Colin R. McInnes

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Colin McInnes is a Professor of Space Systems Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Known for extensive work on Solar Sails.

Previously, McInnes was Professor of Space Systems Engineering at the University of Glasgow. He obtained his undergraduate degree, a BSc (Hons), in 1988 in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. Later, in 1991, he went onto obtain a PhD in Astrodynamics, also from the University of Glasgow.

Later that year, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Aerospace Engineering an in 1999, appointed as Professor. During this time he has been a visiting researcher at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS) in Sagamihara, Japan and the Central Design Bureau (CDBUI) in Moscow.

His research interests centre on trajectory and mission analysis for solar sails, autonomous spacecraft control and space robotics. He has contributed to the development of solar sail technology for almost 10 years and published the first research level text on the subject (Solar Sailing: Technology, Dynamics and Mission Applications, Springer-Verlag, 1999). His trajectory analysis work has been used by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Geostorm solar sail mission study and NOAA for the Polar Observer mission study. At present his research activities are funded by the European Space Agency, the British National Space Centre and the Lockheed-Martin Corporation.

Colin McInnes is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was awarded the Young Alumnus of the Year title in 2004 by his Alma mater, the University of Glasgow.