Marco Ciarcia

Dr. Marco Ciarcià

Associate Teaching Professor

Associate Department Head for Undergraduate Programs

Mechanical Engineering

Marco Ciarcià has over two decades of professional experience across academia, industry, and government research. He currently serves as an Associate Teaching Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Colorado State University. Before joining CSU, he was an Assistant Professor at South Dakota State University, a Chief Research Engineer at Nanocomsat in Zurich, and an NRC Research Associate at the Naval Postgraduate School, where he developed and experimentally validated real-time trajectory optimization and spacecraft guidance strategies. He also held research roles at Rice University and the Università degli Studi di Palermo. 
 
Since 2021, Dr. Ciarcià has been an active member of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee. In addition to his academic career, he is the cofounder and Chief Technology Officer of AeroFly LLC, an Aerospace Engineering company awarded multiple NASA SBIR contracts.

Contact Information

Resources

Research Interests

His research interests include robotics, mechatronics, nonlinear and optimal control, spacecraft guidance and proximity operations, eVTOL aircraft design, UAV systems, autonomous flight, small satellites, and aircraft aerodynamics and CFD. His work spans theoretical development, numerical optimization, algorithm design, and experimental validation, with applications ranging from cooperative docking maneuvers and satellite attitude control to autonomous multirotor transportation platforms and advanced UAV airframe development.

Teaching Experience

His teaching portfolio spans a wide range of mechanical and aerospace engineering subjects, including Mechatronics, Machine Design, Automatic Controls, Robotic Systems, Optimal Control Theory, Aircraft Design, and Introduction to Aerospace Engineering. He has developed and led hands-on, laboratory-centered courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels, integrating electronics, embedded systems, control theory, UAV systems, and robotics. His teaching emphasizes experiential learning, systems integration, and project-based engineering practice.

Education

  • Ph.D. 2008, Rice University – Mechanical Engineering
  • B.S.+M.S. 2001 (magna cum laude),  Università degli Studi di Palermo – Aerospace Engineering
     

Honors and Awards

  • 2010-2015, U.S. National Research Council Fellowship  

Service and Involvement

  • Since 2021, Active member of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Technical Committee

Entrepreneurship

  • Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of AeroFly LLC