Dr. Philip Ferguson, Ph.D. P.Eng. (he/him)

Area

Satellite guidance and control, CubeSats, interplanetary rovers, drone control and navigation, Arctic remote sensing, and machine learning.

Expertise

Spacecraft and drone systems, and mechatronics.

Research description

Dr. Ferguson's research aims to "kick the aerospace industry in the pants". He works with researchers, engineers, and technologists across a wide variety of disciplines to make aerospace technology accessible to those who need it the most, like Northern Canadian communities. Dr. Ferguson does this by innovating inexpensive technologies in reliable and trustworthy ways that encourage commercialization while simultaneously expanding capacity within communities. Examples of his research includes CubeSats for Arctic climate change research, drones for search and rescue, and airships for reliable communications in the Arctic.

Dr. Philip Ferguson is a space systems engineer and Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Manitoba. He received his Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Toronto in Engineering Science, which included a 16-month co-op position at Spar Aerospace (currently MDA) where he worked on the robotics for the International Space Station. Dr. Ferguson also holds a Masters and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Aerospace Engineering where he studied astronaut adaptation to microgravity under contract with NASA. Following graduate school, he developed spacecraft control systems for small space telescopes at Microsat Systems Canada Inc., eventually becoming the Engineering Manager for all satellite control systems products. Dr. Ferguson then took a position at Magellan Aerospace, Winnipeg, where he managed the power subsystem engineering for all three RADARSat Constellation Mission spacecraft and eventually became the Engineering Manager for the electrical and software engineering teams in support of Magellan’s Space and Defense contracts. From 2014 until 2017, Dr. Ferguson was the Vice President of Product Development at PrecisionHawk Inc., where was responsible for all drone and payload systems engineering as well as production. Dr. Ferguson is the founding Director of the Space Technology and Advanced Research Laboratory (STARLab) at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Ferguson’s research focuses on new spacecraft guidance, navigation and control technologies that can improve satellite reliability while simultaneously reducing the cost and design cycle times, thereby improving the accessibility of space. Dr. Ferguson is also an Associate Member of the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) at the University of Manitoba, where he collaborates to explore how space and drone technologies can support Indigenous and Inuit communities in Canada’s Arctic. Dr. Ferguson lives on a small hobby farm outside of Winnipeg with his family and far too many gardens, dogs, chickens, turkeys, and pigs - all of whom are working towards a fully self-sufficient lifestyle while honouring and respecting the Indigenous heritage on Treaty One territory.

G. Giesbrecht, M. Patel, R. Javid, V. Patel, N. Wiens, D. Xie, I. Jeffrey, and P. Ferguson, “Ground Penetrating Radar used to Detect Drowning Victims under Ice”, accepted and in press at the Journal of Forensic Science Research, 2023.
M. Patel and P. Ferguson, “Evaluation of Fractional PID and Integer PID Control for a Drone-based Cable Suspended Payload System”, accepted at ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 2023.
Y. Huang and P. Ferguson, “Advanced Application of Automated One-Sided Learning Fault Detection System in Reaction Wheel Anomaly Test”, accepted at the AIAA Journal of Aerospace Information Systems, 2023.
S. Connell, D. Applin, N. Turenne, E. Cloutis, C. Kiddell, S. Sidhu, P. Mann, P. Ferguson, M. Driedger, J. Campos, A. Barari, V. Reddy, S. Mertzman, and D. Trang “The Iris CubeSat Mission: Payload Description and Science Objectives for a First-Of-Its-Kind Geological Space Weathering Experiment of Lunar and Asteroid Materials,” accepted at Acta Astronautica, 2023.
V. Parthasarathy, S. Afshari, and P. Ferguson, “A Fault-management System for Satellite Telemetry Based on Statistical Process Control and Time-domain Feature Extraction”, under review at the Journal Advances in Space Research, 2023.
Ordoñez, J.C., and P. Ferguson. "Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning Regression Models for Unknown Dynamics", in IEEE Journal of Radio Frequency Identification, vol. 7, 441:450, 2023.
T. Zhang and P. Ferguson, “Optimal Reaction Wheel Disturbance Avoidance via Torque Allocation Algorithms,” in AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics 46.1 (2023): 152-160.
M. Driedger, A. Asgari, and P. Ferguson, “Feasibility Study of Resident Space Object Range Measurements using In-Orbit Observers,” in IEEE Journal of Radio Frequency Identification 6 (2022): 250-257.
A. Barari, R. Dion, I. Jeffrey, and P. Ferguson, “Testing Satellite Control Systems – With Drones,” in IEEE Potentials, vol 41, no 1, pp 6-13, Jan-Feb 2022.
J. Campos and P. Ferguson, “Decentralized Project Management Concept for Schedule-Critical Space Projects”, in the Journal of Aerospace Systems, 4(3), 191-200, 2021.
M. Braga, M. May, and P. Ferguson, “Auto-link UAV to CAD: A Software Tool that Bridges the Gap between UAV Design Optimization and CAD”, in Drone Systems and Applications 10.1 (2022): 444-452.
V. Platero, P. Ferguson, R. Jayaraman, and D. Isleifson, “2-in-1 Smart Panels: Embedding Phased Array Patch Antennas within Satellite Structures”, in Acta Astronautica, 175(October, 2020): 51-56.
M. Driedger, M. Rososhansky, and P. Ferguson, “Unscented Kalman Filter Based Method for Spacecraft Navigation Using Resident Space Objects”, in the Journal of Aerospace Systems, 3(3), 197-205 2020.
V. Parthasarathy and P. Ferguson, “Modelling and Simulation of the Power Subsystem of a LEO Satellite”, in the Journal of Aerospace Systems, 3(2): 139-146, 2020.
M. Driedger and P. Ferguson. "Feasibility Study of an Orbital Navigation Filter Using Resident Space Object Observations." In the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics 44(3), 622-628, 2020.
A. Yahyaabadi, M. Driedger, N. Turenne, S. Connell, V. Parthasarathy, A. Carvey, V. Platero, J. Campos, M. Rososhansky and P. Ferguson, “ManitobaSat-1: A Novel Approach for Technology Advancement.”, in IEEE Potentials, 34(4), July 2020.
A. Emmanuel, J. Raghavan, R. Harris, and P. Ferguson, “A Comparison of Radiation Shielding Effectiveness of Materials for Highly Elliptical Orbits,” in Advances in Space Research 53 (2014) 1143-1152.
W. Kinsner, D. Schor, R. Fazel-Darbandi, B. Cade, K. Anderson, C. Friesen, S. McKay, D. Kotelko, and P. Ferguson. "The T-Sat1 Nanosatellite Design and Implementation Through a Team of Teams", in the International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence, 7.1 (2013): 32-57. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.