2018 Summit Speakers

Day 1, November 27th

Platinum Sponsor Keynote

Holly Johnson, President’s Business Manager at MDA

Holly Johnson is the President’s Business Manager at MDA. In this role she is responsible for supporting the President’s business activities both inside and outside the company, as well as leading cross functional senior project teams to resolve operational issues and new business opportunities.

Holly has been with MDA for over 10 years, starting as a university co-op student on the Canadarm program, and graduating into a full-time role as a systems engineer with project experience in space robotics, medical robotics, and advanced manufacturing.

Prior to her current appointment, Holly also completed a multi-year term as a Business Development Manager in the robotics division. Holly has a Bachelor’s of Applied Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and is a member of Professional Engineers Ontario. Holly was recognized in 2016 by the receipt of the Northern Lights Aero Foundation Rising Star Award, which honours Canadian women who have made significant contributions to their field.

RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) Panel 

Jean-Michel Lévesque, RADARSAT Constellation Mission Lead AI&T Engineer

As a specialist engineer at MDA Montreal, Jean-Michel Lévesque has over twenty-five years of experience in Space programs.

Mr. Lévesque joined MDA (formerly SPAR Aerospace) in 1990 as a Design Engineer in the Mechanical Engineering department. He was involved in the design of numerous equipment and payload for communication and RADAR satellites. He has lead the design activities including the Assembly Integration &Test for antenna sub-systems, payloads and spacecraft.

In parallel and for more than fifteen years, Mr. Lévesque has co-ordinated the courses “Introduction to Space Systems” given at École Polytechnique at the University of Montréal and the “Master Program in Aerospace” given to several universities across the province of Quebec. Mr. Lévesque acts as MDA spokesperson for various events in the space domain.

Mr. Lévesque obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Laval University in Quebec City, Canada.

Prof. Dr. Vern Singhroy, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Ottawa, Canada.

Dr. Vern Singhroy is the chief scientist of the Canadian Space Agency RADARSAT Constellation Mission (2019). He recognized internationally as a world leader on remote sensing applications. Dr. Singhroy received his Ph.D. in environmental and resource engineering from the State University of New York, Syracuse. He a professional engineer. He has published over 300 papers in scientific journals, proceedings, and books. He is also the co-editor of four books including of the Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing and was the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing. He is a Professor of Earth Observation at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, since 1998 and an adjunct professor in Planetary and Space Sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Canada. Dr. Singhroy received the prestigious Gold Medal Award from the Canadian Remote Sensing Society and the (2012) Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contribution to the Canadian and International Remote Sensing.

Commercial EO

James Antifaev, Product Strategy Manager at MDA Geospatial Services

James is Product Strategy Manager at MDA Geospatial Services, a division of MDA which provides satellite imagery, earth observation-based information products, and value added services to customers worldwide. He previously managed business development for geospatial big data analytics applications at MDA. He has also held roles at other organizations ranging from startups to the European Space Agency. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in space industry management from the International Space University.

Space Situational Awareness

Chair – Lawrence Reeves, Space Industry Consultant at Geocentrix Technologies Ltd. And President, Canadian Satellite Design Challenge Management Society

Lawrence has worked in Canadian space industry for over 20 years, currently with his own company, Geocentrix Technologies, Ltd., and previously with UrtheCast and MDA (now Maxar). He has worked on a variety of missions (including RADARSAT-2, RapidEye, Sapphire, NEOSSat, and the UrtheCast cameras on the ISS) conducting orbit selection and analysis, power budgets, propulsion budgets, coverage and data throughput analyses, imaging-planning software, and launch contract management.

Lawrence is the manager of the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge, a Canada-wide cubesat design competition, and was previously a Director of the Artificial Reef Society of B.C., a group which has sunk eight ships and a Boeing 737 in the coastal waters of B.C. to create marine life habitat.

Wayne Ellis, AppSpace Solutions, Inc

Wayne A. Ellis has over twenty years of Canadian military experience, including Air Defence tours in North Bay, NATO AWACS in Geilenkirchen, Germany, and the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Studies (CFSAS, now Barker College). In 1998, he led a team to research, plan, and build the Canadian Forces’ first museum dedicated to the Air Defence mission in North Bay –  the Canadian Forces Museum of Aerospace Defence.

Wayne completed both a BSc and MSc at the Royal Military College of Canada. In 1989, he was one of eight cadets to make the leap from engineering to the newly-established Space Science program, and he graduated top of the space science class in 1991. In 2001, he was selected to undertake graduate studies in Space Operations at RMC – again, a brand new degree reflecting Canada’s increased focus on space and the subsequent requirement for a Canadian-based educational institution with a graduate-level space syllabus. He completed a major project: “The Physical Constraints of Space Weapons.”

