26 September 2025
When Dr. Jesús González-Llorente talks about satellites, he doesn’t just speak in terms of systems and specs—he speaks as someone who sees engineering as a way to unlock possibilities. As a teenager he was torn between dreams of medicine and engineering, but his love of science and mathematics ultimately led him to a career designing systems that orbit our world.
“I like that we can use math to model and to describe a phenomenon,” he explains. “As an engineer, we can model the system that we design. We can use mathematics to describe the behaviour of this system, and then we can use it to improve our design.” That curiosity led him from electronics and software engineering to control engineering applied to solar energy—eventually opening the door to space systems, where solar power is the lifeblood of spacecraft.
A global path to the stars
Jesús’ education and career are as global as his perspective, spanning continents and cultures. From his homeland of Colombia to Puerto Rico, Japan, and now Canada, each stop has brought new insights and opportunities. In 2010, he spent a year at the iconic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which at the time was the world’s largest single-unit radio telescope, measuring 300 m across. This was his first experience collaborating in an international environment with people from all over the world—but it wouldn’t be his last.
One of his proudest achievements came during his Ph.D. at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan, where he joined the Ten-Koh satellite project. “I arrived at the perfect moment,” he recalls. “The professor was creating an international team to develop a satellite. And I was lucky that I arrived when he was just in the conception.” Jesús worked on every phase of the project—from contributing to the proposal and mission ideas to preliminary design, testing, integration, and operations after launch. Leading the electrical power systems team, he helped turn designs into real-world technologies, collaborating with Japanese and international students and running tests on the satellite at JAXA facilities.
Powering curiosity and ideas
ÉTS professor Jesús González-Llorente
A Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE, Jesús gives his time to share his expertise in small satellite technologies and spacecraft systems globally, offering webinars and talks to audiences in Tunisia, Colombia, Japan, and beyond.
Now living in Canada, Jesús is helping to shape the future of aerospace education. He joined ÉTS just as the university launched its new bachelor’s program in aerospace engineering. “It was the perfect match, the perfect moment,” he says. “They were creating the program, and I had the background in teaching, research, and building satellites.”
In the classroom, Jesús encourages his students to think critically and question everything—even him. “I like to promote that, because in science, we have this opportunity, to have discourse and to reach consensus,” he explains. For him, teaching isn’t just about transferring knowledge; it’s about cultivating independent thinkers who aren’t afraid to challenge ideas.
A taste for discovery
Outside the lab and lecture hall, Jesús enjoys cycling along Montréal’s bike paths, exploring new parks, delving into the many libraries (especially the BaNQ), and generally enjoying life in Montréal with his wife. He also likes cooking dishes inspired by his travels. “I like to try new recipes for all kinds of food, because of my experience in different countries,” he says. “I like to try different kinds of food, to mix many ingredients, to see colours.” Though now far from Colombia, he stays connected to his family with regular video calls.
Big ideas in small packages
Jesús is driven by a mighty idea: unlocking the full potential of small satellites. They can be developed quickly and at lower cost, but there are many constraints when using miniaturized components. His goal is to overcome those limitations through autonomy, improved reliability, and efficiency—making space missions not only more capable, but more sustainable. “The vision,” he reveals, “is that we can still have all the benefits from space—space observation, communication, all of these—while doing it in a sustainable way.”
