About

Joseph Jiong Wang is a Professor of Astronautics and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Engineering Mechanics/Thermophysics from Tsinghua University in 1985, followed by a Master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988, and a Doctoral degree in Plasma Physics from MIT in 1991. His research focuses on astronautical plasma dynamics and space plasma physics, extraterrestrial environments and their interactions with spacecraft and astronauts, advanced spacecraft propulsion including electric, chemical, and beamed energy propulsion, as well as computational physics and parallel computing. Wang has held various academic and research positions, including faculty roles at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and has been involved with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Principal Member of Engineering Staff. His international research experience includes visiting positions at ONERA in France, Kyoto University, and Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan. Throughout his career, he has been recognized with awards such as the Lew Allen Award for Excellence from JPL and invitations to participate in the National Academies' Frontiers of Engineering and Keck Futures Initiative.

Research topics

• Physics
• Computational physics
• Aerospace engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Engineering
• Astronomy
• Electronic engineering
• Geology
• Optics
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Response to Comment on “Acute Pharmacodynamic Effects of Oral Levodopa on Blood Pressure in Parkinson’s Disease”

  Pharmacotherapy The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy · 2026-01-01

  article

  The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

  PublisherDOI

• Cost-Effective Very Low Earth Orbit Mission for Atmospheric Science

  2025-03-01 · 2 citations

  article

  Understanding and characterizing wind, composition, and temperature in the lower thermosphere is critical for two main reasons. First, the processes controlling their spatial and temporal changes and how the neutral atmosphere interacts with the ionosphere and magnetosphere above is fundamental to our understanding of the mechanisms that drive and affect the Earth's upper atmosphere as well as in other planetary and stellar atmospheres. Second, space weather events, depending on how the upper atmosphere is affected by solar variability and lower-atmospheric disturbances, can severely harm spacecraft, human operations in space, and society's ground-based technological infrastructure. Very low Earth orbit (VLEO), in an altitude shell between 250 km and 350 km, offers a unique vantage point to undertake cost-effective missions to study atmospheric dynamics using spectroscopic instruments. Additionally, by performing limb sounding measurements, the spectroscopic system is characterized and validated in an environment representative of a planetary exploration mission. This paper discusses a cost-effective VLEO mission with next-generation spectrometer instruments capable of meeting the strict payload mass and power requirements of future small-platform deep space missions, while opening new science applications for compact, low-altitude platforms in Earth's orbit.

  PublisherDOI

• Ab initio Simulations of Dynamics of EMI-BF4 Ionic Liquid Propellant Used in Electrospray Thrusters for Nanosatellite Applications

  ChemRxiv · 2025-08-18 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Detailed quantum-chemistry calculations of field-induced fragmentation reactions of ionic liquid are presented. The simulations identified the most likely channels for hard (breaking covalent bonds) fragmentation. The computed energetics for hard and soft (breaking clusters into moieties) fragmentation can be incorporated in multiscale models of thrusters’ operation. The simulations determined that soft fragmentation occurs on a picosecond scale, revealing that these large and flexible ions can be heated when accelerated by the electric field. Although the acquired internal kinetic energy was insufficient to break covalent bonds in cold molecules, it can result in the fragmentation of hotter molecules. The results contribute to a better understanding of processes occurring in thrusters that use ionic liquids as propellants and suggest that deviations from the idealized behavior of the propellant in the acceleration region might be important. The results of this study provide a foundation for further improvement of multi-scale models of thrusters’ operation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ab initio Simulations of Dynamics of EMI-BF4 Ionic Liquid Propellant Used in Electrospray Thrusters for Nanosatellite Applications

  ChemRxiv · 2025-05-19

  preprintOpen access

  Detailed quantum-chemistry calculations of field-induced fragmentation reactions of ionic liquid are presented. The simulations identified the most likely channels for hard (breaking covalent bonds) fragmentation. The computed energetics for hard and soft (breaking clusters into moieties) fragmentation can be incorporated in multiscale models of thrusters’ operation. The simulations determined that soft fragmentation occurs on a picosecond scale, revealing that these large and flexible ions can be heated when accelerated by the electric field. Although the acquired internal kinetic energy was insufficient to break covalent bonds in cold molecules, it can result in the fragmentation of hotter molecules. The results contribute to a better understanding of processes occurring in thrusters that use ionic liquids as propellants and suggest that deviations from the idealized behavior of the propellant in the acceleration region might be important. The results of this study provide a foundation for further improvement of multi-scale models of thrusters’ operation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Resolving the Byproducts from Space Debris Demise in the Atmosphere for Carrying Capacity Assessments

  2025-01-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• <i>Ab initio</i> simulations of dynamics of EMI-BF4 ionic liquid propellant used in electrospray thrusters for nanosatellite applications

