MISSION CONTROL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Manager of Space and Education
- Space and Education Manager
Adam is Mission Control's Manager of Space and Education, developing project management structures and programmatic review of space projects and overseeing operations for our Mission Control Academy program. In the past, Adam has managed several CSA and ESA concept studies, and worked on the STS-114 mission, leading a team of analysts at NASA Johnson Space Center for maiden flight of LCS for on-orbit damage detection. Adam graduated with a B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics from the University of Waterloo.
Alan is a Senior Systems Engineer at Mission Control. He has spent the past 15+ years leading software teams for both operational software delivery and R&D efforts across various space-focused domains, but especially in the exploitation of Earth Observation datasets from space-based RADAR imaging missions. His past projects include the Department of National Defence Polar Epsilon and Polar Epsilon 2 projects for space-based Near Real-Time Ship Detection and AIS association, concept development and prototyping activities for the Canadian Space Agency in AI / Deep Learning for Earth Observation, and for deep-space healthcare using Augmented Reality. Alan holds a B.Eng (Computer Systems) from Carleton University and an ARCT in piano performance. He can often be found either building things with his children, fixing old vehicles or generally enjoying the great outdoors.
Anne has been passionate about space and aerospace from a young age. Anne holds an Honors in Business from The Ivey School of Business at Western University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She began her career as management consultant, also has experience managing strategic partnerships and supplier networks. Anne was on the founding team of Mission Control where she led initiatives under strategy and business operations. She currently is the co-founder and COO of a supply chain software built for the aerospace and defense, Stell. She currently resides in San Francisco, California.
Apeksha is a Software Engineer at Mission Control. She studied Aerospace Electronics and Systems at Carleton University. In the past, Apeksha was involved in Carleton's Rocket Design and UAV Design Teams, and team lead for Carleton's UGV Team. She was previously a co-op student at Provectus Robotics, getting a lot of hands-on experience with robotics. Outside of work, she likes to read and draw.
Job Titles:
- Robotics and Machine Learning Specialist
Becca works part-time at Mission Control as a Robotics and Machine Learning Specialist. She contributes to design and implement machine learning algorithms for planetary exploration applications. Prior to joining Mission Control, Becca worked doing research on control theory at Queen's University, and on modeling networks in the human brain at Inria in France. Her past experiences include being involved with organizing the Queen's Space Conference and taking part in the Canadian Reduced Gravity Experiment Design Challenge (CAN-RGX). Becca has a degree in Mathematics and Engineering from Queen's University, specializing in Systems and Robotics.
Candice is the Communications Manager at Mission Control and brings 10+ years of experience in marketing and communications to the team. Prior to joining Mission Control, Candice has worked with various tech companies; helping them expand their overall message and reach new and existing markets through public relations, social media and other communication strategies. Away from work she enjoys spending time with her family and being outdoors.
Christine completed a BASc in Engineering Science-Aerospace from the University of Toronto and Masters in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the MIT.
Christine has noteably worked with BAE, EADS Astrium Services, and was appointed Vice President for Research and Technology and Chief Technology Officer for the US arm of Airbus Group, Inc. At Airbus, Christine helped determine the technology needs of all business lines in the US and for delivered US-based research for the entire company.
Christine now focuses on organisational topics related to innovation and engineering. Through her company, CATx Technology, she also as a consultant to Toronto area technology start-ups on technology road mapping, strategy and organisational design. Christine is a member of Canada's Space Advisory Board, which provides advice on Canada's space strategy to the Minister for Industry, Science and Economic Development. She also sits on the Department of National Defence (DND) Independent Review Panel for Defence Acquisition and is a mentor for the Space stream at the University of Toronto's Rotman Business School Creative Destruction Lab.
Job Titles:
- Science Operations Specialist
Cosette is a Ph.D. Candidate (Earth and Space Science) at York University and is working part-time at Mission Control as a Science Operations Specialist. She received both her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in geology at the University of Alberta and specializes in the geology of airless bodies in our Solar System (i.e., the Moon, asteroids). Cosette attended the Vatican Observatory Summer School (2016) in Italy to learn in depth about water in the Solar System and was a 2019 Exploration Intern at the Lunar and Planetary Institute where she helped complete a geologic assessment of the Moon's south pole to prepare for NASA's Artemis mission. Cosette enjoys traveling, watching horrible natural disaster movies, and going for walks with her dog Molly.