Upon graduation in 2003, he was posted to CFSAS where he delivered and directed space applications courses for the Canadian military. He also directed the effort to establish the CF’s first Space Operations Course (SOC) designed to support those CF and DND individuals slated for space jobs around the world. He has designed, developed and delivered space educational content for audiences as diverse as grade school children to senior Government personnel, and has provided space expertise to multiple levels of the Canadian Military. In 2005, he conducted the first General and Senior Officers’ Space Seminar (GSOSS) at the Canadian Space Agency.

Wayne took his retirement in 2007 and established AppSpace Solutions, Inc., an aerospace and defence consultancy, as a means to increase the general awareness of the Canadian public, civil, military and commercial, of the importance of space systems and their applications.

Wayne joined the Canadian Space Society (CSS) in 2008 and has held the positions of President, Vice-President, Corporate Relations Director, and Chapter Liaison Director. He has also organized two CSS Summits – Ottawa (2010) and Winnipeg (2016). He is currently the Chair for the Winnipeg Chapter and leads the CSS Space Policy Committee.

Wayne is also a proud representative of Analytical Graphics, Inc.(AGI) in Canada for over 10 years. AGI provides commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software to national security and space professionals for integrated analysis of land, sea, air, and space assets.

Major Don Bédard, CD, Ph.D.

Major Don Bédard joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1990. He attended the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean where he obtained a Bachelor of Space Science in 1995. As a Signals Officer in the Canadian Army, he held various Regimental junior command positions until 2002 when he was assigned to the Space Systems Group at Defence R&D Canada. During his time at DRDC, he held various positions such as the project manager for the NEOSSat TDP, project manager of the M3MSat Joint Project Office and Group Leader of the Space Systems Group. In 2013, Major Bédard was posted to the Royal Military College of Canada where he served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Space Science. In July 2018, he was posted in his current position as the Project Director of the Surveillance of Space 2 project. Major Don Bédard also hold an M.Sc. (Space Studies) from the University of North Dakota, a Ph.D in Physics from the Royal Military College of Canada and is a graduate of the 2004 International Space University’s Space Studies Program.

Steven Pokotylo, CD, Marine Security Operations Centre

Steven Pokotylo was born in Halifax, but raised in Ottawa, Ont. He joined the Canadian Navy, Naval Reserve in 1985 and received his commission in 1989. He served in a variety of positions ashore and at sea. He was appointed Officer-in-Charge Operational Intelligence Support Athena in 2003; the only Reservist to do so. In 2004, he returned to part-time service with HMCS Malahat (Victoria, B.C.). Promoted to Commander in 2009, he served as its Commanding Officer until 2012. He currently is the Naval Reserve Western Region Chief of Staff to the Commander Naval Reserve.

In 2004, Steven began a career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as an Intelligence Analyst, the first in ‘E’ Division Island District. He has worked in ‘E’ Division Federal Drugs and Border Integrity. In 2007, he received the Commanding Officer’s Letter of Appreciation for his work with the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts (IALEIA).

He currently works at the Marine Security Operations Centre (MSOC) West in Victoria, BC as an RCMP Intelligence Analyst. In recognition of his work to counter international maritime human smuggling, in 2012 he was awarded The United States Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon.

Steve lives in Victoria, with his wife Elisabeth and their five children Jacob, Lucas, Leila, Emmie and Joseph.

Space Competitions

Yannick Brisebois

Yannick is the President of the Carleton Planetary Robotics Team, an undergraduate team of engineering students who design and build Mars rovers to compete in international competitions against other robotic teams. Prior to becoming the team’s President, Yannick was the mechanical lead for the team for 3 years, and was a member of a high school FIRST robotics team for 4 years. Yannick is currently completing his undergrad studying mechanical engineering at Carleton University.

Jake Connor, Canadian International Rover Challenge

Jake is a member of the organizing committee for the Canadian International Rover Challenge. Previously he was a founding member of the Carleton Planetary Robotics Team, and has attended four rover challenges in three countries, with two top three finishes. He has competed in several non-space engineering competitions, and worked on antennas for multiple satellite programs.

Lunch Keynote

Dr. Dave Williams is an astronaut, aquanaut, jet pilot, ER doctor, scientist, and CEO. The former Director of Space & Life Sciences at NASA, he has flown to space twice, once on the space shuttle Columbia and once on Endeavor, logging over thirteen million kilometres in space and over seventeen hours of spacewalks. He has lived and worked on the world’s only undersea research habitat and is the recipient of five honourary degrees, the Order of Canada, and the Order of Ontario. Williams lives in Oakville with his wife, Cathy, two kids, Evan and Olivia, and nephew, Theo. Connect with him on Twitter @AstroDaveMD.

