David Canales Garcia started his professional career at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain, where he earned his BSc and MSc degrees in Aerospace Engineering. He also completed an MSc degree in Astrophysics, Particle Physics, and Cosmology at the University of Barcelona. His most notable professional experience in the space industry was working for Satlantis LLC as a space technology engineer, where he contributed to developing Earth-observation cameras for micro-satellites. He earned his Ph.D. in Astrodynamics and Space Applications as a member of the multi-body dynamics research group at Purdue University, under the supervision of NAE member Dr. Kathleen C. Howell. Dr. Canales is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), where he founded the Space Trajectories and Applications Research (STAR) group. He also serves as the ERAU representative to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). His research interests include astrodynamics in multi-body regimes, cislunar operations, space policy, space weather, astrophysics, and applied mathematics.