Andrew is an AI Specialist at Mission Control where he advances artificial intelligence technologies and products. With a background in aerospace and nanotechnology his expertise spans anomaly detection, imaging spectroscopy, and remote sensing data analysis. Andrew holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia (Physics) and a BSc from the University of Waterloo (Mathematical Physics). On weekends you can find him hiking, canoeing, or in a tent with a paperback and his husky-shepherd Max.
Karl is an authority on robotics and autonomous vehicles whose opinion and commentary has been published and broadcast worldwide on Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC, and many other media outlets. As former director of the Robotic Mobility Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), his research resulted in more than 150 technical publications, 50 issued or filed patents, and numerous edited volumes, including books on the DARPA Grand Challenge and Urban Challenge autonomous vehicle competitions. Karl was named one of 2017's "Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs" by Goldman Sachs and designated a member of the 2017 "Recode 100" list of technology influencers.
Karl holds MS and PhD degrees from MIT, where he was a National Science Foundation fellow, and a BS from the University of Michigan, where he graduated first in his class. Karl is also an award-winning author of fiction whose novels and short stories have been translated into seven languages. Karl is CEO of Motional, the autonomous driving joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv PLC. He has collaborated with Mission Control on multiple projects including the development of our Autonomous Soil Assessment System.
Matt is a Senior Systems Engineer at Mission Control. He attained his Ph.D. from Western University, along with bachelors and masters degrees in aerospace engineering at Carleton University. His past academic projects and collaborations include the Barefoot Rover project with JPL, the Kapvik rover protype at Carleton, analogue mission campaigns, and managing the Ukpik-1 CubeSat project at Western. Matt has worked at ESA as a systems engineer and project coordinator. Matt enjoys spending time in the kitchen.
Job Titles:
- Chief Exploration Scientist
As Chief Exploration Scientist, Melissa guides technology development to meet the needs of scientists, and conducts mission operations research. As a planetary geologist, she has led more than 10 human and robotic mission simulations with CSA, NASA, Western University, and others in Moon and Mars analogue environments around the world. Melissa is an Adjunct Faculty member at both Western University and the International Space University. She obtained her Ph.D. (Planetary Geology) from Western University, and holds a diploma in University Teaching and a M.Sc. (Geology) from the University of New Brunswick. In her spare time, Mel likes to hike, canoe, do yoga, and spend time with her family.
As Chief Technology Officer at Mission Control, Michele leads all technology development activities and R&D initiatives. Michele has broad engineering leadership experience, having led interdisciplinary engineering projects from concept to production across military, aeronautical and space applications. Michele's research expertise is in robotic and planetary mobility. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University. When not spending time with his young family, you can find Mic in the Gatineau hills on a pair of skis or pedaling hard on his bicycle.
Samara is a Senior AI Specialist at Mission Control and has a unique background spanning business strategy, analytics, physics and product innovation. Samara holds a PhD from the University of Oxford, and MSc degrees in Physics and Mathematics from the University of British Columbia. Outside of work, she enjoys running and hiking.
Job Titles:
- Business Operations Manager
Emily joins Mission Control with 10 years of experience working behind the scenes supporting technology start-ups, helping small and medium-sized enterprises navigate government and industry partnerships, the early days of hiring, and everything in between. As the Manager of Business Operations, Emily will oversee the office management as we navigate the next phase of growth for Mission Control.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Software Engineer
Evan is the Principal Software Engineer at Mission Control, working to design and implement reliable real-time distributed software systems, and high-performance algorithms in deep learning and image processing. Evan leads all software infrastructure for Mission Control's projects and deployments. Prior to working at Mission Control, Evan lead a team on Carleton's Satellite Design Project, designing and implementing the guidance and navigation solution for the CuSAT-1 3U cubesat. Evan graduated with a Bachelor in Aerospace Engineering (Space Systems Design) at Carleton University.
Ewan is the Founder & CEO of Mission Control. Prior to founding Mission Control, Ewan was a subsystem design lead for the development of three rover prototypes for the CSA. He was a mission controller for ten of the last twelve Space Shuttle missions at Mission Control at NASA JSC and conducted numerous pre-mission launch pad tests at NASA KSC. He has also supported flight programs for ESA and JAXA. Ewan has degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics from Queen's University, a Master's degree in Technology Innovation Management at Carleton University and is an alumnus and adjunct faculty member at the International Space University. Ewan has published multiple opinion pieces on Canada's role in space exploration in the Globe and Mail. Ewan is treasurer and serves on the board of directors for Space Canada. Ewan is committed to inspiring the next generation to always keep exploring.
