Presenters
Presenters
Sunday Popo-OlaOla is ISSE Programme Director, Senior Research and Teaching Fellow and Outreach Lead in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London, and his work reflects the level of multidisciplinary expertise that he has obtained. His work cuts across three sub-sections within the Department namely Engineering Structures, Environmental, Transportation and Systems and Mechanics. Sunday teaches Engineering Construction, Communication and Creative Design to University participants. Sunday is also the founder of Creative Futures – Achieving your Potential. This is a special activity created for school pupils to enjoy fun-filled interactive learning, including inspiration by role models and mentors. Creative futures is offered all over the world.
Professor Jonathan Eastwood, Director, Imperial Sapce Lab, is a Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London, working in the Space and Atmospheric Physics group, part of the Department of Physics. His research interests include space weather, space plasma physics, and developing novel miniaturised instrumentation for space weather monitoring. He is an active participant in multiple NASA and ESA space science missions, and serves as Principal Investigator for the magnetometer experiments on the RadCube CubeSat and the planned Lagrange space weather mission. Since September 2019 he has served as Director of the Space Lab Network of Excellence, the multi-disciplinary Network of Excellence for all space-related activities at Imperial College London. It has >130 members drawn from across Imperial. The purpose of Space Lab is to bring together all of Imperial’s activities in space in a coordinated way for the benefit of its members, Imperial, and society at large. Its focus is on societal and community outreach, industry and enterprise, academic partnerships, and contributions to evidence-based policy.
Dr Helen Sharman CMG OBE is the first British astronaut and a world-class inspirational speaker. She was an industrial chemist before being selected for astronaut training, and in space she carried out a variety of experiments on the Mir space station. After her spaceflight, Helen became a science communicator, winning prizes for radio and TV programmes, and she managed research and teaching operations. Helen’s current positions include UK Outreach Ambassador at Imperial College London, President of the Institute of Science and Technology, and Science Museum Advisory Board member. She hosts the Zero Pressure podcast series jointly for Imperial’s Institute of Security Science and Technology and Saab.
Professor Washington Yotto Ochieng, EBS, FREng, is Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chair Professor in Positioning and Navigation Systems, Director of the Institute for Security Science and Technology (ISST) and Member of the Steering Committee of the Space Laboratory at Imperial College London. He is a Trustee of the Science Museum Group (SMG) and Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN), Chair of the Advisory Board of the Science Museum and Vice President of the RIN. He is a Scientific Advisor at the Department for Transport (DfT); Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
Greg Autry is a noted space management researcher, writer, and professor at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management as well as with Imperial College’s Institute for Security Science and Technology. Previously at the University of California and University of Southern California, Dr Autry served on the NASA Agency Review Team, as NASA’s White House Liaison and as chair of the safety working group for the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. He has provided AI and space tech consultation for Oxford University, while also teaching space entrepreneurship at the International Space University program of Florida Institute of Technology.
Alison Ahearn is an Educational Developer for the Space Science Engineering Foundation (SSE2F) and is a Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London. She specialises in complex, challenge-based learning, for which she won awards at Imperial and in industry (particularly for inventing the Constructionarium field course with industry partners in 2003). Originally a practicing lawyer, she also holds an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial.
Rajiv Bongirwar is the CEO of Hemraj Consulting and a leading expert in functional safety and security of complex systems. He is responsible for flagship product deployments such as the Lotus Evija and a key influencer of safety and security standards for autonomous systems.
Helen Brindley is Professor of Earth Observation in the Department of Physics, Imperial College London and co-leader of the College’s Earth Observation Network. She researches Earth's outgoing radiation, its relation to climate change, leads UK activities for the European Space Agency's FORUM mission, and serves as the Principal Investigator at Imperial College London for the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget instrument.
Paul Bruce is Reader in experimental high-speed aerodynamics at Imperial College London, with research interest on how air interacts with objects travelling at high speed, including understanding the shock waves which form on high-speed planes and designing atmospheric re-entry vehicles for future space exploration missions. Dr Bruce joined Imperial in 2011 and currently teaches undergraduate courses in aircraft aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics for re-entry vehicles.
Michel-Alexandre Cardin is Associate Professor in Computational Aided Engineering at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, and Director of the Strategic Engineering Laboratory. He works on systems design and optimization under uncertainty, focusing on the development and evaluation of new computational techniques, digital processes, and algorithms to support the design of complex engineered systems, with applications in energy, transportation, and space systems. He holds advanced degrees from prestigious institutions including MIT and the University of Toronto and has a background in aerospace engineering and space science.
Jan Cilliers FREng is Chair in Mineral Processing and has a background in terrestrial mining. He now leads a research team developing methods and equipment for mineral recovery, sizing and separation in space. They also consider space mining process design, scale and economics.
Dr Mireille Elhajj FRIN, MCIHT is Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Imperial College London and Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation. She is also the founder of a London-based consultancy Astra-terra Ltd specialising in consultancy on PNT and intelligent applications for smart solutions (www.astra-terra.com). Previously, she was a Lecturer and an “Infrastructure and Space Science Fellow” at the Institute for Security Science and Technology (ISST). She has published papers in Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), interference mitigation and novel integrity monitoring methods for multiple applications in telematics and smart cities. She holds a PhD from Imperial, where she researched the use of new GPS signals to improve accuracy for surface transport with TfL. She has an MSc in Financial Analysis and Fund Management (FAFM) from Exeter University, an MSc in Transport Engineering from Imperial, and a Diploma in Commercial Space Programs from Florida Tech. She is a member of various boards including the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) for CEE, EIS Council and the Centre Active Resilience and Security (CARS).
