Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti

Research Interests:
>> Plasma instabilities, leading to the formation of magnetic discontinuities in the solar wind
>> 3D characteristics and temporal evolution of mesoscale solar wind structures
>> Solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling during geomagnetic storms
>> Non-thermal emission by orbital debris

Activities:
>> Principal Investigator of Space Weather Investigation Frontier (SWIFT)
>> Institutional Principal Investigator of the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) instrument aboard NASA’s flagship Parker Solar Probe
>> Co-Investigator of the Space Debris Identification and Tracking (SINTRA) project
>> Team member of the Global Dynamics Constellation (GDC) magnetometer instrument
>> Team member of the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) mission
>> Principal Investigator of SunRISE Ground Radio Lab, engaging 2,500 high school students nationwide in hands-on STEM activities to promote space sciences and engineering

Translational R&D:
>> 3D Photovoltaics for solar and power beaming applications
>> On-demand mobile electric vehicle charging service