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 2023!
Marcos is an Associate Systems, Product and PLM Engineer working at Capgemini in Toulouse, France. He currently supports Airbus on the development and implementation of their Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) activities. He has a master of science in aerospace engineering, specializing in space systems engineering. He previously worked for the French Space Agency (CNES) and the french engineering school ISAE SUPAERO gaining experience as a space systems engineer and researcher in various technical areas concerning space exploration and human spaceflight. In 2021, Marcos was recognized as one of 25 Emerging Space Leaders by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Dubai, UAE.
Alessandra is a young professional with a background in International Relations, Intelligence, and Space Policy. Alessandra took her first steps in the space sector in 2015, joining the European Space Agency (ESA) Strategy Department in Paris with a focus on Member States’ space policy developments. In 2016, Alessandra was the recipient of the ASI-SIOI fellowship, bringing her to Vienna to work at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI). There she investigated the role of private actors in the space sector and had the opportunity of learning more about the contribution of space technology to SDGs. Currently, Alessandra works full-time at Eurisy, facilitating the uptake of satellite-based solutions by societal actors. Since 2021, Alessandra has been a member of the IAF EO Technical Committee and is part of the organizing committee of the IAF Launchpad Mentorship Initiative. Within the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), Alessandra served as Project Groups Coordinator between 2018 and 2022. She is now SGC Deputy Manager for 2023 in Baku.
Delegates Team
Annemay (Annemijn in Dutch) has a background in public international law and economics and is currently studying for an MSc in Global Governance & Ethics at UCL, London (Department of Political Science). She is interested in the politics and challenges facing international cooperation and governance in the space domain, and topics such as space safety and sustainability. Previously, she has taken courses on space law and policy (including the ECSL Summer Course), and she was part of the Organising Team for the 2022 SGC in Paris.
Gourav Namta is a Space Systems Engineer who recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Space Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin. He is currently working as a Space Systems Engineer at ConstellR.
A recipient of the 2019 Asia-Pacific Space Leaders Award, Gourav has been involved with SGAC for over 5 years now and has served different roles within the organization including being the Jobs Board Manager for the inaugural SGAC Jobs Board and the Sponsorship Manager for SG[India]. Apart from SGAC, he is an active member of the IAF Space Entrepreneurship and Investment Committee. Gourav is excited to be a part of the SGC Organizing team and believes that SGC 2023 in Baku will set a precedent for emerging space nations around the world and establish their undeniable significance in the NewSpace economy.
Talha Noor is a professional Pilot with specialized solo & aerobatics certfications on 04 different aircraft systems and 08 years of cumulative flying experience on Super Mushhak, Cessna T-37B, Aerospatiale Alouette III and Leonardo AW-139. He is a post-graduate student of IR, a Bachelor of Aviation Sciences and a qualified Flight Safety Officer (FSO) certified by CAA with PGD in Aviation Safety. Talha vigorously worked for space education during the pandemic-stricken world where he outreached 20000+ students during the World Space Week 21’, LSM 22′ and other space events, after which he was awarded a Telescope by IAU/SSVI’s “Telescopes for All” project 2022 for the contributions in space-ed activites during COVID-19. At the SGAC, He is serving as the NPoC of Pakistan, and envisions to see Pakistan transitioning into a space-faring nation. He also hopes to strengthen global alliances within the space industry through his work. Talha is currently working as a Delegate Team Member in the Organizing Team of the SGC 2023.
Lola is an Administrative Student at CERN in the Health & Safety and Environmental Protection Unit.
She graduated with a Master 2 in International Law (University of Strasbourg) in 2022, after a 6-month internship at the International Court of Justice (UN), within its Information Department. This experience confirmed her choice to pursue a career in international organizations, in the legal field, but also in public relations and related fields.
When she discovered Space Law she became passionate about the space sector. She naturally got interested in the impressive impact of the SGAC in the aerospace field for students and young professionals. She became one of its active members in 2022, by participating in the organization of the 4th ISSC, and of SG[France]2023, for Media & Communications. She is very excited to contribute to the 21st SGC, as it is the perfect opportunity to deepen her knowledge of space, its industry, and its stakeholders, while contributing to SGAC’s amazing community of passionate and talented people from all over the world.
