Who we are
Ryan Conversano, Ph.D.
FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, & CEO
Dr. Ryan Conversano received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from UCLA. He is a pioneer in the field of electric propulsion, having invented, developed, & published on the world’s first and highest-performing low-power magnetically shielded Hall effect thruster: MaSMi. Dr. Conversano has led the development, testing, and qualification of multiple Hall thruster based EP subsystems. He has extensive experience in technical & customer program management and business development activities.
Prior to founding SpaceProp Strategies, Inc., Dr. Conversano spent more than a decade working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) followed by four years in the commercial space industry at ExoTerra Resource. As of July 2025, he has authored 40 technical publications in the fields of electric propulsion & plasma devices and holds 7 patents in the fields of electric propulsion, power electronics, and related areas.
Dan Goebel, Ph.D.
CTO
Dr. Dan Goebel received a B.S. in physics in 1977, an M.S. in electrical engineering in 1978, and a Ph.D. in applied plasma physics in 1981 from UCLA. He is a Fellow and Senior Research Scientist at JPL and an Adjunct Professor of Aerospace Engineering at UCLA. He has spent much of his distinguished career at JPL, where he currently serves as the Chief Engineer of the Psyche Mission while holding additional responsibilities for the development of advanced spacecraft technologies.
Dr. Goebel is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, and Fellow of the AIAA, IEEE, and APS. He is the author of over 300 technical and conf. papers, two textbooks on Electric Propulsion, and holds 60 patents.