  The Journal of Chemical Physics · 2025-12-10 · 2 citations

  article

  Detailed quantum-chemistry calculations of field-induced fragmentation reactions of ionic liquids are presented. The simulations identified the most likely channels for hard (breaking covalent bonds) fragmentation. The computed energetics for hard and soft (breaking clusters into moieties) fragmentation can be incorporated in multiscale models of thrusters' operation. The simulations determined that soft fragmentation occurs on a picosecond timescale, revealing that these large and flexible ions can be heated when accelerated by the electric field. Although the acquired internal kinetic energy is not sufficient to break covalent bonds in cold molecules, it can result in the fragmentation of hotter molecules. The results contribute to a better understanding of processes occurring in thrusters that use ionic liquids as propellants and suggest that deviations from the idealized behavior of the propellant (as charged point-mass particles) in the acceleration region might be important. The results of this study provide a foundation for further improvement of multi-scale models of thrusters' operation.

  PublisherDOI

• Introduction to Modern Scientific Programming and Numerical Methods

  2024-09-03

  bookOpen accessSenior author

  The ability to use computers to solve mathematical relationships is a fundamental skill for anyone planning for a career in science or engineering. For this reason, numerical analysis is part of the core curriculum for just about every undergraduate physics and engineering department. But for most physics and engineering students, practical programming is a self-taught process. This book introduces the reader not only to the mathematical foundation but also to the programming paradigms encountered in modern hybrid software-hardware scientific computing. After completing the text, the reader will be well-versed in the use of different numerical techniques, programming languages, and hardware architectures, and will be able to select the appropriate software and hardware tool for their analysis. It can serve as a textbook for undergraduate courses on numerical analysis and scientific computing courses within engineering and physical sciences departments. It will also be a valuable guidebook for researchers with experimental backgrounds interested in working with numerical simulations, or to any new personnel working in scientific computing or data analysis. Key Features: Includes examples of solving numerical problems in multiple programming languages, including MATLAB, Python, Fortran, C++, Arduino, Javascript, and Verilog Provides an introduction to modern high-performance computing technologies including multithreading, distributed computing, GPUs, microcontrollers, FPGAs, and web "cloud computing" Contains an overview of numerical techniques not found in other introductory texts including particle methods, finite volume and finite element methods, Vlasov solvers, and molecular dynamics A video of the author discussing the book can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYn8aDKXlcs

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Charging and Dielectric Breakdown of Dusty Spacesuit: Implications for Astronaut Safety at the Lunar Terminator

  2024-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Vlasov simulations of electric propulsion beam

  Plasma Sources Science and Technology · 2024-11-29 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract A grid-based Vlasov simulation model is developed to simulate the two-dimensional unmagnetized electric propulsion (EP) plasma beam emission process. Comparing to the standard fully kinetic Particle-in-Cell simulation, the grid-based Vlasov simulation method eliminates the interference of particle noise and is capable of resolving higher-order velocity moment, such as electron heat flux, accurately. Vlasov simulations are carried out to investigate the effects of microscopic electron kinetics on macroscopic electron thermodynamics in EP beam. We find that the electron velocity distribution function (eVDF) exhibits a near-Maxwellian shape but with a depleted negative velocity tail in the beam direction and a ‘top-hat’ shape in the transverse direction. Macroscopically, the electrons confined within the quasi-neutral beam core region has a near constant temperature along the beam direction but follow a near-adiabatic cooling process as they expand outward in the transverse direction. The electron heat flux is dominated by the x -direction tensor component. The connection between the eVDF skewness and the electron heat flux suggests a pathway to develop a microscopic physics based electron closure relation for macroscopic electron thermodynamic process in unmagnetized plasma beam expansion.

  PublisherDOI

• Finite Difference and Linear Algebra

  2024-09-03

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Zorica Buser

  200 shared

• Darrel S. Brodke

  University of Utah

  78 shared

• Jim A. Youssef

  My25

  70 shared

• Patrick C. Hsieh

  University of Southern California

  52 shared

• Shay Bess

  Twin Cities Spine Center

  49 shared

• Ian D. Dickey

  University of Maine

  49 shared

• Andy Ton

  University of Southern California

  39 shared

• Sanjay S. Dhall

  UCLA Medical Center

  38 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Astronautical Engineering

  University of Southern California

  2005

• M.S., Astronautical Engineering

  University of Southern California

  2002

• B.S., Astronautical Engineering

  University of Southern California

  2000

Awards & honors

• Natioanal Academy of Engineering German-American Frontiers o…
• National Academies Keck Futures Initiative, Invited Particip…
• Natioanal Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering, I…
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Lew Allen Award for Excellence…