Srihari Balaji

Biography

Srihari “Hari” Balaji holds a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Union College.

He currently works as a Research and Development Engineer at CapCO2 Solutions, where he develops multi-million dollar grant proposals and cultivates venture capital partnerships to accelerate commercialization of the firm’s sustainable aviation fuel technologies. In parallel, he serves as a Space Security Research Fellow with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, where he researches how governments and satellite operators define and approach Space Traffic Management and Space Domain Awareness and translates his findings into factsheets for the UN’s Space Security Lexicon.

Outside of work, Hari serves as a Coach for the USA Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition Foundation, where he selects and trains the U.S. team for the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Earlier in his career, Hari served as Lead Researcher at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, where he led the development of Plasma Rapid Oxidation Technique for Extending Component Tenability, a chemical coating that extended lifespan of rocket components made from titanium by increasing their corrosion resistance by 92%. In this effort, he devised the coating methodology in collaboration with materials scientists, created SolidWorks models of titanium components and performed heat transfer analyses on them, and co-authored grant proposals that secured $70,000 in funding. Hari’s contributions led to the project being featured in NASA’s Research & Technology Report 2022 and earned him induction into The Scientific Research Honor Society, an Interdisciplinary Research Award, and a Best Poster Award at the International Forum on Research Excellence 2023.

To date, Hari’s achievements have been recognized through the Space & Satellite Professionals International 20 Under 35 and Aviation Week Network’s 20 Twenties awards.