Galen is a Junior AI Specialist at Mission Control. He is finishing his master's in Computer Science and has also attained a bachelors in Cognitive Science and a bachelors in Computer Science at Carleton University. His graduate research focuses on utilizing SR-GANs for the problem of appearance-based gaze tracking. Past works include a dementia friendly e-reader for monitoring cognitive decline using biometric data, as well as a mobile app designed to gamify learning about intracellular activity. Outside of work, Galen enjoys travelling, golf, and his bengal Loki.
Hugo is a Software Engineer at Mission Control. He recently graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in Computer Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. For his capstone project, he helped design an infrared horizon detection system for attitude determination on LEO satellites. Previously, Hugo worked in game development at Blackbird Interactive and on machine vision cameras at FLIR Systems. Outside of work, Hugo enjoys making music with his collection of synthesizers.
Jacob is a Junior Software Engineer at Mission Control. He recently graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Computer Science and a minor in Combinatorics & Optimization. Previously, he was an undergraduate research assistant for the University's Programming Languages Group, working on a novel language named C∀ (pronounced "C-for-all"). Outside of work, Jacob enjoys discovering new music, playing the electric bass and finding something new to learn.
Joshua is a Robotics/Software Engineering Co-op Student at Mission Control, where he is currently pursuing his degree in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. With a deep passion for the aerospace industry and a keen interest in the latest technological advancements, Joshua is eager to make meaningful contributions to Mission Control's projects. He has gained valuable experience as an engineering intern at companies such as Super and Apple, and is excited to apply his expertise to new challenges. When he's not working, Joshua indulges his interests in visual art and music, but has always had a fascination with space and astronomy.
Julia is a Junior Software Engineer at Mission Control. She recently completed her degree in Software Engineering from the University of Calgary. During university, she completed a 16-month internship with Canadian UAVs where she worked closely with flight radars to develop an airspace monitoring system. She later helped design an application to detect the location of Mode A/C aircraft using trilateration for her capstone project. Outside of work, Julia likes to paint and play board games.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager of Business Development
Kaizad is the Senior Manager of Business Development at Mission Control. Kaizad leads our product and business development strategies to help solve some of our partners and customers' challenges in spaceflight mission development and operations. He brings a background in robotics and space industry knowledge to help shape how our computing technologies and web-based user interfaces can improve the user experience of developers, planetary scientists, and operators of missions in space and on Earth. Kaizad has a B.Sc. and M.A.Sc. in aerospace engineering at Purdue University and the University of Toronto respectively. Kaizad's past experience includes leadership positions at Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, an international student-run space advocacy movement. Outside Mission Control HQ, Kaizad enjoys cooking, travelling, astro/landscape photography, hiking and climbing.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Software Engineer
Luis is a Principal Software Engineer at Mission Control. He brings many years of broad industry experience, ranging from embedded real-time software to distributed server-side software. Luis led the development of a pioneering agricultural UAV, co-founded a company focused on modular embedded systems and helped build and scale a product at a software startup all the way to acquisition. His academic background is in Computer Science, with a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. from the University of São Paulo. In his spare time, Luis likes to spend time with his loved ones and learn about life, the universe and everything.
Mateusz is a Software Engineer at Mission Control. Before Mission Control, Mateusz was working at Showmax as a Software Engineer and Data Engineer, specializing in Python as the Analytics Team Lead, focusing on maintaining the internal data architecture, and as a Solutions Architect designing new software solutions for the company. Before Showmax, Mateusz spent 2 years at the European Space Agency (ESA) where he was providing general support to the European Robotic Arm project and designing and developing a robotic test-bed for one of the cameras of ERA. In his spare time at ESA, Mateusz and his team developed GNSS Compare- a research framework for researching GNSS processing algorithms on mobile phones - which won ESA's internal Galleo App Challenge and was awarded with the Living Lab prise in the 2018 edition of Galileo Masters.
During his B. Sc. and M. Sc. at the Gdanks University of Technology, Mateusz was leading the LEM Mars Rover and ZukBot projects - student robotics projects for designing a Mars rover platform and an agricultural robot platform respectively. LEM won 2nd place at the UKURC 2016 challenge and ZukBot moved on to win a prize in the 2017 edition of Galileo Masters. Outside of work, Mateusz likes to read books, travel and experience life to the fullest. His current hobbies include cooking, fashion and investing.
