ESERO Space Goes To School

A Limerick born engineer looking to make his way into the space sector. Evan received bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Limerick. As the space sector is limited in Ireland I ventured abroad to do a Masters in Space Studies at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France. Evan will be joining you from Strasbourg andwill tell you all about his journey through space academia so far, and how you can do so too!

Nitish is in his first year of a PhD at WIT, working on the optical system of CubeSats, for satellite-based quantum networks. His main work is on the miniaturization of system components, as well as choosing appropriate protocol to establish a secure communication link between the satellite and optical ground station. The talk is going to focus briefly on quantum cryptography, satellite-based links to bring about a global quantum internet, and other quantum application of these networks in other fields of physics (Such as the detection of gravitational waves)

Eóin grew up in Kilmacanogue in Co. Wicklow. He went to school in St. Brendan’s College, Bray before starting his studies in UCD doing a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. Following that, he did a two year Masters in Mechanical Engineering with Business. Eóin then spent some time travelling and working in Australia. During this time, he decided to pursue a career in the space sector. He completed a Masters of Space Studies in the International Space University in Strasbourg, France. He is currently working as an Irish National Trainee with both the Spaceship EAC team and the Space Medicine Team. His work involves preparing medical devices for space flight, In-Situ Resource Utilization (IRSU) with lunar regolith simulant as well as working on using machine learning to help diagnose medical conditions acquired in space.

Juan has worked in space programmes at the European Space Agency (ESA) for 27 years. He has recently retired from ESA but remains passionate about space and likes talking about its contributions to society. He enjoys explaining space and the underlying Physics to young students and interested public. Juan is Spanish, has a Masters in Industrial Engineering by the Polytechnical University of Barcelona and has worked in Germany and The Netherlands. His wife Gabrielle is Irish and they spend now a lot of time in Co. Louth.

Aoife Murphy is a recent graduate from Technological University Dublin, formerly Dublin Institute of Technology, with a BE (Hons) focused in Mechanical Engineering. In 2018, she took part in ESA Academy’s Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Operations Training Course in ESEC-Galaxia in Belgium. She will shortly be attending the International Space University. She has also been recently accepted onto the Space Studies Program with the International Space University to be held next year. Aoife would like to share how she became passionate about space, her journey so far, her experience with the ESA course and the International Space University, as well as how she intends to continue pursuing a career in the space sector.

Dr Thiemann recently completed a PhD at the Open University studying binary stars. Her research is focused in Astronomy, astrophysics, stellar formation, and evolution.
Heidi has access to and works with telescopes like Super WASP, Faulkes Telescope, ASAS-SN, South African Astronomical Observatory.

In addition to being a Radio Presenter and DJ for the radio station Midlands 103, Seanie is a well-known amateur astronomer and has been an astronomy lecturer for many years. With the 50th anniversary of the moon landing just around the corner, Seanie will be discussing what it was really like for the astronauts on their journey to the moon. He will also go into detail about how they got there including a discussion of the Saturn V Rocket itself using his very own scale model of the rocket!

Aidan works at the European Space Agency, stationed in the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne. He can talk to students about Space, Astronauts, the European Astronaut Centre, the European Space Agency and future exploration.
He trained as a Material Scientist, and did a lot of research in the area of energy systems after that. Before that, he earned a Masters in Electronic Systems and a bachelors in Computer Applications. He has a very broad range of skills from all this, as a scientist and also as an IT guy. Skills like scientific writing and programming are tools he uses nearly daily

Ruth comes from Drogheda and studied Drama and Irish at Trinity College Dublin before going into broadcasting. She worked as a reporter at Newstalk and RTE but developed a passion for science and science communication and re-trained at the Open University and the International Space University. She now works with ATG-Europe as a News Editor for the European Space Agency. She loves space, stormchasing, travelling and reading books. A social media addict, Ruth got to see the final space shuttle launch as a guest at the NASA Social in July 2011. In her spare time, she teaches English and humanities at the International Space University and watches a lot of television. She lives in Leiden, in the Netherlands and has also lived in France, Germany, and the UK.

Aisling’s role at ESA is to ensure that the spacecraft gets to where it needs to go without breaking! “The launch of a spacecraft is very tough from a mechanical perspective, lots of shaking and noise and some loud bangs! These shocks and vibrations are the main drivers for the mechanical design of the spacecraft. It is my responsibility to ensure that every part of the spacecraft is going to be able to survive the launch. A lot of analyses are performed to confirm this before we ever build anything.”

Danielle works as a Resident Astronomer and Telescope Operator at Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork, Ireland,
and Coordinator of Space Week Ireland.

Danielle didn't originally go to school for astronomy or science; she actually has a degree in Spanish and studied several languages. Danielle found astronomy later in life.

Danielle is passionate about space and one of the main goals of her work is to communicate space, science, and astronomy to students and the public. She organizes many outreach programs throughout the year to make space accessible to as many people as possible.

Her favorite part of her job, however, is getting to use the telescope at the observatory. It's a 16" Schmidt Cassegrain Meade LX200R. Danielle works alongside the on-site Astrophysicist gathering images. The research that's done is mainly on blackholes and exoplanets but they also image other target in space to use as educational resources for schools.