Essam Heggy (, ) is an American and French

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

scientist of Egyptian descent. Heggy obtained his Ph.D. in

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

planetary science Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of ...

in 2002 with distinguished honors from the

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

in Paris. His main scientific interests in space and planetary geophysics cover

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, icy

satellites A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scientif ...

and

near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun ( perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit a ...

s. His research involves probing structural, hydrological and volcanic elements in terrestrial and planetary environments using different types of radar imaging and sounding techniques as well as measuring the electromagnetic properties of rocks in the radar frequency range. His research expertise spans from laboratory electromagnetic characterization of planetary analog materials, radar sounding of aquifers in hyper-arid environments, GPR surveys in volcanic and ice-rich environments, FDTD numerical simulations of wave propagation, and terrestrial and planetary radar data analysis. Heggy is a member of the science teams of several planetary exploration missions, and he is a contributing scientist to several proposed planetary and terrestrial radar imaging and sounding experiments. Heggy taught academic classes and mentored several postdocs and graduated students in UCLA, Caltech, Cambridge University, Paris VI & Paris VII universities, Institut de Physique du Globe, Ecole Normale Superieure, University of Houston, Trento University and Columbia University.

Early life

Heggy was born in 1975 in the city of Tripoli in Libya to an Egyptian family; his father is the Egyptian artist Mohamed Heggy. He was raised in Tunisia, Egypt and France in a family passionate about art in a multicultural environment. Heggy's position on the reform of the educational system in Egypt to support a real transition toward a modern, tolerant and democratic society have been subject to several public discussions after the major changes that followed the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Heggy is a known public figure among Egyptian youth; he served as the Egyptian president advisor for scientific affairs from 2013 to 2014.

References

External links

* Academic advisers
Prof. Pierre Encrenaz

Prof. Philippe Paillou
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heggy, Essam 1975 births Cairo University alumni French people of Egyptian descent Living people Planetary scientists Paris-Sorbonne University alumni Egyptian emigrants to the United States