Bio

Nicolas Lee is currently a Senior Lecturer in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and specializes in teaching hands-on design skills. Previously, Nicolas was a research engineer studying hypervelocity impact plasma, meteor radar observations, and mission concepts using deployable structures and CubeSat technologies. Nicolas was a Ph.D. student at Stanford focused on meteoroid impact effects on spacecraft, and a W. M. Keck Institute for Space Studies postdoctoral scholar in aerospace at Caltech researching technologies for robotically assembled space telecopes, membrane structures for space solar power applications, and small satellite high voltage electronics.

Academic Appointments

Honors & Awards

  • Prize Postdoctoral Fellowship, W. M. Keck Institute for Space Studies (2013-2015)
  • First place, Ernest K. Smith Student Paper Competition, USNC-URSI (2013)

Professional Education

  • Ph.D., Stanford University, Aeronautics and Astronautics (2013)
  • M.S., Stanford University, Aeronautics and Astronautics (2007)
  • B.A.Sc., University of Toronto, Engineering Science - Aerospace (2005)

Contact

  • Academic
    nnlee@stanford.edu
    Department: Aeronautics and Astronautics Position: Lecturer

Additional Info

2025-26 Courses

All Publications

  • Estimation of hypervelocity impact parameters from measurements of optical flash INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Goel, A., Lee, N., Close, S. 2015; 84: 54-63

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2015.05.008

    View details for Web of Science ID 000358806100005

  • A design algorithm for the placement of identical segments in a large spherical mirror Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems Lee, N., Pellegrino, S., Wu, Y. 2015; 1 (2)

    View details for DOI 10.1117/1.JATIS.1.2.024002

  • Detection of electromagnetic pulses produced by hypervelocity micro particle impact plasmas PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Close, S., Linscott, I., Lee, N., Johnson, T., Strauss, D., Goel, A., Fletcher, A., Lauben, D., Srama, R., Mocker, A., Bugiel, S. 2013; 20 (9)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4819777

    View details for Web of Science ID 000325399400004

  • Curved pleat folding for smooth wrapping PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES Lee, N., Close, S. 2013; 469 (2155)

    View details for DOI 10.1098/rspa.2013.0152

    View details for Web of Science ID 000319387800012

  • Theory and experiments characterizing hypervelocity impact plasmas on biased spacecraft materials PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Lee, N., Close, S., Goel, A., Lauben, D., Linscott, I., Johnson, T., Strauss, D., Bugiel, S., Mocker, A., Srama, R. 2013; 20 (3)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4794331

    View details for Web of Science ID 000317295200050

  • Measurements of freely-expanding plasma from hypervelocity impacts INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Lee, N., Close, S., Lauben, D., Linscott, I., Goel, A., Johnson, T., Yee, J., FLETCHER, A., Srama, R., BUGIEL, S., Mocker, A., Colestock, P., Green, S. 2012; 44: 40-49

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2012.01.002

    View details for Web of Science ID 000301473600005

  • Electromagnetic pulses generated by meteoroid impacts on spacecraft JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Close, S., Colestock, P., Cox, L., Kelley, M., Lee, N. 2010; 115

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2010JA015921

    View details for Web of Science ID 000285639300013

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5500-1324