Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2022) Plenary SPeaker

Major Ryan Weed

Propulsion and Nuclear Scientist,
Defense Innovation Unit

NASA

Maj Ryan Weed is a physicist and USAF Experimental Test Pilot, logging over 2000 hours in more than 30 different aircraft. Ryan is a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellow, studying radioisotope positron propulsion systems. He has worked at Blue Origin, where he designed and implemented an Instrumentation laboratory for cryogenic rocket fuels, and founded Positron Dynamics, where he designed and built a positron beamline facility and developed high specific impulse propulsion concepts. Ryan earned a B.A in Physics from Wesleyan University, B.S. in Applied Physics from Columbia University, M.Sc. in Flight Test Engineering from Air University, and PhD in Physics from Australian National University. In his current role at DIU, Ryan manages the Nuclear Propulsion and Power program within the Space Portfolio.