Videos
Learn More About Ariel Ekblaw
As the natural habitat of our planet continues to transform due to challenges like climate change, breakthroughs made in space research are being leveraged to provide high-tech solutions to critical problems here on Earth. As a futurist, tech investor and space architecture pioneer, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., is helping organizations forge sustainable paths forward with the assistance of the latest technology including cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) programs such as GPT-4, as she recently explained to tech entrepreneur Reid Hoffman.
CEO of the Aurelia Institute, founder and general partner of deep tech venture capital fund Aurelia Foundry, and founding director of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), Ekblaw is a trailblazing researcher and experienced technology leader who offers strategies for inspiring teams working on moonshot ideas. With the rise of increasingly innovative technology, Ekblaw is able to expertly help leaders understand where to invest resources.
“Earth-based markets are going to have huge opportunities,” says Ekblaw, a member of the XPRIZE Space + Exploration Brain Trust. “Space research can help us transform the planet, transform humanity and address some of our most pressing concerns and challenges.”
A visionary thinker, Ekblaw has led programs at organizations as large as NASA – which she appears in an upcoming IMAX documentary about – and is involved in ground-level funding for small deep tech startups. Her expertise helps leaders in the biggest businesses and the earliest-stage companies alike identify the powerful use cases today for the latest aerospace research of tomorrow.
From the Stars to the Earth, AI for Everyday Environments
Editor of the SEI’s “Into the Anthropocosmos” (2021) and author of an upcoming book with the MIT Press, “Space at Scale: Architecture for Interplanetary Civilization,” Ekblaw emphasizes that research on building habitats in space – which she recently discussed with Neil deGrasse Tyson – isn’t just relegated to the stars and astronauts, but is more relevant than ever to businesses and governments on Earth.
As AI continues to capture the imaginations of executives, policymakers and everyday citizens alike, Ekblaw skillfully describes how the use of AI in space architecture will be just as important to how we design spaces on Earth, from commercial and residential real estate to healthcare facilities and more.
“We are building space habitats and infrastructure that will embrace many aspects of AI agents that can be applied to Earth dwellings as well,” explains Ekblaw, who serves on the NASA Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) Executive Committee. “AI is going to be central to the operation of a responsive habitat – a home or office living in symbiosis with you. The lighting, the temperature and even the life support systems, like air filtration, will all be tuned to the human occupants, which will be able to help us be more climate efficient.”
Inspiring Tech’s Up and Coming Women Leaders
Founder of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative in 2016 and co-founder of the Aurelia Institute in 2021, Ekblaw is committed to getting more women into tech management roles. With leadership truly in her blood – her mother, a trailblazing Air Force pilot instructor, modeled breaking glass ceilings and unlocking life’s possibilities for women leaders – Ekblaw understands the powerful role models women leaders can be.
“I’m really dedicated to building the pipeline for young women and underrepresented populations in tech and aerospace,” explains Ekblaw, an entrepreneur who is equally nimble in partnering with large institutions and agile start-ups. “It’s vital to increase representation and to teach young women to feel empowered to stay in an organization once they’ve gotten in the door.”
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Dr. Ariel Ekblaw directs the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, a team of 50+ students, faculty and staff building and flying advanced technology for space exploration; she is also the founding CEO of Aurelia Institute, a hybrid space architecture research institute and venture incubation studio. Through this connected ecosystem, she strives to bring humanity’s space exploration future to life.
Ekblaw graduated with a B.S. in Physics, Mathematics and Philosophy from Yale University and designed a novel space architecture habitat for her MIT Ph.D. in autonomously self-assembling space structures. Her research work and the labs she leads build future habitats and space stations in orbit around the Earth, Moon and Mars.
Ekblaw is the editor of “Into the Anthropocosmos: A Whole Space Catalog from the MIT Space Exploration Initiative” (MIT Press 2021) and author of the upcoming book, “Space at Scale: Architecture for Interplanetary Civilization.” She serves on the NASA Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) Executive Committee and the XPRIZE Global Visioneering Committee, which guide and will shape the coming decade of burgeoning activity on the moon and beyond.
She has had the rare honor and pleasure of working directly on space hardware that now operates on the surface of Mars and she is leading MIT’s return to the moon. Ekblaw’s work has been featured in WIRED (March 2020 cover story), MIT Technology Review, Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, CNN, NPR, prominent podcasts (Lex Fridman, Reid Hoffman and Neil deGrasse Tyson), numerous academic papers, and more.
Ariel Ekblaw is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.
