• Title: Program Manager, MPD propulsion
• Place of birth: Grosseto, Italy
• Date of birth: October 10th 1962
• Phone: +39 050 985072
• Fax: +39 050 974094
• E-mail: f.paganucci@cpr.it

April 1995- present: Assistant Professor (Ricercatore), Aerospace Engineering Dept., University of Pisa. Program Manager, MPD propulsion, Centrospazio.

Jan-Aug 1996: Visiting Faculty at Syracuse University (NY)

Development and testing of pulsed, multi-MW, gas-fed MPD thrusters, in the framework of ESA (European Space Agency), AFOSR (Air Force Office for Scientific Research) and ASI (Italian Space Agency) research contracts. Experimental activities on geometry, scale and propellant effects. Development of an original cathode heating technique. Theoretical and experimental studies on temperature effects on the operation of MPD cathodes.

Development of an arc-heated high-enthalpy hypersonic wind tunnel (sponsored by ESA).

Testing of a 45 kW turbine for hybrid automotives in the framework of an ENEA (Ente Nazionale Energia e Ambiente) contract.

• Electric propulsion
• Aerothermodynamics
• Micro-turbine applications