Jan Osburg is a senior engineer at RAND. His work focuses on aerospace, defense, and homeland security. Recent projects involved helping the Army leverage the "drone revolution", assessing next-generation space launch vehicles, advancing astronaut rescue capabilities, improving planetary defense, reviewing technologies for small UAS, assessing CBRN risk, and developing resistance-based deterrence strategies for the Baltic states. He has spent significant time as an embedded RAND advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan—six months with MNF-I in Baghdad, three months with CFSOCC-A in Kabul, and two months with the Asymmetric Warfare Group in Bagram.
Prior to joining RAND, Osburg worked as a research engineer at Georgia Tech's Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory, where he led projects that applied probabilistic methods and tools to the conceptual design of aerospace systems. As a fellow of Georgia Tech's Sam Nunn Security Program, he studied national security and emergency preparedness issues, including developing proactive policy options for the North Korean nuclear crisis, creating a visualization capability for nuclear blast effects, and modeling the impact of disasters on cellular communications infrastructure.
Osburg has participated in multiple expeditions to Mars-analog research facilities, with roles ranging from crew commander and station engineer to health and safety officer. While pursuing his doctorate at the University of Stuttgart, he worked as a research engineer and lecturer, directing international interdisciplinary workshops on the conceptual design of inhabited space systems. He holds a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Stuttgart.
Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, University of Stuttgart; M.S. in aerospace engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
German, French
