SGC Organising Team Members
More than a year before SGC begins, there are people volunteering countless hours during their early mornings, lunch breaks, and evenings to put together the experience that you, the delegates and partners, attend every year. A huge thank you to the wonderful team we have this year working towards SGC 2022!
Victoria Carter-Cortez is an astrophysicist and aspiring space policymaker. She currently works as a consultant at PwC’s Space Practice where she is actively involved in projects that support both the public and private sector in decision-making, space policy development, and carrying out economic impact assessments. Prior to this, Victoria was working at the European Space Agency’s Washington D.C. Office as part of ESA’s External Relations Department. There, she analysed developments from key space actors and worked to strengthen international partnerships across the Atlantic. Victoria carried out her Master’s degree at University College London where, in partnership with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, she investigated Jupiter’s X-ray auroral activity. Opening opportunities in STEM, particularly for women, is close to Victoria’s heart. To this end, she has worked as an academic mentor internationally, sharing her passion for space and delivering interactive courses to engage and inspire the next generation of space scientists and engineers.
Shayna Hume is a Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Aerospace Engineering department. Her research focus is on Martian Entry, Descent, and Landing and GNC, and background is in systems engineering. She has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Miami, an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from CU Boulder, and an M.E. in Aerospace Program Management from CU Boulder. She is a 2018 Matthew Isakowitz Fellow and 2021 Future Space Leader Fellow and has interned previously at NASA, Lockheed Martin, the Aerospace Corporation, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Previously at SGAC, Shayna has been part of research TURTLES teams in SEPG for Lunar Sustainability, helped co-found and lead the Mentorship Program for two years, and been part of the 2022 Logistics Team for SGFF. She is now the SGC Deputy Manager for 2022 in Paris.
Delegates Team
Chimira Nicole Andres (MSc) is a Planetary Geophysicist who is a current PhD student at York University, Canada and Université de Nantes, France. She researches the movement of ice in glacial and periglacial (permafrost) environments using ground penetrating radar (GPR), LiDAR, and radar remote sensing in the Canadian High Arctic and uses these cold, high alpine environments on Earth as a basis of comparison (planetary analogues) to cold environments on Mars for future scientific and technological developments in future human missions. Currently, Chimira is the outgoing president of the Students for the Exploration of Space (SEDS-Canada) and is a huge advocate for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) Education. She most recently finished working for the European Space Agency in ESA-ESTEC, Netherlands as a part of the Earth Observation, Space Technology, and Environmental Sciences STEM Didactics in the ESA Education Team and has been part of the SGAC team for ~4 years now (previously in SGC 2021 Organizing Team and SG[Canada]!
Annemijn is currently pursuing her LLM in International & European Law at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is specializing in public international law and international trade and investment law. She is also completing her LLB in Dutch law and holds a BA (Hons.) in Liberal Arts & Sciences, having majored in law and economics. Besides her studies, she is a volunteer for the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) Knowledge Constellation project and is part of a legal clinic program. Growing up internationally in five countries has developed her interest in global governance and international cooperation, and she hopes to pursue her (academic) career in the field of international space law, policy and diplomacy.
Clara is a member of the Gender and Diversity Project Group, leading the PADAWANS long-term project which aims at organizing workshops in school for children, involving their parents, to raise awareness about diversity in the space sector. Previously, she was part of the SG[France]2020 organising team and is now one of the SGC Delegates Team members in 2022. Clara is a project engineer, working on topics related to health and space at MEDES (Institute for Space Medicine and Physiology). She is an engineer in applied mathematics from INSA Rouen and space systems engineering from ISAE-Supaero in France. She did several internships in the space industry, including CNES and ESA during 6 months.
Biotechnology Engineering student named by the Allbiotech organization as 2021 Latin American Leader in Biotechnology for her work on Space Mission Design, Space Biology, and gender equality. She is co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Orbital Space Technologies, the first Central American company to provide aerospace consulting, where she is currently working on their first mission related to fungi dual culturing under microgravity conditions. Also, she is part of the MUSA Project team, winner of ICECubes category: First Place and the IAA Award at the Tokyo 2019 Mission Idea Contest hosted by UNISEC. Fiorella was awarded as an Emerging Space Leader 2021 by the IAF, attending the 72nd International Astronautical Congress where she presented her paper “Dual Culture in Microgravity Conditions: Potential Application in the Study of Symbiotic and Antagonistic Interactions for Plant Growth in Space”.
