Yuri Shimane Joins UCI Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty

Dec. 18, 2025 - The UC Irvine Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is pleased to welcome Yuri Shimane as an assistant professor.

Professor Shimane’s research centers around logistics and control problems for space systems, pertinent to New Space applications such as in-orbit servicing, assembly, manufacturing and space situational awareness in Earth orbit, cislunar space and beyond. At UCI, he’s launching the eXploration Logistics and Control (XLC) group, where he will continue to develop control and logistics solutions that enable the exploration of challenging environments.

“The addition of Professor Shimane is a strategic investment in the continued growth of our leading aerospace program,” said Julián Rimoli, chair of the UC Irvine Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “His expertise in space systems, autonomy, and logistics strengthens our capabilities in emerging areas such as cislunar operations, in-orbit servicing, and space situational awareness, positioning UC Irvine to play a leading role in the future of space exploration and space-enabled technologies.”

Prior to joining UCI, he was a research collaborator with the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories  in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on cislunar guidance, navigation and control problems. He has also supported efforts in the commercial space sector at ispace in Tokyo for lunar landing missions and at Infinite Orbits in Toulouse for in-orbit servicing in geostationary orbit. He has been part of the European Space Agency’s Advanced Concepts Team for the last three editions of the Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition where they placed second, fourth and second respectively in the biennial spacecraft trajectory design competition.

Shimane received his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London.