Roland Renner, Hunter Communications Canada. Satellite Solutions Provider

Roland Renner, based in Ottawa, has been working for Hunter Communications Canada since 2013 in both regulatory and business development roles, as the Hunter Ku-band beam, serving Canada, Alaska and surrounding seas was brought into service in October 2015.

Mr. Renner started his career at Bell Canada and then moved to the satellite industry with Telesat Canada. As a consultant, he worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Nordicity Group. Consulting clients included Iristel, Ice Wireless, City of Dawson, Bell ExpressVu, CBC, CRTC, Industry Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage and Telesat Canada.

Gil Shacham, VP marketing & Product in SatixFy

Gil Shacham has extensive product management, product marketing and business development experience in the wireless marketplace.

Gil Currently is the VP marketing & Product in SatixFy, a satellite chip and product design company. Gil held senior positions in Gilat Satellite Networks as head of product management, as well as in Clariton Networks and Alvarion dealing with WiFi, WiMAX and Cellular products.

Jason Palidwar, Account Manager, Iridian Spectral Technologies

Jason joined the Iridian sales and marketing team in 2006 and has two decades of industrial experience providing optical thin film filter solutions to a wide customer base. He has worked with optical filters for applications such as telecom, Raman spectroscopy, and 3D cinema and is currently focused on addressing emerging needs for optical filters in Earth observation imaging and satellite based laser communications.  Jason holds an M.Sc. in experimental condensed matter physics from McMaster University.

Marc Dupuis

Marc Dupuis is responsible for Spectrum and Technical regulatory functions for OneWeb. OneWeb’s mission is to bring affordable broadband Internet access to the entire world, notably to unconnected and underserved communities. OneWeb is a global communications company building a non-geostationary, low Earth orbit, constellation of several hundred satellites. In addition to providing high speed broadband access, the network will extend mobile coverage, as each terminal can also become a 3G/LTE base station and WiFi access point.
Before joining OneWeb, Marc was Director General for the Spectrum Engineering Branch of Industry Canada. In his twelve years at Industry Canada, he directed the regulatory planning and engineering of the radio spectrum and telecommunication for the benefit of Canadians.
Before accepting a position in the federal government, Marc worked eighteen years in the private sector, first with Telesat Canada and then as the Director of the Canadian office for Teledesic, a start-up satellite company.
Mr. Dupuis obtained his B.A.Sc. (Electrical Engineering) with honours from the University of Ottawa in 1985.

Alasdair Calder, Business Development (Americas) – IBD, Lockheed Martin Space

Alasdair is Head of Business Development for the Americas Region under the International Business Development group. Part of this strategic remit is to look at the future needs of the market, gathering customer feedback and analysis to assist LM in defining and delivering the next generation of product sets.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Alasdair served as Director of Sales at Intelsat Corp. In this role, Alasdair was responsible for some of Intelsat largest and complex broadband and mobility clients. This strategic sales role was tasked with maintaining current and generating new revenue with both existing and new clients.

Before joining Intelsat, Alasdair was responsible for Product Management at both Gilat Spacenet and iDirect Technologies Inc. With over two decades of experience in the satellite communications field, Alasdair has carried out roles in Technical Support, Operations, Pre-Sales Engineering, Program Management, Business Development, Product Management/Marketing and Strategic Sales.

Alasdair has a B.Eng. (Hons) in Aerospace Engineering from Glasgow University, M.Sc. in Information Technology Systems from the University of Strathclyde and an MBA in Strategic Analysis and Process from Strathclyde Graduate Business School.

Gold Sponsor Keynote

Diego Paldao, Director, Americas, OneWeb

Diego is the Director for the Americas and currently heads up OneWeb’s commercial efforts in the region. In addition to managing one of OneWeb’s most critical global distribution partners he is also responsible for evaluating markets and establishing distribution partnerships for each country to enable end users to access OneWeb solutions. Diego is also responsible for collaborating with partners to execute on their market strategy to support their global clients through the promotion of OneWeb’s global LEO satellite constellation and related services.

Diego Paldao has more than 20 years’ experience in the satellite industry. Beginning in 1997 while at UUNET and partnering with ATC Teleports and PanAmSat during the Internet boom to connect countries and communities to the internet via satellite. Diego later joined global teleport operator, Verestar, which was acquired by SES Americom. After spending 8 years with SES Diego joined NewSat, an Australian teleport service provider, which was acquired by SpeedCast in July 2015. In November 2017 Diego joined the OneWeb team at a critical phase of the company’s growth into mainstream discussions about bridging the digital divide.

Sunil Chavda, Director, New Satellite Systems Development

Sunil Chavda is one of the satellite industry’s leading experts in space-based secure communications and remote sensing. His career in the Space Industry spans over 25 years during which he has led multinational technical teams in Europe, North America and Asia on projects. Mr Chavda ran operations in Europe and China. Mr. Chavda received special recognition from the European Space Agency for work done on ERS and Envisat missions. He has been a board member of a number of technology companies and often advises startups. Mr. Chavda holds a degree in Electronics and Computer Science from the University College London (UK) and Aerospace Technology from the University Of Southampton, UK.

