The University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering has named a new leadership team for the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA), the interdisciplinary research, design and teaching center that supports the world’s only Master of Science in Space Architecture.
Karolos Grigoriadis, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been appointed director of SICSA. Vittorio Netti, a space architect who founded the center’s extended reality (XR) laboratory, has been appointed associate director.
Grigoriadis is the founding director of the NASA MIRO Inflatable Deployable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems (IDEAS²) Center at UH and director of the Aerospace Engineering Graduate Program. His appointment brings SICSA and IDEAS² under coordinated leadership, connecting SICSA’s strengths in space architecture, human factors and mission design with IDEAS² research in inflatable and deployable structures, smart materials, soft robotics and adaptive and autonomous space systems. The alignment will support a more integrated path from concept development to human-in-the-loop evaluation, validation and testing of technologies for human and robotic space exploration.
Netti is a space architect and SICSA alumnus who has served as an adjunct faculty member and researcher at the center. He founded SICSA’s XR laboratory, which uses virtual, augmented and mixed reality for human-in-the-loop design, testing and validation of spaceflight habitats, crew systems and mission operations. He also brings industry experience from his work at Axiom Space. As associate director, Netti will oversee research operations, industry partnerships and the center’s studio program.
These appointments follow Professor Olga Bannova’s transition from UH to a faculty role at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), where she will join the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Bannova, a research professor and alumna of the program, guided SICSA through a period of growth in enrollment, research and international engagement. Under her leadership, the center strengthened partnerships with NASA and the space industry and advanced research and design in orbital and surface habitats, inflatable structures and architecture for extreme environments on Earth. She will remain affiliated with SICSA as an adjunct professor and continue to participate in research and educational activities.
Under its new leadership, SICSA will continue to expand its research portfolio, strengthen partnerships with NASA and the space industry, and prepare the next generation of space architects for a growing space economy.
About SICSA
Founded in 1987 and housed within the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, SICSA is an internationally recognized center for research, design and teaching in space architecture. It supports the world’s only Master of Science in Space Architecture, a STEM-designated program that brings architects and engineers together to design missions, habitats and operations for space and other extreme environments. Learn more at sicsa.egr.uh.edu.
About the IDEAS² Center
The NASA MIRO Inflatable Deployable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems (IDEAS²) Center was established at UH in 2024 through a nearly $5 million NASA award. The center advances research in inflatable and deployable structures, smart materials, soft robotics and adaptive systems to support long-duration exploration of the Moon and Mars. Learn more at ideas2.egr.uh.edu.