Co – Leads

Alison Waterman

Small Satellite PG Co-Lead
United States
[email protected]

Alison is an Electrical Engineer at Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, Colorado, USA, where she designs CubeSat bus hardware and provides technical support to several CubeSat missions. She is also pursuing a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado – Boulder, with a focus on Astrodynamics and Satellite Navigation Systems. Previously, she also contributed to Space Station research payloads and CubeSat deployer hardware at Nanoracks LLC. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from New York University Abu Dhabi. She is passionate about increasing access to space-based research for communities around the world and using small satellites as a tool for STEM education.

Daniel Wischert

Small Satellite PG Co-Lead
Germany
[email protected]

Daniel works in the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) of the European Space Agency (ESA) at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. As a space systems engineer he supports the feasibility assessment and conceptual design of future space missions and new spacecraft concepts. Daniel holds a M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He is very passionate about pushing the development of space flight and deep-space exploration activities. Through the last years, Daniel has held numerous positions within SGAC and continues to enjoy being an active member of this bright-minded space community.

Research Leaders

Maren Mashor

SAR Payload Design for Flood Monitoring in Nigeria, Lead
Nigeria

Maren is a young systems engineer with experience designing cloud computing solutions for small and medium enterprises. He focuses on designing and developing mission concepts for future satellite missions at the Nigerian Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA). Maren is passionate about integrating multidisciplinary space technologies to address rising challenges while promoting their adoption to drive sustainable development initiatives. He is an active member of SGAC, supporting and collaborating with like-minded individuals in advancing the space industry.

Dhanisha Sateesh

Climate Change Monitoring Satellite Mission Design, Lead
India

Dhanisha is a final year undergrad pursuing Aerospace Engineering and a Ground Software Optimization Intern at Pixxel, where she does mission design and analysis for hyperspectral satellite constellations. She loves researching supersonic flows, trajectory designs and implementing sustainability in space. She enjoys volunteering at several organizations like WoAA (Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics), Moon Village Association and SGAC. Passionate about improving diversity in the space sector, she is an active part of various ally and support groups. She is also fond of reading and writing and has written various short stories and poems along with several technical articles.

Aysha Alharam

Lessons Learned from Interplanetary SmallSat Missions, Lead
Bahrain

Aysha is a young professional who holds two master’s degrees. The first is MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering with space technology concentration and the second is an MSc in Information Technology. Aysha is the first Bahraini space engineer leading the Bahrain Space Team in satellite projects at National Space Science Agency in Bahrain. In addition, she is the first female Arab space engineer to give the command of launch to a satellite. Moreover, she is the project coordinator of the Aman payload project, which recently won the Payload Hosting Initiative organized by the UNOOSA and MBRSC in Dubai. Aysha has a total of 28 published research papers in very well-known conferences and journals. She is a mentor at the space4women mentorship program. She conducted more than 40 public awareness workshops to showcase the importance of space science and its applications. In addition to the public awareness workshops, Aysha participated in more than 15 conferences as a speaker, where she shared her knowledge of space system technology. 

Andrew Karim

Study of Small Satellite Applications for High-Resolution Greenhouse Gas Monitoring, Lead
Canada

Andrew holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Science in Physics. Andrew’s research specializes in mid-infrared fiber laser sources and amplifiers, which have many applications in remote sensing, biomedicine or telecommunications. Passionate about science, Andrew has been involved in space related projects both at the national and international level. Andrew presented his Capstone engineering project at IAC 2022, sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency as part of the International Space Education Board student program, which consisted of a lunar rover radiator design. Andrew is currently part of SEDS-Canada as the project manager for their stratospheric balloon competition (CAN-SBX), helping Canadian universities launch their payload on board Canadian Space Agency’s high altitude balloon platform.