Dr. Dave Roscoe

Dave Roscoe has over 20 years of experience in engineering roles in high tech and research environments. Dr. Roscoe joined Orbcomm in 1997 where he has held executive and technical management roles. He is currently Senior Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing. Previously he worked for the Communications Research Centre as a senior RF/Antenna design engineer. Dr. Roscoe has earned a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering, and a Masters and PhD in Electrical Engineering with specializations in Antennas and Electromagnetics, all from the University of Manitoba.

Andy Lincoln, Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Viasat

Andy Lincoln is the Chief Technology Officer for Viasat’s Government Products Portfolio. In this role, Andy is responsible for establishing and communicating the technical vision for a diverse range of products including our government satellite communications systems, tactical networks, situational awareness, encryption, cyber/network security, and protected communications products. Andy’s technical interests range from waveforms to protocols and networks and from ASICs to modems, radios, terminals, and gateways. Andy joined Viasat in 1997 and has over 30 years’ experience in communications systems, including terrestrial wireless, satellite communications and terrestrial networking for defense, commercial, and consumer applications. Andy is part of Viasat’s Government Systems technical leadership team working to bring resilient, cyber-secure, protected, and affordable communications to Defense users through leverage of Viasat’s commercial high capacity satellite systems. Andy holds Bachelor’s and Masters’ degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and University of California San Diego, respectively, focusing on communications theory and system design.

Virendra Jha, VRSpace Consultants Inc.
Among his many accolades, Canadian Space Agency veteran Virendra Jha, PhD 82, has recently been named a member of the Order of Canada.
He began his space career in 1972 at RCA Ltd. Montreal which supplied space hardware equipment for the Canadian Government’s space related programs. The company later became SPAR Aerospace and is currently known as MDA.
After serving Spar as the director of Engineering, Jha joined the Canadian Space Agency in 1991 and went on to serve as director general, Space Technologies, and then vice-president, Science, Technology and Programs before becoming chief engineer in 2009.
Jha earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Concordia. He also holds a BTech in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and a master’s degree from McMaster University.
Sharing his knowledge with generations of students, Jha has taught as adjunct professor in Concordia’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. While at SPAR, he was one of the key players in starting the Master in Aerospace Engineering program in various Quebec Universities.
Among the awards Jha has received for his contributions to the Canadian Space Program are the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute’s Alouette Award (1999), the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Indo Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Professional Man of the Year award (2004). He was also named winner of the International Astronautical Federation’s most prestigious honour — the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award — for his outstanding contribution to astronautics.

Day 2, November 28th

Gold Sponsor Keynote

Pierre-Alexis Joumel, Head of Moon Race, Space Systems Airbus Defence and Space GmbH

Pierre-Alexis Joumel holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering as well as International Project Management. He joined Airbus in 2011, and has since held various positions in the Group’s CTO organization before moving to Airbus Defence and Space in 2015 as programme manager in Earth Observation Services. He has been one of the initiators and is now leading “The Moon Race” initiative, a global competition launched by Airbus with international partners, aiming to enable key technologies for a sustainable lunar exploration.

Gold Sponsor Keynote

Chris Dodd, Director, Business Development – Space, Airbus Defence and Space Canada

Chris a graduate of Saint Mary’s University, Halifax (BA, Political Science) and the University of Ottawa (MBA). He served as a soldier and an officer in the Canadian Forces for 14 years, and completed his military service as an intelligence analyst at NDHQ in Ottawa. After leaving the military and obtaining his MBA he entered the private sector. During his career in industry Chris has worked for leading international defence and aerospace companies including COM DEV International. He joined Airbus in 2015 as Director of Business Development where he applies over 20-years of experience working in Canada’s space sector.

International Panel

Chair – Cornelius Zund (Satellite Squared)

Corey is a Canadian born rocket scientist and his primary objective is to work towards a sustainable human presence in space, through the conception, development, and exploitation of new and financially sustainable space business activities.

He is the Founder and CEO of SATELLITE SQUARED LTD, a UK based space start-up whose mission is to provide hardware and services, which boost the power available to satellites and vehicles in orbit. Currently participating in the Entrepreneur First program in Paris, and working on a new project related to reducing the cost / kg to orbit, improving launcher flexibility and mitigating space debris.

Additionally he gives lectures at both the Toulouse Business School (TBS) as well as the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg. His academic areas of expertise include business planning, modeling, and value analysis. The classes and workshops are influenced by his ongoing experience as an entrepreneur in the space industry.

Other objectives and interests include space and science education, as well as environmental awareness, sustainability, and green initiatives.

