On October 10th, 2022, the University of Aveiro received a visit from John Olivas, a former NASA astronaut. This visit occurred during his stay in Aveiro to attend the session “From University to Space”.

Since he has a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, it was a great pleasure to receive him in the Department of Materials and Ceramics Engineering.

John “Danny” Olivas is a former NASA astronaut, a veteran of two space shuttle flights, and five spacewalks. He was selected by the current US administration to the NASA Advisory Council and is presently the President of both Olivas and Associates and OA- Espaço, Lda. From 2017 to the present, he has consulted on behalf of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in Portugal and Estrutura de Missão dos Açores para o Espaço in the Azores. Dr. Olivas is presently a co-Director of the Visual Intelligence and Multimedia Analytics Laboratory at the University of Southern California, researching the uses of artificial intelligence in space-related endeavors. He is also a technical subject matter expert on the next-generation NASA Lunar spacesuit for Collins Aerospace. His area of expertise is in the area of accident and incident investigations in both Earth and space applications. Dr. Olivas holds a Ph.D. from Rice University in Houston, Texas, in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. He is the recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service medal, NASA Exceptional Achievement medal, and two NASA Space Flight medals. He is also the recipient of the 2006 University of Texas at El Paso Distinguished Alumni and the 2020 Rice Engineering Alumni awards.