Johanne is a Physics Graduate from the University of Ghana who has previously served as the general and financial secretary of the Physics Students’ Association of Ghana. She is an active member of the Space Generation Advisory Council and was recently assigned as the delegate team leader of the 6th South American Space Generation Workshop and the delegate team member of the 5th African Space Generation Workshop. In addition to this, Johanne is an advocate for Women in Physics in Ghana and Genuis in Africa. Johanne believes that space and outer space is a timeless topics, thus she wants to inculcate deep learning and space to discover characteristics in large datasets to help understand the cosmos. We exist because the cosmos exist.
PR&Comms Team
Olga currently works as a Senior Manager of Marketing and Public Relations at Firefly Aerospace, a NewSpace Unicorn, where she helps lead the efforts to build a global brand. Prior to joining Firefly, Olga has worked at Dassault Systemes, Fortune 50 software company, and v(room)), a Paris-based marketing and strategic consultancy agency where she advised top technology and luxury companies on building brand presence in the digital realm. Among her clients were Moët &Chandon, Hennessy, Audemars Piguet, and SOLIDWORKS. Olga also serves on the Communications Team for SGC 2022, one of the Space Generation Advisory Council’s three annual global events bringing together students and young professionals across the space industry. Olga holds a Master In International Marketing from KEDGE Business School, a Master of Science in International Marketing and Management from ISM University of Management and Economics, and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Management from LCC International University, where she graduated Cum Laude. In her free time, Olga volunteers at Alliance Française enjoys travel, experiencing new cultures, and reading.
Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, Alexandria is a first-generation in college Aerospace Engineering student at the University of Central Florida. Her passion lies amongst the stars, as she strives to become an integral leader in expanding access to aerospace through just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive (JEDI) efforts. She has previously interned at NASA and Virgin Galactic, and is an inaugural 2021 Patti Grace Smith Fellow. Alexandria is the co-founder and Vice President of Naut Normal (NautNormal.org), a nonprofit with a mission to build a community of space-minded individuals that accelerates the commercialization of space and expands the minds of our youth through education, exposure, and simulated astronaut training.
Ying Rui is a second-year undergraduate, majoring in Flight Vehicle Design and Engineering at Beihang University. She is very passionate about aerospace and climate action so she is very active in various youth organizations. She is currently the Vice President at Young Malaysian Engineers and holds the position of column writer at the School of Aeronautical Engineering Media Center. Previously, she joined the AP-SGOW and emerged as the most engaged delegate. She also won the SGAC World Space Week Quiz.
Smit Patel was born and brought up in Ahmedabad, India, and currently pursuing his Master’s in Aerospace Engineering at Technical University Braunschweig in Germany. He is an International Space University alumnus and successfully completed SSP21. He completed his Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering at Indus University, Ahmedabad, India with the Student of the year award in his 3rd academic year. He is a member of the European Association of Aerospace Students EUROAVIA and president of local society in Braunschweig. He is also SpaceCom at Deep Space Initiative. Smit is a polyglot, science communicator, and space influencer. Smit is striving to build a sustainable future beyond the Earth.
Rannveig is a 1st year PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where she is modelling hypervelocity impact on spacecraft structures. She finished her MSc in Mechanical Engineering at NTNU in 2021. During her time as a student, she founded and was the project manager for NTNU’s student rocket team Propulse NTNU, and co-founded and was president of Space NTNU. She is passionate about showing students all the opportunities they have in the space sector and motivating them to pursue space-related careers, both in Norway and internationally. Rannveig has been a delegate at SGC in 2018 and 2019 and has served as NPoC for Norway from 2019 to 2022.
Programming Team
Marcos is currently part of the Spaceship FR team at the French Space Agency (CNES) and the Space Advanced Concepts Laboratory at the French Engineering School ISAE SUPAERO. His work in space began when he and his friends co-founded a high-powered rocketry student organization to compete at the Spaceport America Cup during his four-year bachelor studies at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. They built four rockets and partnered with companies like SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, who sponsored their team, among many other businesses in their area. His team also promoted space exploration through many different educational events within their college and other schools in their area. In France, he found a chance to work at CNES while getting his master’s degree at ISAE SUPAERO, specializing in Space Systems. As a space Systems Engineer, his primary responsibility is to implement Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Tools and Methods to design and analyze Space Systems for Human Spaceflight.