Mr. Prateep Basu, Founder and Global Head – Strategy & Partnerships at SatSure

SatSure is a spatial data intelligence startup, working on creating sustainable solutions for enabling financial inclusion of farmers in developing countries. He is a seasoned space industry professional with work experience in both the business and technology front. An aerospace engineer from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum with post-graduation in Space Studies from the International Space University, Strasbourg, Mr. Basu has worked as a scientist in ISRO, and as a geospatial industry analyst at Boston based Northern Sky Research (NSR), a global market research and consulting firm focused on commercial space industry, prior to starting SatSure.

Micah Walter-Range

Micah Walter-Range is the President of Caelus Partners. He leads all operational aspects of Caelus Partners’ business and the Community in Space™ project globally, manages resource alignment and prioritization, and ensures efficient and effective operations. He is also an owner and a board member of Caelus Partners.

In his previous role as Director of Research and Analysis at the Space Foundation, Micah led development of all research projects and publications. With his team of in-house researchers and external contractors, Micah produced 11 editions of the Space Foundation’s annual flagship publication, The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity. The report is used as a reliable and informative reference source by space agencies, policymakers, industry executives, and the media throughout the world. Micah has also authored papers on space-specific topics such as the impact of export controls on the U.S. space industrial base, and cross-sector subjects such as the role of space technology in aviation. As a leading expert on the global space economy, Micah has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, NPR, Space News, ABC News, Bloomberg, Entrepreneur, The Economist, and many other media outlets. He also regularly briefs government and private-sector audiences on technological and economic developments in the space industry.

Micah has a Master of Arts in International Science and Technology Policy (with concentrations in space policy and security policy) from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College, where he double-majored in Astronomy and Political Science.

Hira Nadeem
Hira Nadeem is the Events Chair for the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS-Canada) and a fourth year electrical engineering student at McMaster University. She has been on the Board of Directors for SEDS-Canada for two consecutive years, and this year is in charge of planning the organization’s annual conference, Ascension, in Edmonton, Alberta. She looks forward to working with her colleagues to spread SEDS-Canada’s reach to provide as many students as possible the opportunity to participate in the Canadian space community.

Colonel (retired) Raul Gutierrez, Colombian Air Force (ColAF)

Served for 27 years at the Colombian Air Force as a military pilot flying both fixed and rotary wing aircrafts as well as performing different administrative and strategic tasks within the Air Force.

Education: Aerospace MBA from Toulouse Business School.

Specialist in National Security and Defense and in Command and Major Staff from the Colombian War College.

Degree in Aeronautical Management from the Colombian Air Force Academy.

Some of his assignments during active duty:

Director and responsible for the development of the Colombian Aerospace Museum. Director of the Aerospace Technologies Research Center. Executive Manager of the Cauca Valley Aerospace Cluster. Head of ColAF Space Affairs. Technical Secretary of the Colombian Space Commission responsible to lead the projects for the acquisition of an Earth Observation Satellite and for the creation of the Colombian Space Agency.

Dr. Cassandra Steer

Dr. Cassandra Steer is an independent consultant on space security. Formerly she has been Acting Executive Director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Ethics and Rule of Law; Executive Director of Women in International Security – Canada, and Executive Director of the McGill Institute of Air and Space Law. She has a degree in philosophy (UNSW); undergraduate and Masters degrees in law and a PhD in International Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam, where she was also a junior professor for 8 years, teaching criminal law, international law and comparative law. Her current research focuses on space security and the application of the law of armed conflict and use of force in outer space. She has been a consultant to military lawyers in the Canadian Judge Advocate General’s Office and to the U.S. Department of Defense on these issues. She is author of the book “Translating Guilt: Identifying Leadership Liability for Mass Atrocity Crimes” (Springer, 2017), and several articles on international criminal law, the law of armed conflict, and space law.

Currently, Cassandra Steer is the member for Canada on the International Law Association Space Law Committee, an Associate Expert on the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations, and a member of the International Institute of Space Law, Women in Aerospace, the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies, and the NATO Association of Canada.

Sonya Banal

Sonya Banal started her career as a remote sensing research assistant at Environment Canada’s St. Lawrence Center in Montreal after completing her B.Sc. in Physical Geography and M.Sc. in Geomatics at the Université de Montréal in 2003. She then joined the Satellite Operations’ Directorate at the Canadian Space Agency in 2006 supporting the operations of RADARSAT-1 as a mission planner and then as part of the team preparing for the launch and start of RADARSAT-2 operations. She was actively involved in various activities of the Charter for Space and Major Disasters and also led the Hurricane Watch Program. In 2009 she moved to Ottawa, joining Global Affairs Canada as a Senior Policy and Licensing Officer responsible for the implementation of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA). She was responsible for reviewing security requirements of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) and chaired the Interdepartmental Working Group on RCM Data Security. In 2016 she joined the Department of National Defence (DND) in the role of the Space-Based Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) S&T Program Manager and associated Projects’ Director. She now works closely with the defence scientific community and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) stakeholders to develop and implement the R&D agenda in support to the exploitation of current systems and the design and use of the next generation of commercial and national earth observation systems to support CAF. The R&D activities under her portfolio will also contribute to the All Domain Situational Awareness Program (ADSA) meant to advise on potential solutions to support the development of options to replace and enhance Arctic surveillance capabilities.

