Morad Nazari

Biography

Morad Nazari joined the University of Nevada, Reno in August 2026 as an associate professor in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, where he contributes to the Aerospace Engineering program. His research focuses on astrodynamics and spacecraft guidance, navigation and control, with particular emphasis on nonlinear dynamics, estimation and control, geometric mechanics and autonomous space systems.

Prior to joining the University, he was an associate professor of aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He previously served as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona.

Education

Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering, New Mexico State University, 2013
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, 2008
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, 2005

Research interests

• Astrodynamics
• Spacecraft guidance, navigation and control
• Geometric estimation, control and optimization
• Cooperative dynamics and control of multi-agent space systems

Prospective grad students

Prospective graduate students interested in astrodynamics, spacecraft guidance, navigation and control, estimation and control, or space robotics are encouraged to contact Dr. Nazari.

Selected publications

• Nazari, M., Butcher, E. A., Yucelen, T., & Sanyal, A. K. “Decentralized Consensus Control of a Rigid Body Spacecraft Formation in Orbit with Communication Delay.” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 39(4): 838–851, 2016.
• Nazari, M., Canales, D., McCann, B. S., Butcher, E. A., & Howell, K. C. “Framework for the Full N-Body Problem in SE(3) and its Reduction to the Circular Restricted Full Three-Body Problem.” Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 135(4), 2023.
• McCann, B. S., & Nazari, M. “Riemannian Optimization Techniques for Lie Groups Describing Rigid Body Attitude and Pose.” Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 207(63), 2025.
• Fagetti, M., Gunter, H. V., Nazari, M., et al. “State and Mass Estimation for Spacecraft with Slosh: Dual vs. Joint Methods.” Acta Astronautica, 246: 1–18, 2026.