Ekaterina is a physicist, she received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Physics in Russia and her Master of Science in Fluid Mechanics and Energetics in France. She has experience in a range of fields and took on roles within research, engineering, strategic planning, fundraising, team and project management, and event organization. As an active member of the SGAC, Ekaterina participated in SGFF 2021 as part of the Organizing Team (Delegates Team), where she moderated breakout session discussion on Innovations for Technologies with Secure World Foundation. In addition, she also moderated the working group of Lockheed Martin on the Science and discovery enabled by a Mars Sample Return during the SGC 2021 in Dubai. As part of SEPG, she participated with the team in the Mars City State Design Competition (top 10 out of 175 teams) and the Moon Base Design Contest (1st place). The Moon Base project grew into a book for which Ekaterina is the Sci &Tech Co-Lead. Ekaterina is also part of the Space Generation Advocacy and Policy Platform as part of the TURTLE (Technical Unit Research for a Thriving Lunar Ecosystem) initiative. Outside of SGAC, she participated in the organization of SpaceCon 2021 (Programs Team), where she designed a panel discussion on business challenges and opportunities in Europe, the USA and China. Her interests include designing station missions on Moon / Mars, advanced space concepts and technologies, technology and exploration roadmaps, and strategic planning. She enjoys working in cross-functional teams and developing people to help them work more efficiently. Ekaterina believes that our background and location is never a problem, but always an opportunity for collaboration.
Graduated from INSA Toulouse (Mechanical Engineering) and ISAE-Supaero (Space Systems Engineering), Pauline Delande is now working at CNES in Toulouse as Satellite Operations Engineer for Earth Observation Satellites. In a few words, her role is to carry out satellite operations, ensure subsystem and equipment performances (for both platform and payload) and investigate anomalies. Previously, she has been part of the SEEDS 6-month student european program to design facilities to produce propellant by exploiting lunar in-situ resources and during a 6-month internship at CNES, she has been working on an Zero-G experience to test the deployment of CubeSats during a parabolic flight campaign. Within the Space Generation Advisory Council, Pauline is the National Point of Contact for France since 2019 and the Diversity and Gender Equality (Our Giant Leap) Project Group Co-Lead since 2021.
Sapna Rao is a Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin Commercial Civil Space. She has worked on human space exploration missions ranging from the Artemis missions to cryogenic demonstration missions. Her focuses are on Systems Architecture and applying Machine Learning to space missions. Additionally, she is passionate about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and is an active member in Lockheed Martin’s Women’s Impact Network where she organizes professional development events for women and minorities. She is also working with the Space Frontier Foundation to create a Diversity Equity and Inclusion toolkit to aid organizations and conferences. She prioritizes STEM outreach and is an advocate for minority representation in engineering. For SGAC, she is currently on the OGL PADAWANS team for STEAM and is leading the SEPG RAISE team to design a Mercury Sample Return Mission. She graduated Virginia Tech with a Bachelor’s of Science in Aerospace Engineering in 2018.
Sejal Budholiya is an artist, author, anchor, dancer, entrepreneur and mechanical engineering student from India. She is passionate about aerospace product development, space sustainability and utilizing design in space for life on Earth. She serves as the Chairperson of SEDS India and is the National Representative at SEDS Earth. At SGAC, she is the lead co-editor for the Domi Inter Astra book (SEPG) and the research & experiments coordinator at FIGURES. As the Swarovski: Creatives for our Future Cohort she is leading a campaign ‘Gaia’ and presented her ideas for menstruation in space at the UN General Assembly-High Segment. Currently, she is interning at Collins Aerospace and is an Offsite student.