Job Titles:
- Intermediate Software Engineer
Matthew works as an intermediate software engineer at Mission Control. He recently completed his MASc degree in computer engineering at the University of Waterloo. His research focused on using deep learning to implement an efficient uncertainty estimation method for 3D object detection. Previously he was a research engineer working on software development and integration for a University of Waterloo self-driving car project (UW Moose). Outside of work, Matthew enjoys listening to audiobooks and gaming.
Nirmit is a Robotics/Software Engineering Co-op Student at Mission Control and he has completed his first year in Mechatronics Engineering at UWaterloo. Driven by his ardent passion for robotics, Nirmit aspires to create innovative and powerful solutions. He previously worked as a Technology Officer at a local startup, specializing in Full Stack Development and Client Management. Nirmit's enthusiasm for space exploration fuels his career aspirations in the field. In his spare time, he enjoys tinkering with gadgets, or playing soccer
Job Titles:
- Software Engineering Student
Ruthy is a Software Engineering Student at Mission Control. She completed her Bachelor of Engineering Science in software engineering and is currently doing a Masters of Engineering Science at Western University. Previously she has worked on the OBC team for Western and the Nunavut Artic College's Ukpik-1 CubeSat. Currently, her research interests are in image classification and object detection. Outside of work, Ruthy enjoys cooking and listening to music.
Samson is a Robotics/Software Engineering Co-op Student at Mission Control, currently pursuing a degree in Software Engineering at the University of Waterloo. With a strong foundation from his first year of studies, Samson's passion for technology and innovation drives him to excel. As a dedicated Computer Vision Developer at the Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group, he actively contributes to cutting-edge developments in robotics, fueling his desire to make significant contributions at Mission Control. Samson's unwavering enthusiasm for space exploration propels his career aspirations in the field, while his love for sports, particularly soccer, provides him with a refreshing outlet outside of academics and work
Shannon is a Robotics/Software Engineering Co-op Student at Mission Control. She is entering her fourth year of Computer Science in the Game Development stream at Carleton University. She previously worked as a Full-Stack Developer Intern with upcoming art-tech start-up, Acrylic Robotics. Currently, her research interests include generative art and making art with code. Outside of school and work, Shannon enjoys playing electric guitar and producing music.
Thardchi is a Robotics/Software Engineering Co-op Student currently pursuing her bachelor's in electrical engineering at the University of Toronto. She was selected to be one of the eight Zenith Fellow Interns for her passion for space exploration and emerging space technologies. In her free time, Thardchi enjoys reading, hiking, and painting
Thomas is a Software Engineer at Mission Control. He has a history of working as a software developer with a focus on web application development for the cloud. Thomas has built multiple full stack web applications, such as blockchain-based software licensing solutions, and orchestrating software for migrating legacy Windows Server applications at scale. Thomas has two college diplomas, one from Algonquin college for web development, where he graduated with honours; and one for computer science from Heritage College. Throughout his career, he was also responsible for the creation and maintenance of many aspects of cloud infrastructure, requiring a solid understanding of networking and security principles. Outside of work, Thomas enjoys working on his own home network and home server deployments
Tim is a Junior Software Engineer at Mission Control. He recently completed his graduate studies in computer science at Lakehead University. His graduate research focused primarily on lightweight deep learning for monocular depth estimation. Tim previously worked at Radialis Medical providing software development support for medical imaging prototypes. Outside of work, Tim enjoys spending time with his golden retriever Lilly and his friends.
Vinita Marwaha Madill is a Project Manager at Mission Control, and brings her background as a space operations engineer and Founder of Rocket Women, a STEM advocacy platform. Previously, Vinita has worked as a European Space Agency (ESA) contractor focused on human spaceflight operations for future projects, including the European Robotic Arm. At ESA's European Astronaut Centre, Vinita helped design the SkinSuit and conducted a study on future spacesuit design and operations for lunar exploration. Vinita studied Mathematics and Physics with Astrophysics at King's College London and went on to gain master's degrees in Space Management from the International Space University (ISU) and in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University, UK.
Job Titles:
- Director of People and Programs
Yolanda is the Director of People and Programs at Mission Control where she provides the programmatic execution expertise to support the success of Mission Controls' strategic goals. She has over 20 years of experiences in the space industry and has been involved with projects through all phases, from pre-phase 0 studies through design and development to commissioning and on-orbit operations. Previous programs include RapidEye, an optical Earth Observation 5-satellite constellation, Sapphire, a space surveillance small satellite and as well as numerous projects using AI / ML to improve performance and reduce operator loading. Yolanda holds a BEng (Aerospace) from Carleton University and has been a certified PMP member since 2015. Away from work she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and baking (particularly cupcakes), and travelling.