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ESPACE celebrates new group of Alumni at 2011 Graduation Ceremony!
The ESPACE Graduation Ceremony recently took place once again at the Oskar von Miller Forum in Munich. Students, ESPACE lecturers, and staff alike enjoyed hearing speeches, recalling good memories, and mingling with each other over sparkling wine and cake. Students received a certificate of achievement to recognize the hard work they put in during their two years spent attaining their Master of Science degree in Earth Oriented Space Science and Technology. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our graduates and wish them the very best in their future endeavors!
Graduates and some ESPACE Lecturers pose on the terrace of the Oskar von Miller Building with its breathtaking skyline view of Munich for a group photo.
Graciela Gonzalez and Mustafizur Rahman pose before the ceremony begins.
Graciela Gonzalez (left), this year's group Valedictorian, receives her prize from Program Coordinator Dr. Karin Hedman.
Graduates Yuxin Zhang (left), Yuzhang Wei (middle) and guest enjoy the post-ceremony celebration.
Graduates and their guests enjoying the sparkling wine and cake after the ceremony.
First Annual ESPACE Alumni Dinner held in September 2010
Last month, ESPACE alumni, lecturers, and administrators gathered in a traditional Bavarian restaurant in Munich for the first annual ESPACE Alumni Dinner. Alumni came to meet up and exchange news on their current activities after the ESPACE program. The annual Alumni Dinner offers a platform for creating new contacts among students from various classes from the ESPACE program. View the pictures below:
Recent ESPACE Alumni Sarah Abelen (class of 2009, far left) catches up with her fellow alumni.
Stavros Kotsiaros and Yunir Gataullin (both class of 2008) enjoy a traditional Bavarian beer while they recall their best ESPACE memories.
Olena Schüssler (center, in black shirt) and Kanika Goel (right, in white shirt) (both class of 2009) exchange stories about their life post-ESPACE.
ESPACE Program Director and Professor Florian Seitz (left) as well as ESPACE Professor Urs Hugentobler were eager to hear about the ESPACE alumni activities.
We asked some of our ESPACE Alumni (graduated students) to tell us about their ESPACE experiences and about their current positions:
"The ESPACE program gave me a solid base on which I can now draw to lead debates with a broad knowledge of the Earth system. The program sparked my interest in the Earth System and I am grateful for that. It is very refreshing to take part in a program that has very different specializations and is not as narrow minded as conventional programs."
--Delf Neubersch (not pictured, class of 2010), PhD Student in the Research Unit for Sustainability and Global Change at the University of Hamburg and a stipend recipient of the International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modeling
"ESPACE provided me with a platform to study several aspects of space science related courses and eventually specialize in one of them. I found great pride in interacting with the best minds from all over the world. The course helped me gain confidence to work independently on practical engineering problems. The program itself gave me enough opportunities to evaluate and nurture my strengths. Thanks to ESPACE, significant value is added to my career profile."
--Ganesh Lalgudi Gopalakrishnan (class of 2010), Senior Engineer, Satellite Navigation Systems at VEGA Space GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany
"ESPACE has provided me with a strong conceptual understanding of space engineering and its Earth-oriented applications. Space technology has always fascinated me and ESPACE gave me immense knowledge about it and how it could be used to know more about our planet, its climate and changing environment. I interacted with the smartest people in the areas of my interest, the lecturers are the best in their fields, providing a strong technical know-how and an opportunity to work on state-of-the-art research projects. Another great advantage was being part of an international environment which was something not to be missed. ESPACE gave direction to my goal of pursuing a career as a research professional in the field of Remote Sensing. Currently, I am persuing a doctorate in the field of Persistent Scatterer Interferometry, which would help us know more about urban subsidence and uplift, slope stability and landslides, seismic and volcanic deformations."
--Kanika Goel (class of 2009), PhD Student at DLR (German Aerospace Center) in Persistent Scatterer Interferometry, Munich, Germany
"Before getting a position at EUTELSAT, I worked for 4 months at Sagem Defense and security (R&D), in the military GPS field. The goal of this position was to conduct a study on an anti-jamming GPS antenna. ESPACE gave me all the GPS knowledge to be able to understand the key points of this project.
Concerning my new position in EUTELSAT, I am in charge of the technical feasibility of the communications through GEO satellites (dealing with link budgets, satellite coverage, bandwidth and power availability of the transponders on board). The whole ESPACE program covers all the steps required in a satellite mission (from the basic definition of the requirements to the end of life of the satellite, going through the launch, and the operational use). This provided me with strong overall knowledge in satellite missions as a general point of view. All the master lectures and projects are in English. This last point helps me a lot today, since 100% of my job at EUTELSAT is in English. ESPACE is also a very good opportunity to meet people from different counties and cultures, in many occasions such as working together on a project but also in daily life (playing music, sports…). The staff is very friendly and is composed of talented professors."
--Josselin Berthod (class of 2009), Satellite Resources Engineer, EUTELSAT, Paris, France
“ESPACE implies going beyond the stage of being a fascinated observer of satellites and space engineering. The program enables you to become an active participant in space science who can processes data, interpret results and develop methodologies for space missions. The interdisciplinary structure of the program gives you flexibility to specialize in different areas. In my case it is the application of satellite data for the management of environmental and social issues on our Earth.”
--Sarah Abelen (class of 2009), Technische Universität München, International Graduate School of Science and Engineering, PhD Candidate in "Signals of Climate Variability in Continental Hydrology from Multi-Mission Space and In-situ Observations"
"The two years of ESPACE opened my mind in ways I did not think possible and showed me how to be competitive with the best space scientists in the world."
--Carlos Javier Rodriguez Solano (class of 2009), PhD Candidate in Satellite Geodesy (GNSS), Institute for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
"As an ESPACE Student, I acquired much applied knowledge of navigation and all kinds of applications in traffic, railway, marine, aviation, and so on. The practice of information technology and the SAR satellite design project have been especially useful for my current job in project management."
--Weizu Zhao (class of 2008), Project Manager, CTITC Research, China Transportation and Telecommunication Center, the Ministry of Communication of the P.R.C.
"A very extraordinary thing about ESPACE is that the program's content is not somehow historically based. A good portion of the lecturers come from experts from research institutes, other universities, and companies. It appears to have been a thoroughly thought out program with regard to which fields of expertise would be necessary, with all the experts from these necessary fields coming to lecture for the program!"
--Volker Tesmer (class of 2008), now working in the department for space system studies of the space technology company OHB-System
"What I am currently working on benefits greatly from my ESPACE studies. For example, the research on gravity field recovery requires the knowledge of orbital mechanics, numerical modeling and the ability to do software programming, all of which I learned from the ESPACE program."
--Weiyong Yi (class of 2007), Scientific Staff, Institute for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
"ESPACE opened the doors to the fascinating field of space science and technology. During the program I gained not only solid knowledge but also the proper way to learn. The highly competent teaching staff from the fields of research and industry offer the students a good opportunity to experience current technology as well as state of the art research work. The program's nice international atmosphere was also an enjoyable part of my experience...all in all: ESPACE was a excellent experience for me!"
--Dr.-Ing. Xinxing Wang (class of 2007), SpaceTech GmbH
"ESPACE offers you, in a very international environment, the opportunity to learn and what is more important, to understand the relationships and connections between space-oriented measurement-techniques and current scientific applications in different fields. It brought me a better understanding of our planet and an overview of the possibilities that space offers humanity to reach a deeper understanding of it."
--J.L. Bueso (class of 2007), DLR (German Aerospace Center), Munich, Germany
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