Logistics Team
Born in Paris but bread in Toulouse, the only thing Raphael loves more than puns is Space. In this small region of France, where duck is more often met in dishes than in the wild, Raphael studied up to an Engineering master in Telecommunications, Computer Networks and Computer science. Deciding to spread his wings and go off the beaten path, Raphael did a few internships around Europe in companies like SES and Airbus, on software development for Space, Automated lab testing and Satcom studies. Raphael is now working as System Engineer in the Future Products department at CPG, Airbus UK, involved in current R&D developments for Airbus Defence & Space Telecom and Navigation processors for satellites. Raphael loves two things in the Space industry : the daily technological breakthroughs and the implied teamwork without which the former would not be made possible. Raphael has always been involved in associations, from homemade consulting company with friends to SGAC as part of the organising team for SG[France]2021. Raphael is always keen to discuss technologies used for Space, and always open to new ideas.
Emma is a young Satellite Operations engineer at Oneweb in London. Born in France, she grew up in Paris and studied engineering at ECE Paris engineering school. She then moved to Toulouse to study Space Systems at ISAE-SUPAERO before starting her first job in London, fulffiling her dream to work in the Space sector.
Josh Ingersoll is a second-year graduate student at The George Washington University Space Policy Institute. He is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology where he holds both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. Josh is currently working as a Satellite Regulatory Engineer at Amazon’s Project Kuiper where he works to develop solutions to radiofrequency (RF) interference problems as well as Space Traffic Management (STM) and space debris mitigation concerns. Josh is also quite active in the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship program in which he took part in 2019. The program matches upperclassmen undergraduate and graduate students with executive mentors and internships in the Commercial Space Industry. His research interests include policy surrounding the regulation and environmental impacts of satellite mega-constellations as well as interactions between US commercial entities and foreign governments. Josh is also pursuing an MBA through the George Washington School of Business concurrent with his Space Policy work. In his free time Josh sings baritone with the Fairfax Jubilaires and follows the Buffalo Bills religiously.
Tania is a young aerospace system engineer working in Thales Alenia Space in Turin (Italy). Born in Germany and raised in France, from a family of artists and engineers, today she fulfill her dreams of working in the European space industry. As an engineer at day, and as a SGAC volunteer at night. Within the association, she was the SG[France]2021 event manager and is the leader of the DIVINAS long term project of the Diversity and Gender Equality Project Group. She is also in the sponsors and communications team of the first SGAC Model UN event in collaboration with the European Center for Space Law. Constantly looking for new challenges and opportunities, she’s a very motivated, enthusiastic and quick learner who enjoys space related projects, especially working as a team.
Alumni Night Team
Sahith Reddy Madara is a Venture Manager for the Space Stream at Creative Destruction Lab – HEC Paris. Previously, he worked as a Space Strategy Consultant for the Euroconsult Paris Office, Research Engineer for the SAASST – UAE Space Agency projects, and Graduate Engineer for Collins Aerospace. He was also privileged to be a part of the most selective Abu-Dhabi’s MASDAR Future Sustainability Leader’s program. As part of scientific research, Sahith has published 35 research and review papers in various international peer-reviewed journals/conferences across the world. Outside the office, Sahith acts as the UAE’s National Point of Contact for the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) in support of the United Nations program on Space Applications, and he is also an Advisory Board Member for AzurX (space investments and business advisory). Sahith holds an Advanced Master’s degree in Systems Engineering from ISAE-SUPAERO (France) and B.Tech. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Amity University Dubai (UAE).
Notably, international awards Sahith received for his work include: the “Pioneer Award” from the SGAC (Austria), “24 Under 24 Leaders and Innovators in STEAM and Space Award” by The Mars Generation – Aerojet Rocketdyne (USA), Included in the “20 under 35 list” of the Space and Satellite Professionals International (USA), “Research Innovation Award” from the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UAE), Elected as a “Fellow” of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) in London, and many more.
Delphine URBAH is a Human Sciences student specialising in Value Systems and International Relationships at PSL. She Is interested in the expansion of the space sector to a broader set of people and wants to take seriously the idea of a future Space for all. In this aspect she studies the inclusion of human of different background, nationalities, and ideas, in space. She is presenting her master thesis this year on the ritual practices of astronauts in space. Last year she was doing an internship at the CNRS under Sebastian Grevshmuhl guidance and participated in the writing of an article for the CNES on Space Visual History. She was also a delegate at past IAC and SGC and participated in the UN model COPUOS patronized by ESA (ECSL) last May.
