Draft:Gustavo Medina Tanco

Dr. Gustavo Medina Tanco was born in Argentina, where he performed his undergraduate studies in Physics. He obtained his PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil. He held postdocs at the USP, and at the University of Cambridge, and University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

He has served as a professor at the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics at USP and as an adjunct professor of Physics at Vanderbilt University in the United States. He has also been a visiting scholar at RIKEN in Japan and at the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP) at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France.

Work in México and Major Projects

At present he is a Professor at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he leads the ultra-high energy cosmic ray group and is the Head of the Space Instrumentation Laboratory LINX, which he created in 2009.

He served as the spokesperson for the Mexican collaboration in the Pierre Auger Observatory and was the scientific coordinator of the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (JEM-EUSO) international collaboration for ten years. He currently sits on its executive board, coordinating Mexico’s participation in the development of scientific instruments in cooperation with space agencies such as CNES, NASA, ASI, and ROSCOSMOS.

He developed the ATON platform for science and engineering payloads aboard stratospheric balloons, which operates regularly from México, and its larger version, Pixqui, flown in cooperation with NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF).

Medina-Tanco has also led satellite missions such as NanoConnect and is currently working on the NanoSWAI project, as well as the COLMENA lunar initiative, whose first mission, Colmena-1, was launched as a payload aboard Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander in January 2024.

Institutional Roles and Honors

He has participated in the Industry 4.0 and Smart Cities commissions of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of México (CONCAMIN). Medina-Tanco is a member of the Mexican Academy of Engineering and an elected member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), where he coordinates the international report "New Space Technologies at the Service of Social Needs."

He is a member of the Science Working Group (SWG) of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), Chair of the Space Astrophysics Technical Committee (SATC) of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and Vice-Chair of the IAF’s Space Universities Administrative Committee (SUAC).

He has served as a scientific adviser on space matters to Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as a consultant to the Mexican Congress in support of a constitutional reform proposal to allow Congress to legislate on outer space activities.

Awards and Recognition

His contributions have been recognized with numerous distinctions, including:

• Fernando Alba Medal (2022), for contributions to experimental physics in México.
• Global Leadership Gold Eagle Medal (2023).
• Medal of Scientific Excellence (2024).
• Doctor Honoris Causa, awarded by several international organizations, including the Hispanic World Writers Union (UHE), the Latin American Academy of Modern Literature, the World Academy of Literature, History, Art, and Culture, and the Unity of Nations Action for Climate Change Council (UNACCC).

Scientific Output

Medina-Tanco has supervised a total of 27 PhD, MSc and Diploma thesis and supervised 8 postdocs. He has authored 232 peer-reviewed scientific articles, accumulating over 23,000 citations, and has presented more than 500 conference contributions worldwide.