Professor Palin
EDFM // Engineering / Engineers
A Grade 5 Thruster specialist based in Arque, reached through Marco Qwent after travelling at least 5,000 light-years from your career start location.
Professor Ishmael Palin is a ship Engineer based at Abel Laboratory in the Arque system. He is reached through Marco Qwent and is best known for providing Grade 5 Thruster Engineering. He also provides Frame Shift Drive Engineering through Grade 3.[1][2]
Palin is one of the primary Engineers for commanders seeking maximum-grade Thruster modifications, including Grade 5 Clean, Dirty, and Reinforced drives.[1]
Field note
Unlocking Marco Qwent is only the beginning of Palin's access requirements. You must also progress far enough with Marco, travel at least 5,000 light-years from your career start location, and provide 25 Sensor Fragments before Palin's workshop becomes available.
Location
- System: Arque
- Facility: Abel Laboratory
- Engineer type: Ship Engineer
- Referral required: Marco Qwent
- System permit required: No
How to Discover Professor Palin
Professor Palin is discovered through Marco Qwent.
Reach Grade 3 access and progress at least one-third of the way toward Grade 4 with Marco to receive the referral to Palin.[2]
Field note
Receiving Marco's referral makes Palin known to you. The separate 5,000-light-year meeting requirement must also be satisfied before Palin can be unlocked.
How to Receive an Invitation
Reach a maximum distance of at least 5,000 light-years from your career start location.[1]
This is a distance-from-start requirement, not a cumulative travel requirement. Flying a total of 5,000 Ly through many shorter trips does not satisfy it unless your recorded maximum distance from your career start location reaches at least 5,000 Ly.
You only need to reach the required distance; you do not need to remain there after the condition has been recorded.
Tip
A trip made specifically for Palin can also generate substantial exploration data. Once Palin is unlocked, exploration data can be sold at Abel Laboratory to help increase your reputation with him.
How to Unlock Professor Palin
To gain access to Professor Palin's Engineering workshop:
- Reach Grade 3 access and at least one-third progress toward Grade 4 with Marco Qwent.
- Receive Marco's referral to Professor Palin.
- Reach a maximum distance of at least 5,000 Ly from your career start location.
- Obtain 25 Sensor Fragments.
- Travel to Abel Laboratory in Arque.
- Provide the 25 Sensor Fragments to Professor Palin.
- Enter the Engineer workshop and begin increasing your reputation with Palin.
Important
Sensor Fragments are Manufactured Engineering materials. They are not commodities and do not occupy normal cargo space.[3]
Obtaining Sensor Fragments
Sensor Fragments are Thargoid-related Manufactured materials. Current material data lists them as obtainable from sources including:
- destroyed Thargoid Sensors;
- Non-Human Signal Sources; and
- Thargoid surface sites.[3]
See Sensor Fragments for current collection methods and recommended locations.
Field note
Chloe Sedesi has the same 25-Sensor-Fragment unlock requirement. If you intend to unlock both Engineers, plan your collection accordingly.
Field note
Current Engineer data notes that station services may not become available immediately after Palin is unlocked. If the workshop or other expected services do not appear after completing the unlock, logging out and back in may make them available.[1]
Increasing Engineer Reputation
Reputation with Professor Palin can be increased by:
- crafting Engineering modifications at Abel Laboratory; or
- selling exploration data at Abel Laboratory.[1]
Higher Engineer reputation gives access to the higher grades Palin supports for each blueprint.
See Engineer Reputation for how ship Engineer reputation, grade access, blueprint progression, referrals, and alternative reputation methods work.
Tip
If your 5,000-light-year journey generated exploration data, consider saving some of it until after Palin is unlocked. Selling it at Abel Laboratory can help raise your Engineer reputation without relying entirely on repeated Engineering rolls.
Engineer Unlock Chain
Professor Palin belongs to the Elvira Martuuk branch of the ship Engineer network.
The route to Palin is:
Elvira Martuuk
└── Marco Qwent
└── Professor Palin
Marco Qwent can also refer Commanders to Chloe Sedesi and Lori Jameson:
Elvira Martuuk
└── Marco Qwent
├── Chloe Sedesi
├── Lori Jameson
└── Professor Palin
Professor Palin does not currently lead to another Engineer in the ship Engineer referral network.[4]
Field note
Chloe Sedesi is not unlocked through Professor Palin. Both Palin and Chloe are separate referrals from Marco Qwent, and both have their own unlock requirements.
