Rate My Professor Piyush Mehta

Piyush Mehta is an associate professor of space systems in the department of mechanical, materials, and aerospace engineering at West Virginia University, where he has served on the faculty since 2018. He directs the Astrodynamics, Space Science, and Space Technology (ASSIST) Laboratory, founded in 2018, and the Center for Innovation in Space Exploration and Research (CISER). Mehta is also an adjunct faculty member in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. He earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas in 2013 and a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the same institution in 2009. His research specializations encompass astrodynamics, space situational awareness, space traffic management, space weather probabilistic modeling and forecasting with uncertainty quantification, space exploration, and flight dynamics and system identification. Mehta develops advanced algorithms for precise orbit determination, collision avoidance, and efficient satellite operations, as well as probabilistic models for forecasting space weather events including solar activity and geomagnetic storms to protect space-based and terrestrial technologies. He further advances spacecraft technologies, propulsion systems, mission planning strategies, and solutions for threat engineering in flight dynamics.