Next Generation Panel

Session Chair – Zaid Rana

Zaid is an undergraduate student at Concordia University and currently working at the Canadian Space Agency as an intern. He is also leading the Space Concordia student team in the Canadian CubeSat Project, taking part as one of 15 teams selected across Canada to build and launch their own small satellite. Moreover, he is actively engaged with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) and serves as Canada’s National Point of Contact.

Dr. Gordon Osinski

Dr.  Osinski is the NSERC/MacDonald, Detwiller and Associates Ltd/Canadian Space Agency Industrial Research Chair in Planetary Geology in the Departments of Earth Sciences and Physics and Astronomy at Western University in Ontario, Canada.

His research focuses on understanding impact cratering as a planetary geological process, on the Earth, Moon and Mars. He has published more than 85 papers in peer-reviewed journals and special papers and has given over 70 conference presentations.

Dr. Osinski is also is also Deputy Director of the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration , the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Lunar Research Network, an Affiliate member of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, and the founder and first Chair of the Planetary Sciences Division of the Geological Association of Canada .

He holds a PhD from the University of New Brunswick (2004) and a BSc (Hons) from the University of St. Andrews (1999), Scotland.  For this research on impact cratering, he was awarded a Canadian Space Agency Fellowship in Space Science (2007), an Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award (2009), and the 2009 Nier Prize of the Meteoritical Society, an international award for young scientists.

Rocketry

Chair – Adam Trumpour, Concept Designer and Integrator, Pratt and Whitney

By day, Adam is a Toronto-based concept designer and integrator at Pratt & Whitney Canada, and in his spare time he designs, builds and tests liquid-propellant rocket propulsion systems, mentors student rocketry teams, and where possible engages in consulting and contract work related to rocketry and rocket propulsion.  He helped with the design of the most ambitious student rocket competition yet, the Base 11 Space Challenge, serves on the Safety Council for that competition, and is in the process of setting up Canada’s first-ever student and amateur rocket competition.

Presentation Title: Grassroots Aerospace Innovation and the Canadian Rocket Innovation Challenge

  • Many people think of innovation as coming from either industry or academia, but from Robert Goddard to Wernher von Braun to many of today’s leading rocket entrepreneurs, the history of aerospace has in fact been shaped by people who began as amateurs. Countries that recognize and support this grassroots talent and create an ecosystem in which it can thrive can harness an unmatched drive and passion to learn and innovate, at very little cost, and this has been proven time and time again.
  • Here in Canada, there is an unprecedented surge of grassroots interest in rocketry, particularly among students. The space launch industry is changing rapidly, driven by game-changing companies like SpaceX and RocketLab, and Canadians want to be a part of it.  There are now almost 20 student rocket teams across the country, many of them undertaking cutting-edge sounding rocket work, and regularly winning a disproportionate number of the top honours at the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), a major rocket competition in the United States.
  • Yet many of them face a relative lack of support in Canada. They currently have few options to pursue their rocketry work at home, and few avenues available for support.  Moreover, Canadian teams that develop their own propulsion systems typically don’t even have the ability to launch their rockets here due to the unsupportive regulatory environment and a lack of places from which to fly.  All too often, these exceptionally bright, motivated Canadians have no choice but to either abandon their passion, or leave the country.  In an increasingly competitive high-tech economy, Canada cannot afford to keep losing this talent.
  • With the seed funding of several private donors, a new effort is underway to help change this. To help Canada’s rocket innovators to pursue their activities, collaborate, learn and thrive, we are creating Canada’s first-ever rocketry competition. Using an incentive prize model, this competition will for the first time bring together Canada’s rocketry community from coast to coast with cash prizes to incentivize the development of significant rocket propulsion and launch vehicle technologies with a bold, entrepreneurial mindset.  It will help develop a pipeline of highly skilled, knowledgeable and experienced aerospace professionals through challenging hands-on rocket engineering projects and will use the excitement of rocketry to promote STEM education. The competition aims to become a recurring event that will elevate the profile of rocketry in Canada, and amateur rocketry in particular, provide a highly visible showcase of Canadian exceptionalism, and help to create an environment where talented and motivated individuals and teams are supported in their efforts to dare great things.

