Dr. Tommaso Ghidini

Head of the Mechanical Department at the European Space Agency (ESA)

Dr Tommaso Ghidini is the Head of the Mechanical Department at the European Space Agency (ESA). The Department provides essential engineering support to the entire range of ESA Space programmes and missions and develops enabling technologies for the future ones. The Department specializes in a large number of key areas, including structures, mechanisms, materials and processes, propulsion, robotics, aerothermodynamics, flight vehicles and hypersonic aircraft engineering, optics, thermal and life support. It also manages the ESA/ESTEC Test Centre, a world class facility for full-scale environmental testing of spacecraft and satellites and the verification of space vehicles systems and subsystems.

After obtaining a Ph.D. at the German Aerospace Centre in experimental and numerical structural mechanics and before joining ESA, Dr Ghidini has worked for AIRBUS on all major civil and military programmes of the European aeronautical industry (the A380, A350 and A400M aicraft). He has received a number of international awards for major aerospace industrial achievements and developments, he is Adjunct Professor at the Politecnico of Milano and sits in the Advisory Boards of leading research centres, universities and private companies in Europe and the U. S.

Parallel to his institutional activities, Dr Ghidini cultivates his passion for flying, he flies aircraft and gliders and he is an award winning author of science divulgation books.

Since November 2023, Dr Ghidini has been appointed Officer of the Selected Reserve of the Air Force with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Aeronautical Engineering Corps.