Planned Presentations:
A Refugee Perspective
Mekdim Tesfaye, Founder, Oasis Orbital Systems
There is something magical about getting to see the planet from a higher perspective. Boarding a plane and coming to New Zealand as a refugee in 2000, I fell in love with aerospace. Being able to leave my troubles behind in search of a new, safer place to call home had a profound impact on my entire family. Fast forward to 2021 and I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to share the magic of that higher perspective with others. My venture Oasis Orbital Systems is a Virtual Space Tourism start-up operating out of the University of Canterbury’s Center for Entrepreneurship with a mission to deliver affordable and Immersive space tourism.
We’ve put together something pretty special for our first Meet Up of the year! We’re going national with small livestream watch parties all over the country!
Nova Systems Rebrands – positioned to support future growth of Aerospace in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Jude Rushmere, General Manager, Nova Systems New Zealand
Nova Systems is a global engineering services and technology solutions company, partnering with our clients to keep our nations and people safe and secure. Nova Systems has been supporting clients in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2014 and has seen rapid growth over the past 2 years. Much of which has been due to the capabilities and potential within Aotearoa New Zealand’s growing aerospace sector. Nova Systems has recently rebranded to showcase its growth and emphasise the breadth of its capabilities.
Airbourne Astronomy on SOFIA
Ms Karina Leppik, Astronomy Educator and Guide for the Antarctic Academy
Karina Leppik will talk about Astronomy of the Southern skies from her role as a NASA Mission Director through to her work alongside the International Antarctic Centre. She will be supported by Miranda Satterthwaite Academy Director at the Antarctic Academy who will be guiding for the Southern Lights Flights operating from the International Antarctic Centre.
Reaching The Stratosphere And Beyond
Dr. Philipp Sueltrop, CTO, Kea Aerospace
Kea Aerospace is developing a solar-powered, remotely piloted aircraft that will fly continuously in the stratosphere for months at a time to collect frequent high-resolution aerial images. Philipp will give an update on the company’s plans to build a global fleet of stratospheric aircraft.
Te Pūnaha Ātea – Space Institute, University of Auckland
Prof Guglielmo Aglietti, Director, Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute
The Institute, formally established in 2019 across science and engineering, aims to support and enhance the growth of the National Space Sector. This is being achieved articulating a series of activities, ranging from new courses and programmes to research projects, to partnerships with other institution, and the establishment of facilities for the end to end development and in orbit demonstration of technologies. The talk will give an overview of what has been achieved and future developments.
See you there!
Aerospace Christchurch
Please Note: As per the government COVID-19 protection framework, all in-person attendees will need to have their Vaccine Pass scanned before they enter the event. In-person watch parties may be cancelled at short notice in line with the COVID-19 protection framework. In this case, we will move the Meet Up completely online.
