Reaching for the Stars: Using Light to Sail through Space News / August 27, 2026 Multiple projects trace mechanical engineer Igor Bargatin’s decade-long commitment to space exploration as they climb from the edge of the atmosphere to the stars—powered, almost every time, by light itself. Read More
A New Kind of Light Sail Brings Interstellar Travel One Step Closer News / July 30, 2026 What if spacecraft could travel to nearby stars not with rockets, but by riding beams of light? Penn Engineers have developed an ultralight, highly reflective "light sail" that overcomes major engineering hurdles, bringing laser-powered interstellar travel one step closer to reality. Read More
Powering AI from Space, at Scale News / January 29, 2026 Penn Engineers have proposed a scalable, solar-powered orbital data center design that passively maintains orientation using tethers and sunlight, offering a feasible path to meet growing AI computing demands while reducing the environmental impact of terrestrial data centers. Read More
MEAM 5490: From Estimation to Empowerment News / February 12, 2024 In the realm of education and engineering, where precision often reigns supreme, there exists a distinctive course that challenges traditional norms. Associate Professor Igor Bargatin spearheads MEAM 5490, Order-of-Magnitude Estimation for Terrestrial and Space Engineering, hoping to teach three fundamental skills: (1) Order of Magnitude Estimation, (2) Knowledge Transfer Across Disciplines, and... Read More