PR&Comms Team
Hanzila is a talented software engineer and space enthusiast with a passion for astronomy. For the past two years, he has dedicated his skills to the space domain awareness field, allowing him to combine his love for technology and the cosmos. When not developing software, Hanzila can be found gazing at the stars and imaging deep space objects with his camera or telescope. His passion for space and skills earned him recognition as a winner of the SGAC STEAM grant at the Space Generation Congress last year. Beyond his professional career, Hanzila is an avid traveller and adventurer, always seeking new challenges and experiences. His zest for life and thirst for knowledge make him a true force to be reckoned with in both the tech and space communities.
Cristan Dave Zablan is a BS Geodetic Engineering student in his senior year. His field of interest is remote sensing where he utilises images taken from space for environmental monitoring. He loves to volunteer during his free time and has been a member, sometimes a head, to programs reaching the national level. Being an all-around person with a myriad of skills and interest has helped him in multicultural and multidisciplinary collaborations. Because of this, he was selected to be a delegate to five international programs. He then shares his experience to the programs he volunteers for as an act of service.
A mix of archaeologist and microbiologist. Outside academia, Selene is a rugby athlete.
Driven by the passion to study the past, evolution, and dinosaurs, Selene studied archaeology and molecular biology, giving her a unique multidisciplinary background. She’s recently joined Tokyo Tech Earth-Life Science Institute as a PhD student, investigating the origin of life on Earth and outside.
Her passion for space started really early, but she had to put it aside. It came back even stronger in the last few years, and she’s been active since then. She’s passionate about space exploration and advocating for outer space environmental and human heritage protection policies. In the past year, she started a space communication platform, Space Is For You, where she explains how space technology and research benefits life on Earth.
Victor is a Physics Electronics graduate with interests in Scientific Research, Aerospace, Digital Marketing, Business Development, and Cybersecurity. With an optimistic approach towards the future, he utilises his skills and expertise in diverse areas, he also loves to gain more knowledge about several topics related to his areas of interest. His main goal is to become a successful professional in his field and also facilitate the growth and productivity processes within the Space industry at large.
Raven Delfina Otero-Symphony is a first-generation graduate of The University of New Mexico with a B.S. in Statistics, recognized statewide for her interdisciplinary research contributions and accomplishments. She is the first and only New Mexican in the internationally-competitive Brooke Owens Fellowship, appointed four officer roles in her first year as a fellow. Her experience includes working for the U.S. Congress, New Mexico State Legislature, Harvard, an aerospace firm, and the Space for Island Nations Conference. Raven’s multicultural neomexicana heritage constellates her goal to promote cultural and economic inclusivity, independence, and equity for communities across the space industry. She will pursue a Master of Space Studies at the International Space University to better refine her research goals.
Programming Team
Megha is a first-year student at ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse, France, pursuing her master’s in aerospace engineering with a specialisation in Space Systems. She completed her bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology, India. She has previously served as the Vice-Chair of SEDS India, Chairperson of SEDS-VIT, and the Expansion Chair of WoAA International. Within the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), she serves as the NPoC of India and is a member of the Human Resources Team. She is also heavily involved in the OGL Project Group, working with the team to increase the diversity in astronaut selection.
Linda Ngozwana, born and raised in South Africa, is a Systems Engineer at MDA UK Space and Robotics with experience in developing sensors used in spacecraft. She recently completed her Masters in Astronautics and Aerospace Engineering at Cranfield University, with research experience in applying Model Based Systems Engineering to complex satellite manoeuvres and its impact on satellite design. Before moving to the United Kingdom, Linda qualified as an Aeronautical Engineer and gained work experience in some of the leading aviation companies in South Africa.
Linda believes in breaking boundaries and is determined to inspire other young girls to do the same by leading in the promotion of gender equality and access to quality education. To this end, she has been actively working in various Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) which help expose learners from all over the world to careers in aerospace. Linda aims to play a pivotal role in inspiring the next generation of young people who want to come into this space, creating monumental changes to uplift their communities.
Francesco Ventre is the Innovation Manager of Confindustria Brescia, Italy and Technical Director of Innexhub. He holds a BSc in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Naples “Federico II” and a MSc in Space Engineering from Politecnico di Milano with a thesis in astrodynamics developed with the University of Liverpool. He is an ISU Space Studies Program alumnus from the class of 2021. Passionate about aerospace entrepreneurship and economy, he is the co-founder (and former CEO) of Walle srl the first italian airline for “taxi-drones”. He is a member of the SGAC, AIDAA, Women In Aerospace, ECSECO and the IAF Space Entrepreneurship Committee. He is in the Advisory Board of Polispace, the first space association of Politecnico di Milano that he co-founded in 2020. At the end of 2021 he also contributed to the creation of SEDS Italy, the cluster of Italian universities space associations; he is now part of the Advisory Board. He is author and co-author of several conference proceedings. His hobbies include cooking and listening to music.
