). Previously, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Naples 'Federico II' in the fields of Aerothermodynamics, Thermal Protection Systems, and Re-entry and Hypersonic Systems. He holds both a Master's Degree and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Naples. He is the author of more than 80 papers in international journals and conference proceedings, and is co-author of two patents related to the production process of C/SiC (Carbon/Silicon Carbide) composites.