Jeni Giambona is the Head of Stakeholder Engagement within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Jeni got her Doctorate from the University of Reading and has 15+ years’ experience of working in the UK higher education sector, delivering support across STEM and HAAS subjects – with a key research engagement, impact and development focus.
Kosuke Ikeya is a researcher in Space Resource Utilisation (SRU). He tackles the challenge of optimising SRU plants' design and their deployment strategies considering uncertain parameters in the lunar environment (e.g. particle sizes of the lunar soil, regolith) and space mission operation (e.g. rocket launch failure). Prior to joining Imperial, he earned an MSc in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MEng in Engineering Sciences and Design from Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Aaron Knoll is Senior Lecturer in plasma propulsion for spacecraft at Imperial College London. His research develops novel low power plasma propulsion technologies for small spacecraft. He heads the Imperial Plasma Propulsion Laboratory (IPPL) at Imperial College London and has expertise in researching alternative propellants, MEMS-based electrolysis micro-propulsion, and hybrid electric + chemical propulsion for spacecraft.
Samantha Lavendar is a remote sensing expert in the field of marine and coastal science and management, and now Managing Director of Pixalytics Ltd, Plymouth, an independent consultancy specialising in Earth observation. With extensive experience in remote sensing, gained through her academic background and collaborations with esteemed organizations like ESA and NASA, Sam is a respected authority in the field. She has held leadership positions in BARSC and RSPSoc, showcasing her dedication to advancing remote sensing.
Jenny Lyons is Director of Education for SSEF (UK Charity). She is an expert in creating space-specialist STEMM outreach to schools in the UK. As a specialist science teacher bringing participants to the UK Space Design Competition at Imperial, Jenny was so impressed with the STEMM activity's impact that she became a volunteer and then Director of the UK and EU activity. The activity is highly regarded by sponsors such as the UKSA. With this background, Jenny develops bespoke project-briefs that result in space education activities with a strong 'wow' factor.
Christian Málaga-Chuquitaype is a civil engineer specialising in the response of structures to extreme loads and harsh environments. He leads the emerging structural technologies research group and has received recognition and awards for his contributions to structural mechanics, applied dynamics and extra-terrestrial structural design.
Philippa Mason is Senior Lecturer in Planetary Remote Sensing in the Department of Earth Science & Engineering, at Imperial College London and co-leader of the College’s Earth Observation Network. She is an Earth and planetary geologist specialising in satellite imagery analysis of rocks, minerals, geological structures, and tectonics on Earth and other planets.
Sa'id Mosteshar is the Director and Professor of International Space Law at the London Institute of Space Policy and Law. With over twenty-five years of experience as a Barrister and California Attorney, he has provided legal and policy advice to governments, international agencies, and major space corporations. Sa'id holds a bachelor's degree in physics and is actively engaged in space leadership councils and international committees, including the UK delegation to the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. He teaches space law and policy, and his expertise extends to arbitration cases involving orbital and frequency assignments as well as satellite-based data compression algorithms.
Joshua N Rasera is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the field of dry mineral processing in the Space and Terrestrial Resources Group at Imperial College London. He completed both a Bachelor and Master of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo and a Master of Science in Space Studies from the International Space University. Joshua also worked as the Lunar Mineral Processing Engineer for a private lunar exploration company in Luxembourg.
Matthew Santer is a Professor of Aerospace Structures at Imperial College London, and an expert in the design of advanced spacecraft structures and technologies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and served as chair of the AIAA Spacecraft Structures Technical Committee.
Mark Sephton is a Professor of Organic Geochemistry in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. His research is multidisciplinary and includes astrobiology and space missions. He has published over 250 scientific articles. In recognition of his pioneering work on analytically challenging extra-terrestrial samples, Sephton now orbits between Mars and Jupiter. He is currently a science team member for the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission that will collect samples of Mars for return to Earth, and the Europa Clipper mission that will use mass spectrometry to search for evidence of life in the subsurface ocean of Jupiter’s icy moon.
David Southwood is a Distinguished Research Fellow in the Physics Department at Imperial College and serves as the Chair of the London Institute for Space Policy and Law. With a significant academic career focused on space research, he founded the Space and Atmospheric Physics group at Imperial, held key positions at the European Space Agency (ESA), and contributed to the development of the EU/ESA Copernicus/Earth Explorer programs. Recognised for his contributions to space science and industry, he received a CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Stanley O. Starr a retired NASA physicist and engineer based in the UK who currently supports lunar mining research and education at Imperial College London. During his time at NASA, he held various leadership positions, including Branch Chief for Applied Sciences, where he managed a team of researchers focused on developing new technologies for space launch and exploration. With 37 years of experience at Kennedy Space Center, his contributions spanned multiple areas, including propellant detection, life support systems, cryogenic storage, sensors, and space exploration planning. He holds an MA in Physics from the University of South Florida.
Nick Voulvoulis is a Professor of Environmental Technology at Imperial College's Centre for Environmental Policy, where he also serves as Deputy Head of Department. With expertise in environmental management and the interface between science, engineering, and public policy, his research focuses on decoupling economic growth from natural resources and understanding the interactions between human and natural systems. Nick actively contributes to the industrial transition to a low carbon future, supports government policy development, and empowers individuals to engage in sustainable transformations