Col (Ret) Andre Dupuis

Col (Ret) Andre Dupuis has over 35 years of experience in the Canadian Armed Forces in Air Defence and Space operations, mission execution and strategic planning.  Throughout his career he has been selected to lead a number of highly-visible command and transformational initiatives.  He led the Canadian Space Cadre during his last 8 years in the service and had a key role in the recognition of the importance of space operations to the Canadian Forces.  His last Job in the Department of National Defence was as the Acting /Director General Space and the Director of Space Requirements, where he was responsible for all aspects of the delivery of space capabilities to the Forces.  Upon his retirement he founded Space Strategies Consulting Limited, a company dedicated to providing trusted third-party advice to the commercial, civil and national security space enterprise.

Cyber Security Panel

Major James Lindsay

Originally from North Bay Ontario, Maj. Lindsay joined the Canadian Forces in 1998 when he was 16 years old. He spent the first part of his career in the Petawawa area, building and securing field deployable tactical computer networks. In 2008 Maj. Lindsay deployed to Afghanistan as Officer Commanding Communication Infrastructure and Services (CIS). His primary responsibility was for the extension and security of information services out to the Forward Operating Bases within the Afghan theatre of operations.

In 2011, Maj. Lindsay was posted to the National Capital Region as a Senior IT Security Engineer. Within that job, he designed, engineered, and piloted a Network Access Control solution; evaluated and purchased the endpoint protection suite of products; and developed and implemented the Vulnerability Management and Configuration Compliance programs. Maj. Lindsay has also worked at Canadian Forces Intelligence Command as a Cyber / Electronic Warfare (EW) technical analysis.

Currently, Maj. Lindsay is the section head of the Risk Assessment Architecture and Engineering section for the Department of National Defence. His two major responsibilities consist of building the Risk Assessment capability and develop the Canadian Forces cyber threat hunting capability.

Maj. Lindsay holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a masters in Electrical Engineering. While at the Royal Military College (RMC), Maj. Lindsay received the Col. Geoff Parker award and the IEEE master research award for the Kingston area in 2011. On his own time, Maj. Lindsay is currently pursuing a part time PhD in Computer Engineering through RMC that focuses on novel machine learning methodologies for autonomous cyber agents.

Rob Davidson
Rob is a 25-year seasoned veteran of the software industry and has excelled in senior roles ranging from Chief Technologist , VP of Product Management to Director of Marketing &Communications.  He is a passionate open data advocate, promoting the use of open data for social good and business creation. In June 2016, Rob founded the Open Data Institute Ottawa Node to help crystallize the open data movement in Ottawa. Rob is a member of Canada’s Multi-Stakeholder Forum for the Open Government Partnership (co-chair) and is also an organizer for Data for Good Ottawa meetup group.  Rob has spoken at national and international events on open data and emerging technologies.
Rob is the Senior Data Analyst at the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). Rob has a BSc. in Data Analysis from the University of New Brunswick and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Brad Stocking

Brad Stocking worked as a software developer for oilfield survey technology prior to joining the Canadian Armed Forces.  He served as a Regular Force Signals Officer for 14 years where he worked over 10 years as a security engineer and SIGINT.  His security engineering experience covered ITSEC, COMSEC, EMSEC, and security testing for Tactical and Strategic command and control networks.  He also planned and participated in various Cyber Exercises at both domestic and international stages.  His final posting was as a Squadron Officer in Command (OC) to provide SIGINT support to deployed forces including Operation IMPACT.  Upon leaving the Forces, Brad joined the Bank of Canada as the Principal Security Architect.  In May 2018 he took a job at Payments Canada as the Lead of Security Architecture for the Payments System Modernization program.

Mariah Shuman

Mariah Shuman is Head of Regulatory Affairs for the Americas at OneWeb.  She is responsible for leading all regional licensing and policy advocacy for satellite services, earth stations, and spectrum access.  Prior to OneWeb, Ms. Shuman was Director of Maritime and International Regulatory Affairs at O3b where she managed global maritime authorizations, led market access efforts in many countries, and served on the U.S.A. delegation for WRC-15.  Ms. Shuman holds a J.D. from the Charleston School of Law in South Carolina and an LL.M. in Communications Law & Policy from the American University Washington College of Law.  She is a classically-trained musician and composer.

