Susan McKenna-Lawlor | |
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---105769_(18976188652).jpg) Susan McKenna-Lawlor in 2015 | |
| Born | (1935-03-03)3 March 1935 (age 90) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Planetary science,Experimental Physics |
| Thesis | A Detailed Study of Phenomena Attending the Disk Passage of an Exceptionally Active Solar Region, 7–21 July 1959 (1976) |
| Doctoral advisor | T.E. Nevin |
| Website | https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/people/susan-mckenna-lawlor |
Susan McKenna-Lawlor (born 3 March 1935) is an Irishastrophysicist. She is an emeritus professor of experimental physics atMaynooth University, having formally retired in 2000.
Susan was born in Dublin on 3 March 1935. She studied experimental physics atUniversity College Dublin (BSc 1956, MSc 1959, PhD 1976).[1] She was a research assistant at theDublin Institute for Advanced Studies between 1957 and 1966.[2] Her 1976 UCD doctotral dissertation on "A detailed study of phenomena attending the disk passage of an exceptionally active solar region July 07 - 21, 1959" was completed underThomas E. Nevin, based on work originally suggested byMervyn A. Ellison of theDublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and partially completed by McKenna at the University of Michigan.[3]
Following marriage, McKenna-Lawlor became a lecturer in the Dept of Experimental Physics atSt. Patrick's College, Maynooth in the early 1970s.[4] In 1986 she was appointed professor, and she retired from Maynooth in 2000.
In 1986 she founded the space instrumentation company Space Technology Ireland Ltd (STIL) with venture capitalistDermot Desmond. STIL manufactures instruments for space missions and McKenna-Lawlor is the managing director.[citation needed] It was established on the south campus ofSt. Patrick's College, Maynooth.
McKenna-Lawlor was the principal investigator for the experiment EPA (Energetic Particles) on theEuropean Space Agency (ESA)Giotto mission.[5] European Apace Agency Solar System working group initially rejected the instrument before reinstating it in the first half of 1981.[6]
McKenna-Lawlor led an international team of scientists in building a particle detector capable of detecting energies between 30 kiloelectronvolts and several megaelectronvolts for the Soviet Union'sPhobos spacecraft in 1988.[7] The success of the detector led Soviet scientists to ask her to contribute a similar device for their 1994 Mars mission.[8]
McKenna-Lawlor was Co-Investigator for the experiment RAPID on board theEuropean Space Agency (ESA)Cluster mission.[9]
She developed instruments to monitor the solar wind on Mars for the ESAMars Express mission.[10]
STIL designed the onboard Electrical Support System processor unit for theRosetta spacecraft. McKenna-Lawlor also represented Ireland on the Steering Board of the Rosetta'sPhilae lander that touched down on comet67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.[1]
She was a winner of theRehab People of the Year Award in 1986. She was elected to theInternational Academy of Astronautics and in 2005 she received an honorary DSc from theUniversity of Ulster for her contributions to astrophysics.[11][12]
She was a member of the National University of Ireland Senate and of Maynooth University's Governing Authority.
Susan McKenna-Lawlor has published or co-authored over 250 scientific papers.[15]
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