Dr. Charles Elachi has been named manager of JPL's Earth and Space Sciences Division, Laboratory Director Dr. Lew Allen has announced.
Elachi, who joined JPL as senior scientist in 1971, replaces Dr. Moustafa Chahine, who assumed the position of JPL chief scientist on September 1.
Elachi, 37, will continue in his position as principal investigator on the Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR) series. (SIR-A flew as part of the first scientific payload on the shuttle in November 1981. SIR-B is scheduled to fly on NASA's space shuttle mission 41-G in October 1984.)
In his new position, Elachi will oversee more than 230 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support staff within the Earth and Space Sciences Division. Personnel in the division conduct research, analyze results from scientific experiments, and develop experimental techniques for scientific studies in the areas of Earth observations, planetary science, and astronomy.
Elachi has served as principal investigator on number of NASA research studies and development, primarily in applications of spaceborne imaging radar. He has conducted variety of imaging radar experiments in comparative planetology, geology, and oceanography.
He is member of the Venus Radar Mapper science team, and has also participated in several mission development studies, including spacecraft missions to Venus, Mars, comets, and the Moon. He is responsible for number of mission-sensor studies including the SIR series, the Venus Radar Mapper, Shuttle Scanning Altimeter, Shuttle Polar Ice Sheets Sounder, and the Titan Radar Mapper.
He has authored more than 160 publications in the fields of electromagnetic theory, remote sensing physics, wave propagation, and integrated optics. He also lectures at Caltech on the physics of remote sensing.
He has been awarded numerous honors, including the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (1982) and the NASA Group Achievement Award for the SIR-A Team (1982).
Elachi earned his bachelor's degree in physics and Diplome Ing. (engineering degree) at the University of Grenoble, France, in 1968. He was awarded his master's degree in electrical sciences from the California Institute of Technology in l969, and his doctorate in electrical sciences, also from Caltech, in 1971. He earned master's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California in 1978, and master's degree in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1983.
Elachi was born April 18, 1947 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is resident of Pasadena.
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