Jeffrey Balcerski, Ph.D.

Dr. Balcerski joined the faculty at Kent State in 2024. Prior to that he worked for nearly a decade at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and the Ohio Aerospace Institute, where he led efforts to develop new technologies and exploration platforms for use in the extreme environments of Venus’ surface and deep atmosphere. He obtained his PhD in Planetary Science from Case Western Reserve University, and he has continued to build on his background in both engineering and planetary science to develop a cross-disciplinary approach to solving “big-picture” problems in space exploration.

Dr. Balcerski leads the Spacecraft Design Laboratory and he is the faculty advisor for the AstroFlashes student space engineering team. His research interests span a wide range of space exploration topics, from resource development and utilization, to human habitation, to the physical science of planetary surfaces and atmospheres.