Christine Charles
Christine Charles is a physicist at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, an inventor, researcher and science communicator. Her position at the Australian National University is director of the Space Plasma, Power and Propulsion Laboratory.
Life
Charles was born in Brittany, France, and studied engineering and applied physics at university in France. She completed a Ph. D in plasma physics and a bachelor of music in jazz from the Australian National University. Her specialist field is experimental expanding plasmas and their use in electric propulsion, microelectronics and optoelectronics, astrophysical plasmas, and the development of fuel cells for the hydrogen economy. Charles invented the Helicon Double Layer Thruster, an electrode-less magneto-plasma space engine which could be used for keeping satellite stations in orbit, or interplanetary space travel for humans.Charles broadcasts and discusses her research through a range of media including television, radio and public lectures.