Dr. Maidana is a physicist and Research Engineer. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from Idaho State University, a M.Sc. in Physics from Michigan State University and a B.Sc. in Physics and Applied Physics from the UTN-INSPT (Argentina). He holds a post-doctoral certificate in Space Nuclear Systems Engineering from Washington State University and the Idaho National Laboratory as well as several other graduate level certificates. Dr. Maidana was a research designer in projects for the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense and Homeland Security; as well as for NASA, CERN, the International Committee for Future Accelerators, the U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative and the Measurements and Control Engineering Research Center. He has over ten years of experience in computational engineering sciences (design, modeling and simulation – CAD/CAE/CAM) and multi-physics analysis; and more than 20 years of experience in Informatics Technology (IT). He has written over 20 papers and technical articles, and is a referee for international scientific journals and government organizations. Dr. Maidana is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) serving at the Future & Nuclear Flight Propulsion Technical Committee, and he serves as a scientific officer for the Mars Society Switzerland as well.