See Engineer Unlock Guide for the complete referral network.
Available Engineering
Professor Palin's Engineering coverage is shown below. The listed grade is the highest grade he can apply to that module.[1]
| Module | Available blueprints | Maximum grade |
|---|---|---|
| Thrusters |
|
Grade 5 |
| Frame Shift Drive |
|
Grade 3 |
Palin's primary specialty is therefore Thrusters. His Frame Shift Drive capability is useful for lower-grade work and Experimental Effects, but commanders seeking Grade 5 FSD Engineering will need another Engineer.
Experimental Effects
Experimental Effects are separate from the main Engineering blueprint. A compatible module can normally have one Experimental Effect in addition to its blueprint modification.
Professor Palin can apply Experimental Effects to both Thrusters and Frame Shift Drives.
Thrusters
Available Thruster Experimental Effects include:[5]
Frame Shift Drive
Available Frame Shift Drive Experimental Effects include:[6]
See Experimental Effects for the effects, tradeoffs, and material costs of each option.
Field note
Experimental Effects cannot be applied through ordinary Remote Engineering. The module must be taken to an Engineer who works on that module.
Recommended Engineering
Professor Palin's most important capability is his Grade 5 Thruster Engineering.
Tip
Common general-purpose choice: Dirty + Drag Drives
For many ships, Dirty Thruster Engineering combined with the Drag Drives Experimental Effect is a strong general-purpose choice when maximum speed, boost speed, and manoeuvrability are the priority.
This is a recommendation rather than a universal rule. Clean, Reinforced, or a different Experimental Effect may be more appropriate for specialised builds.
Dirty Engineering increases Thruster performance at the cost of higher power draw, greater thermal load, and reduced integrity. The exact tradeoff becomes more pronounced at higher grades.[5]
Field note
Drive Distributors and Drag Drives affect Thruster performance differently. Do not assume Drag Drives is automatically optimal for every ship and Thruster configuration; specialised builds should be compared using the actual ship mass and module characteristics.
Blueprint Pinning
After earning sufficient reputation with Professor Palin, one of his blueprints can be pinned for use through Remote Engineering.
Tip
EDFM recommendation: Dirty Thrusters is a strong default blueprint to pin at Professor Palin.
Palin provides Dirty Engineering through Grade 5, and it is widely useful across combat and general-purpose ship builds. New Pilots Initiative's current suggested pinning plan likewise assigns Dirty Drive to Professor Palin.[7]
If you also unlock Chloe Sedesi, she can be used to pin another Grade 5 Thruster blueprint, such as Clean.
Important
A pinned blueprint does not allow you to apply Experimental Effects remotely. Experimental Effects still require visiting an appropriate Engineer workshop.
What Palin Cannot Fully Engineer
Professor Palin provides maximum-grade Engineering for Thrusters, but his Frame Shift Drive Engineering stops at Grade 3.
His maximum grades are:
- Thrusters: Grade 5
- Frame Shift Drive: Grade 3[1]
For higher-grade Frame Shift Drive Engineering:
- Felicity Farseer provides Grade 5 FSD Engineering.
- Elvira Martuuk provides Grade 5 FSD Engineering.
- Mel Brandon provides Grade 5 FSD Engineering in Colonia.[4]
Other Engineers who provide Grade 5 Thruster Engineering include:
- Chloe Sedesi; and
- Mel Brandon.[4]
Palin therefore remains one of the primary Bubble Engineers for maximum-grade Thruster work, but he is not a maximum-grade FSD Engineer.
What Next?
Professor Palin is the end of his referral branch and does not currently introduce another Engineer.
After unlocking him, your next Engineering target depends on which modules you still need to improve.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Professor Palin — Engineer, Inara, accessed 2026-08-14.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Engineer Highlight, New Pilots Initiative, accessed 2026-08-14.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sensor Fragment — Component, Inara, accessed 2026-08-14.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Engineers, Inara, accessed 2026-08-14.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thrusters — Dirty, Inara, accessed 2026-08-14.
- ↑ Frame Shift Drive — Increased Range, Inara, accessed 2026-08-14.
- ↑ Engineering Guide, New Pilots Initiative, accessed 2026-08-14.