2012 Emerging Space Leaders Grant programme
Berndt Feuerbacher, President of the IAF, and Jim Zimmerman, Past President and chair of the selection committee are pleased to announce the results of the Emerging Space Leaders Grant Programme selection.
More than 95 students and young professionals from 30 countries throughout the world submitted applications to participate in the programme. These applications were carefully reviewed and ranked in accordance with the following selection criteria:
- Candidate qualifications (educational and professional experience)
- Candidate’s potential to impact positively space activities in his/her home country
- Relevance of candidate’s abstract for a technical session or his/her participation in the Next Generation Plenary.
- Substantive content of the candidate’s essay
- Previous attendance at the International Astronautical Congress (In order to spread the experience of attending an IAC to as many people as possible, candidates that did not have the chance to participate yet, will be given preference)
- English language proficiency
Twelve young people have been selected to participate in the 2012 IAF Emerging Space Leaders Grant Programme and attended the 63rd International Astronautical Congress in Naples, Italy from 1 to 5 October 2012 (listed in alphabetical order):
Dmitry Arakcheev
young professional, Russia
Graduated from the University of Chemical Technology of Russia Mendeleyev (Moscow, Russia) in 2008, Arakcheev works at the Research and Design Institute of Chemical Engineering in Moscow.
Elizabeth Blaber
student, Australia
Blaber has a bachelor of Medical Science from the University of New South Wales, Australia and commenced her PhD programme in 2010 in biochemistry and molecular genetics.
Olavo De Oliveira Bittencourt Neto
young professional, Brazil
De Oliveira Bittencourt Neto is working as a post-doctorate researcher at the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil. He is a member of the Brazilian association for aeronautics and Space law and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).
Conny Hansson
young professional, Sweden
After the completion of his PhD in the University of Manchester, UK in 2010, Hansson has been working at the European Space Agency, ESTEC in the Netherlands as a research fellow.
Aafaque Khan
student, India
Khan is completing a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Maulana Azad national Institute of Technology, India.
Dusan Marceta
young professional, Serbia
Marceta is working as an associated professor at the Department of Astronomy in the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Belgrade, Serbia.
Magaly Sandoval
student, Costa Rica
Sandoval is studying mechatronic engineering at the Costa Rica’s Institute of Technology. She is a board member of the Centro American Association of Aeronautics and Space.
Rogel Mari Sese
young professional, Philippines
Sese is the head of the Astrophysics Laboratory of the University of the Philippines Los Banos. He is the chairman of the Southeast Asian Young Astronomers Collaboration.
Nathan Silvernail
student, USA
Silvernail is studying mechanical engineering at the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, USA.
Balbir Singh
young professional, India
Singh is an assistant professor at Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University in India.
Vladeta Zmijanovic
student, Serbia
Zmijanovic is a graduate student from Faculty of Mechanical engineering at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. He is finishing is PhD at the Ecole Doctorale of Sciences and Technologies of the University of Orleans.
Medinah Zubairu
student, Nigeria
Zubairu has a Master of Science from Hmadu Bello University, Nigeria. She is an intern at the National Space Research and Development Agency in Nigeria.
