Milillo's Lab
CV
Condensed from the full curriculum vitae, May 2026.
Appointments
2021 – present
Assistant Professor (tenure track), Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston
2024 – present
Adjunct Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston
2020 – present
Guest Scientist, Microwaves and Radar Institute, German Aerospace Center (DLR)
2020 – 2021
Associate Project Scientist, Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine
2018 – 2020
Scientist, Radar Science & Engineering, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
2016 – 2018
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Education
2016
PhD, Environmental Engineering, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
2012
MSc, Physics, University of Bari, Italy
2010
BSc, Physics, University of Bari, Italy
Teaching
CIVE 4381Satellite-based GeomaticsUndergraduateSP 2026
CIVE 4312Civil Engineering Capstone LaboratoryUndergraduateSP 2025
CIVE 6381Applied Geospatial ComputationsGraduate · new courseFA 2021 · FA 2023 · FA 2025
CIVE 6359SAR Remote SensingGraduate · new courseFA 2022 · FA 2024
CIVE 5397 / 7397Digital Terrain ModellingGraduate · new courseSP 2023 · SP 2024
CIVE 6111Graduate SeminarGraduateFA 2022
Previously: Visiting Professor, University of Bath (2019), Fundamentals of Remote Sensing: Imaging Radar and Applications; Visiting Professor, University of Cagliari (2018), SAR Interferometry: processing, geophysical and engineering applications.
Service & institutional roles
- NISAR DART Science Team
- Chair, ISSNAF West South-Central Chapter (2022 – 2025)
- NASA Surface Topography and Vegetation (STV) decadal survey incubation team
- NASA commercial smallsat evaluation onramp programme, Capella Space and ICEYE SAR constellations
- US coordinator, international satellite measurement campaign with the Italian and German space agencies delivering high-resolution coverage of Antarctica and Greenland (2017 – 2027)
- NASA Surface Deformation and Change committee (2019 – 2020)
Awards & honours
2022
Ground Engineering Awards, International Project of the Year, EEFIT Hybrid Mission to Haiti
2022
Named as a top scientist in the University of Houston President’s Fall Address
2021
Italian Professorship Habilitation as Full Professor in Earth Science Physics (02/C1)
2020
Remote Sensing Young Investigator Award (MDPI)
2019
ISSNAF Anna Maria Molteni Award for Young Investigators in Mathematics and Physics
2019
Italian Professorship Habilitation as Full Professor in Geosciences (04/A4)
2016
NASA Postdoctoral Program Award
2014
NASA Group Achievement Award, Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team
2012
European Geosciences Union Outstanding Student Poster Award
Patent
A computer-implemented method for calibrating a pair of digital elevation maps. German patent application 10 2023 123 310.6, priority 2022-08-30, WO2025036764.
Selected invited lectures
Dec 2025
Satellite remote sensing for forensic analysis and proactive monitoring of critical infrastructure, TxDOT Bridge Inspection Cross Training, Houston
Mar 2025
Evaluating Umbra Space high-resolution data for low-latency damage mapping, NASA Goddard
Jan 2025
Mapping Earth’s dynamics: advances in NASA’s surface deformation and topography missions, Rice University
Oct 2023
A hybrid TanDEM-X / ICESat-2 digital terrain model for cryosphere applications, TanDEM-X Science Meeting
Sep 2023
On the short- and long-term retreat rate of Antarctic glacier grounding zones, University of South Florida, Tampa
Jul 2019
Heterogeneous retreat and ice melt of Thwaites Glacier, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, Vancouver