Artificial Intelligence: The Embedded Enabler of Our Future Lives
With the unexpected pace of generative AI agents like ChatGPT, how will this technology help us become a space-faring race? In this engaging presentation, founder and general partner of deep tech venture capital fund Aurelia Foundry, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., explains how the current state of conversational AI is not only reminiscent of popular science-fiction TV shows but has also arrived decades earlier than many predicted. With applications for designing and building space habitats, life support systems and more, Ekblaw illustrates the compelling crossover between AI and space tech and shows audiences how AI can soon become a fully embedded enabler in all areas of our lives.
Designing Habitats for Space Can Help Quell the Climate Crisis on Earth
With climate change leading to worse air quality, more severe weather events and higher temperatures, how can aerospace research be used to address these critical climate challenges here on Earth? In this fascinating presentation, Founding Director of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., shows how research on building habitats in space can be applied to Earth-based homes and offices as well. She explains how advanced AI systems are able to create a responsive habitat with lights, temperature control and life support systems such as air filtration tuned to the human occupants, even creating sealed systems in areas with poor air quality. Audiences will understand how the most advanced space architecture research can empower businesses, governments and individual citizens to take part in mitigating the pace of climate change on Earth.
A Futurist’s Approach to Designing Tomorrow’s Deep Tech Opportunities with Informed Optimism
Today’s deep tech and aerospace startups are poised to have paradigm-shifting impacts on the business and society of tomorrow. An expert presenter, futurist Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., will reveal how the innovations of new and upcoming deep tech companies can benefit society. From artificial intelligence systems that are fully responsive to human environments and ecosystems, to in-space biotech that offers profound new drug discovery and disease treatment due to the unique conditions of research in microgravity, Ekblaw, who is also founder and general partner of deep tech venture capital fund Aurelia Foundry, lifts the curtain on the wide-ranging use cases of emerging tech innovations. Business executives, investors and government officials alike will gain insights into all areas of the exciting technology on the horizon, including ethical considerations, potential policy implications, and why we should be cautiously optimistic about the tech of tomorrow.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Tech Leadership
Founding Director of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., knows firsthand the value of being inspired to pursue a career in STEM. Her mother, one of the first female pilots in the U.S. Air Force, was a reservist instructor pilot who taught her male counterparts how to fly. In this presentation, Ekblaw explains why promoting STEM careers for women is at the heart of her work and how childhood programs can help parents guide their daughters toward new opportunities in tech. With an emphasis on increasing representation and teaching young women to feel empowered to stay in an organization once they’ve gotten in the door, Ekblaw discusses how the service model of leadership can help young women see STEM as a viable path to meaningful personal, professional and community change. Audiences will understand the importance of cultivating interest among youth in a way that motivates them to take up the banner of women in tech leadership for a new era.

SpaceCHI 2.0: Advancing Human-Computer Interaction Systems for Space Exploration
(MIT Media Lab, April 2022)

Into the Anthropocosmos: A Whole Space Catalog from the MIT Space Exploration Initiative
(The MIT Press, October 2021)
CEO of the Aurelia Institute, founder and general partner of deep tech venture capital fund Aurelia Foundry, and founding director of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, Ariel Ekblaw, Ph.D., is the foremost authority on leveraging deep tech and cutting-edge aerospace architecture for applications across industries. She helps business leaders, government policymakers and non-profits understand emerging deep tech – such as the future applications of powerful AI agents – apply tech to help mitigate climate change, and assist in executive education and STEM curriculum planning. She is available to discuss any or all of the following topics in programs that can be customized to meet the needs and goals of your organization with the added option of meeting virtually or in person.
- How Habitats Designed for Space Can Help Quell the Climate Crisis on Earth
- Approach Tomorrow’s Deep Tech Opportunities With Informed Optimism
- Artificial Intelligence: The Embedded Enabler of Our Future Lives
- Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Tech Leadership
- Curriculum Planning for STEM-Focused Programs
“’Into the Anthropocosmos’ provides an insightful and comprehensive yet easy-to-understand summary of the complex science required to establish an interplanetary species. A compelling and informative read.”
“Take a glimpse into a future of possibility—where SciFi can become SciFact. This book reminds us that the best solutions for overcoming the challenges of settling space far from our home planet are the ones that ultimately improve life on it.”
“’Into the Anthropocosmos’ importantly synthesizes science-art-engineering-design, postulating the duality of opportunity and responsibility for the future of space exploration.”
“’Into the Anthropocosmo’s is both glorious speculation and wild celebration of what is next in space travel technology and what could be right around the corner—a true playground for science fiction writers.”