Before joining Purdue, Dr. Semperlotti was a faculty in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Notre Dame. He received a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering (2000), and a M.S. in Astronautic Engineering (2002) both from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (IT), and a PhD. in aerospace engineering (2009) from the Pennsylvania State University, (USA). Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Semperlotti served as structural engineer for a few European aerospace industries, including the French Space Agency (CNES), working on the structural design of space launch systems (such as Ariane 5 and Vega) and satellite platforms.