SGAC welcomes new team members!

SGAC is proud to announce the following appointments to our team after the latest round of vacancy applications.

  • Space Technology for Earth Applications Project Group Co-Lead – Swarnajyoti Mukherjee
  • Space Safety and Sustainability Project Group Co-Lead – Alessandra Capurro
  • Near Earth Object Project Group Co-Lead – Smiriti Srivastava
  • Near Earth Object Project Group Co-Lead & Events Coordination Team Member – Sarah Cader
  • Events Coordination Team Member – Usama Ahmed  
  • Events Coordination Team Member – Alejandro Sans Monguiló
  • General Counsel Team Member – Geetanjali Kamat
  • General Counsel Team Member – Lizeth Sanchez Aguirre
  • General Counsel Team Member – Priscilla Sze Ying Sung
  • Alumni Team Co-Lead – Harriet Brettle

If you are interested in being part of the SGAC Team, you can find the latest vacancies here.

Swarnajyoti Mukherjee

Space Technology for Earth Applications Project Group Co-Lead

Space Technology for Earth Applications Project Group Co-Lead & Space Mission Engineer working in Italy. Building SpaceTech venture with experience in Entrepreneurship, Finance and Space Economy.

Alessandra Capurro

Space Safety and Sustainability Project Group Co-Lead

Alessandra Capurro
Alessandra is an aerospace engineer who has been focusing on environmental sustainability for the past two years.

Smiriti Srivastava

Near Earth Object Project Group Co-Lead

Smiriti recently graduated with a Professional Second level Master’s in Space Missions Science, Design and Applications from the University of Bologna, Italy. During this master’s, her professional training focussed on High Energy Astrophysics missions and payloads at the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Bologna. She completed her first master’s in Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and Nanyang Technological University (TUM Asia). She was invited to ETH Zurich to perform her master’s research that expanded her skills and capability in state-of-art space technologies. In 2018, her passion to work for space education led her to lead, and mentor a student team at Astropreneurs Hub in Singapore for the development, operation and successful launch of a NASA-qualified research payload on the ISS.<br /> Smiriti has always been actively engaged in the global space community through also participating in committees of IAF and strives to make a positive impact amongst youth by raising awareness about the objectives of United Nations for peaceful uses of outer space, detection and tracking of potential impacts of NEOs, policies for global cooperation for planetary defense and mitigation plans. For this objective, she aspires to promote the UN’s sustainable development goals, STEM and Space education.

Sarah Cader

Near Earth Object Project Group Co-Lead & Events Coordination Team Member

Sarah Cader is a master’s graduate in Astronomy from Osmania University, India. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Madras University, where she undertook the roles of NSS secretary and the college magazine editor. She is currently the Director of Operations at WoAA (Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics) India. She also served as the Events Director for the Indian Women in Space Conference (IWSC) 2022 and organized the 2-day conference. In 2021, she got selected and attended the ARIES training school in observational astronomy. She has been a delegate at the Space Generation Congress (SGC) 2021, the Space Generation Fusion Forum (SGFF) 2022, and a WG moderator at SG[India] 2022. She is an advocate for student mental health, with her recent research focussing on the mental well-being of students and their corresponding concerns, in the space sector. She believes that the mental health of students is a crucial thing for the prosperity of space research and industry. She presented this research paper at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2021. She strongly believes that diversity and inclusivity are the main pillars for a better space community in the future and she works towards the representation of different genders and ethnicities within the space sector. She is highly skilled in people management, event management, and PR, and has experience in working with Python, and MS office.

Usama Ahmed

Events Coordination Team Member

Usama Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Institute of Space Technology (IST), Pakistan and is now pursuing MS in Aerospace Engineering with a specialization in Guidance, Navigation and Controls. He has been working in the areas of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Space Awareness for the past 10 years. He has attained practical experience related to GNSS technology and its applications. At the same time, he has been actively involved in the planning and execution of national and international space outreach campaigns. He is acting as a Co-Principal Investigator at Space Education and GNSS Research Labs at the National Center of GIS and Space Applications, Pakistan and is actively involved in space education, awareness and popularization. He has designed and executed several International Conferences, National level Space Technology workshops and country-wide mega space awareness events including World Space Week, Yuri’s Night and NASA Space Apps Challenge. He is also coordinating the academic and research activities of the GNSS graduate program at the Institute of Space Technology. In pursuance of his passion for space awareness, he co-founded a startup (Space Technology Education and Popularization – STEP) focused on spreading space awareness among the general masses. He has been working with SGAC since 2017, and is currently the National Point of Contact for Pakistan, in his current role with SGAC, he has organized several SGAC events in the country. His efforts have been well recognized and he has gained several distinguished awards to his name.

Alejandro Sans Monguiló

Events Coordination Team Member

Recent MSc graduate in Space Science and Technology, passionate about space and human exploration. Versatile and autodidact in a wide range of areas: management, nutrition, language learning, astrobiology, etc. Member of the Event Coordination team at SGAC, and eager to participate in exciting space projects.

Geetanjali Kamat

General Counsel Team Member

Geetanjali is currently pursuing an Advanced LL.M. in Air and Space Law at Leiden University. Before her enrolment in this course, she worked as an associate with the general corporate team at a top-tier law firm in India. Since 2018, Geetanjali has been a co-founder of ‘The Indian Review of Corporate and Commercial Laws’, a blog that publishes articles on contemporary legal issues. She is also an external member at ‘The Centre of Aviation and Space Laws’, an academic centre at the National University of Juridical Sciences, India. When time permits, Geetanjali likes to indulge in creative writing and painting.

Lizeth Sanchez Aguirre

General Counsel Team Member

Lizeth is a native of Mexico. She migrated to the U.S.A at age 14, where she has lived ever since. She recently graduated from law school and is preparing to take the California Bar Exam. Lizeth is passionate about space and is very excited to use her legal skills and knowledge as a team member of the legal team at SGAC.

Priscilla Sze Ying Sung

General Counsel Team Member

Priscilla is a Trainee Solicitor in Hong Kong, China with an area of interest in space law and policy. She completed the Harvard University Summer School on Space Exploration: Law, Policy and Ethics and won the Best Delegate Award at the SGAC x ECSL Model UN COPUOS 2022. Her time at university was marked by a string of awards for outstanding performance in mooting competitions, including the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition and the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Recently, she joined the Asia Pacific Oceania Space Association as a Research Analyst on space law and policy. In her spare time, Priscilla enjoys dancing, making videos and spending time with friends and family.

Harriet Brettle

Alumni Team Co-Lead

Harriet is currently Head of Market Analysis and Business Intelligence at the European Space Agency in the Telecoms and Integrated Applications (TIA) directorate. Harriet is also the former Chair of the Space Generation Advisory Council (2020-2022). She previously worked as Head of Business Analysis at Astroscale on debris removal and in-orbit servicing and served on the Steering Board of the Global Network of Sustainability in Space (GNOSIS). With a background in finance having worked at the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as well as a master’s degree in planetary science and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Harriet is passionate about commercial sustainability and emerging market opportunities within the space ecosystem.