Nisanur Eker is a master’s degree candidate for Aerospace Engineering at Technical University of Munich and a Mechanical Engineer for the Munich-based space company DCUBED. Born and raised in Turkey, she moved to Germany to obtain her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. During her studies, she participated in her university’s student satellite project as a structures & mechanisms engineer as well as a PR Coordinator. She was part of organising two stratospheric balloon flights. Currently, she develops deployable space structures and explores satellite-based solutions for the agriculture community with fellow students. Nisanur’s contributions to space were recognised with the Emerging Space Leaders Grant by International Astronautical Federation in 2022 and Nebula Award by SGAC in 2023.
Rachel is a MSc Space Science and Engineering graduate passionate about promoting policies for a sustainable and strategic future in space. She has formerly interned with EUMETSAT and BryceTech in roles across space policy, strategy, and international relations. Interested in interdisciplinary connections in the space sector, she is a graduate of the ESA-ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy, serves on the committee of the Space Group of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and was awarded winner of the UNOOSA Space4Youth competition in 2023. She is currently studying abroad in Tokyo on the Daiwa Scholarship with the goal of exploring East-West connections in the space industry.
Rachel is an active SGAC member serving currently as Reports Coordinator, and formerly as Reports Editor and on the leadership team of the SGAC Task Force on U.S. Space Policy. She served on the Programme Team of the 6th European Space Generation Congress in Cyprus and received the European Space Leaders Award in 2022.
Matej is a young space professional currently based in Munich, Germany, working as a Flight Operations Engineer at DLR for the Columbus module of the ISS.
Formerly a Young Graduate Trainee at ESTEC, European Space Agency, he worked in the Software Systems division and was primarily involved with data modelling and software engineering activities. Later he worked on mobile robotics and cubesats in private sector.
Matej has been involved in SGAC since 2018, and since then also started contributing to IAF.
He completed his education at the University of Glasgow with a BSc in Statistics and a MSc in Software Development.
Logistics Team
Chioma Ezeigbo is a final year law student at the University of Nigeria with interest in Air & Space Law, and Aerospace Engineering.
She is the President of the University of Nigeria Students’ Bar Association (UNSBA), the first female President of the Association in over 35 years of its existence. She is also the founder and pioneer President of Space Club, University of Nigeria.
Chioma believes in the combo of STEM and Law, and is a passionate promoter of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and legal education.
Sindhu is an undergraduate student pursuing Honors Aerospace Engineering with minors in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics at The University of Alabama. She is Indian by origin but born and raised in Qatar, and grew up with an amalgamation of cultures. She is currently serving her second term as Project Manager of the NASA Student Launch competition team at Alabama Rocketry Association, her university’s rocketry club. As a woman of color and foreign national in the U.S. space industry, she has faced numerous barriers in her education and career. However, she perseveres to fulfil her dreams, which is to establish a space program in Qatar and be the first Qatar-based astronaut.
Mathilde is a computational scientist at ECMWF working on the Destination Earth initiative. She previously studied mathematics and applied mathematics at Warwick and Oxford, where she was involved with the local aerospace university societies. Her main topics of interest in the aerospace sector are space sustainability and earth observation.
Sahith Reddy Madara is a Venture Manager for the Space Stream at Creative Destruction Lab – HEC Paris IEC (@Station F). 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 program. As part of scientific research, Sahith has published 35 research papers in various international journals. Outside the office, Sahith acts as the UAE’s National Point of Contact for the SGAC, he is also an Advisory Board Member for AzurX, Venture Partner for Badhouse Ventures, and a Scientific/Strategic Advisor for Celestial Growth Corp. Sahith holds a B.Tech. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Amity University Dubai, a Master’s degree in Systems Engineering from ISAE-SUPAERO, and is pursuing an Executive MSc in Management (Innovation and Entrepreneurship) from HEC Paris.
Tanmay Sharma is a Final year student pursuing his CSE B.Tech from Dayananda Sagar University in Bangalore, India. He has a keen interest in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, space, and Astronomy.
