Dr. Florian Kehl is a space scientist at the University of Zurich and a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences’ Space Biology Group. He used to work as a technologist at and with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for almost 7 years.

He has a multidisciplinary background both in science and in technology development, in academia, federally funded research centres and industry. His expertise is in the fields of integrated optical sensing, laser and diffractive optics, in-situ instrument development for planetary exploration and astrobiology, systems engineering, fluid handling, and verification and validation in analogue environments.

Dr. Florian Kehl lecture topics:

• Ocean Worlds: Why the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn have become the main focus in the search for extraterrestrial life.

All life, as we know it, originated in water and requires water to survive. Today, we know that Mars once had oceans, and the icy moons of the outer planets hold more water than all the Earth’s oceans combined. For this reason, these so-called “Ocean Worlds” have become the main focus in the search for life beyond Earth. In collaboration with NASA, Florian Kehl is developing scientific instruments to detect the building blocks of life on these celestial bodies. In his captivating and visually appealing presentation, he describes how the scientific community plans to explore these icy worlds in the coming decades, how they search for traces of extraterrestrial life, and why he tests his prototypes in the arid Atacama Desert in Chile and the eternal ice of Alaska.

• Journey to the Red Planet: Unveiling Martian Secrets through Robotic Explorations

Mars has captivated human imagination for centuries, and recent advancements in robotic technology have brought us closer than ever to unraveling its mysteries. This presentation delves into the groundbreaking field of robotic exploration on Mars, focusing on the ongoing search for extraterrestrial life. Through a fleet of rovers and cutting-edge life detection instruments, we embark on a thrilling expedition to explore the Red Planet’s past and present habitability. Join us as we uncover the latest discoveries, unveil the challenges faced by these intrepid explorers, and discuss the implications for our understanding of life beyond Earth. Get ready for an enthralling journey into the unknown as we unlock the secrets of Mars and pave the way for future human exploration of our neighboring world.

• Back to the Moon and Space Race 2.0

Humankind’s return to the moon is imminent. This time, however, to stay. In order to enable a permanent presence on the moon, the sustainable use of lunar resources is required. These mineral resources can include, for example, ice for drinking water, breathing air and fuel, or minerals as raw materials for building materials. In his presentation, Florian Kehl tells what the next steps of the return to the moon by space agencies like NASA and ESA will look like and how he and his Swiss team will look for these lunar resources with the help of four-legged robots equipped with a wealth of scientific instruments are directly involved.

Specific presentations on related topics on request.

More about Florian Kehl

Florian Kehl received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in nanosciences, major in physics, from the University of Basel, Switzerland in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He joined the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology CSEM Landquart, Switzerland in 2007 to develop novel label-free optical biosensor systems.

In 2009, he worked as a Visiting Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, USA at the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC) in the electrical engineering and computer sciences (EECS) department.

From 2011 to 2015, he was a Ph.D. student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zürich in the Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioelectronics (LBB) at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. In parallel, he worked as a project manager for photonic sensors for the company Optics Balzers in Liechtenstein. After his Ph.D. defense, Kehl attended the American Aviation Academy in San Diego and became a licensed private pilot in 2015.

Florian Kehl was awarded a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) fellowship and was a postdoctoral researcher with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Chemical Analysis and Life Detection Group in Pasadena, California, between 2016 and 2019. Kehl became a full-time employee at NASA JPL in 2019, where his work focused on the development of an instrument suite for in-situ liquid analysis of potential biosignatures on Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and other alien worlds. He successfully designed and tested astrobiology instrument prototypes for subcritical water extraction in combination with capillary electrophoresis coupled to laser-induced fluorescence detection on several simulated Mars missions in the Atacama Desert, Chile. He additionally participated in expeditions to the Arctic to deploy in-situ sensors under the sea ice intended for future Ocean Worlds exploration.

In 2021, Florian Kehl returned to Switzerland as a Senior Scientist at the University of Zurich’s Space Hub, a Lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences’ Space Biology Group and continued to work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory remotely as a JPL-affiliate and subcontractor. Florian Kehl managed, was and still is involved (as PI, Co-PI, and Co-I) in multiple NASA and ESA projects.