Warren Arseneau, EORN Board of Directors, Public Member

Warren is an experienced business development executive focused on early stage companies with a specialty in the clean tech area. He founded a manufacturing company for high-efficiency building insulation made from recycled plastic and holds four patents in the plastics recycling field. He has been CEO, CFO, president and director of two junior public companies in the environmental sector. This includes

the above-mentioned insulation company and a bio resources company with interests in organic fertilizer and aquaculture. Warren has been both an executive and management consultant with internationally recognized expertise in the business side of the clean tech space with working knowledge in waste management, several forms of alternate energy and organic agriculture. At heart a front line new busi- ness soldier, Warren also has reorganization, corporate finance and investment banking expertise. Put simply, he is

the conduit between the finance community and the issuer, translating both of their needs into common language to move things ahead.
In addition to having public company director experience, Warren also has public service board involvement. From 2009 to 2012 he was a board member of the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Corporation where he has served as Treasurer and head of the finance committee. Owing at least partially to his work there, HHHS is a model of rural comprehensive health care operations, boasting innovative energy savings initiatives and a balanced budget. From 2013 to 2015 he was a community member at large and a board member of the Peterborough Region Health Centre, sitting on the planning, stewardship and audit committees. He is presently a community board member and chair of the audit committee on

The Eastern Ontario Regional Network which is a $250,000,000 Public Private Partnership expansion of broadband into 250,000 homes and businesses in rural east- ern Ontario. Warren is also active as a volunteer in his com- munity for a number of local charities and initiatives including being Co-chair of finance for the 2015 Ontario Senior Winter Games.

David Fell

David is currently the CEO of the Eastern Ontario Regional Broadband Network (EORN). This Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has invested over $175 million into Eastern Ontario to extend high speed broadband access for rural residents. Prior to his position with EORN, David spent 7 years as Vice President, founder, and co-owner of an eLearning software company called Operitel. Operitel was recognized in 2008 by Profit Magazine as one of Canada’s Top 100 fastest growing profitable companies (on revenues from 2002- 2007). It was also recognized as one of Canada’s Top 50 fastest growing companies in 2006 – PROFIT HOT 50 based on sales growth of 195 percent over two years (2004-2005).  David is Past Chair of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation (GPAEDC) and current Chair of the United Way of Peterborough and District. He completed his Executive MBA at Queen’s University in 2010, and co-authored with Dr. Gary Woodill and Ms. Sheryl Herle: The Mobile Learning Edge: Tools & Technology for Developing Your Teams Wherever They Are, published September 2010 by McGraw-Hill.

James Maunder, Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs, Xplornet

James is Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs at Xplornet, Canada leading rural broadband service provider.

In this role he leads a team responsible for communications, media relations, and government affairs.   He also serves as the company’s spokesperson.

Xplornet was founded almost 15 years ago with a simple mission: to make fast, affordable broadband available to rural Canadians.  Today, the company serves over 350,000 rural homes and businesses – roughly 900,000 Canadians – in every province and territory.Prior to joining Xplornet, James worked in the Government of Canada for over a decade in serving in communications and policy roles in four federal departments.

Jim Pine

Jim is the Chief Administrative Officer of the County of Hastings.  Jim has been in the municipal affairs business for 38 years.    He has worked as chief administrative officer in small municipalities, as a city administrator and for the past sixteen years has been the CAO for the County of Hastings.  Jim started his career with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and served in various positions in his 9 years with the Ministry including as Regional Director for Eastern Ontario.

Jim is also currently the Co-Lead of the Eastern Ontario Regional (broadband) Network.  EORN is an ambiguous $175 million dollar project completed in 2015 to provide access to high speed, high capacity Internet services to more than 425,000 homes and businesses throughout the 50,000 square kilometers that make up Eastern Ontario.  A project of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, Jim has been a part of the Project since its earliest days.  As Project Co-Lead he is a senior member of the EORN leadership team and works to support EORN’s ongoing efforts to expand access to and utilization of high-speed internet services across the region.

Jim is currently co-chairing the ONWARD Initiative which a group all the major municipal staff organizations in Ontario dedicated to staff training and improvement.  ONWARD also counts the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) as members of the group.  Together ONWARD has a mission to raise awareness of the need for succession planning among Ontario’s municipalities especially in light of the demographics of the municipal workforce.

Over the course of the past three decades Jim has taken an active role in municipal advocacy through his work with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario where he served in a number of roles including as Secretary-Treasurer and as a member of the Board of Directors.  Jim is also a past president of the Ontario Municipal Administrators’ Association.  He has participated in many municipal reform projects including the Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Services Delivery Review.  He also authored along with his two panel partners a wide ranging review of Ontario’s water and waste water sector entitled:  Watertight:  A case for Change.

James Slifierz

James is the Co-Founder and CEO at SkyWatch Space Applications. SkyWatch, based out of Waterloo, Ontario, is a venture-backed startup focused on Earth Observation. James has been involved with the space industry for a very long four (4) years, entering it after receiving global recognition for award-winning software his team built for some of the world’s top astrophysicists. Since then, James has been on a mission to build Canada’s space industry back into a global leader, leading initiatives like the NASA Space Apps Challenge, and providing mentorship to space entrepreneurs here in Canada and around the globe.

Day 3, November 29th

Education and Outreach Panel

Session Chair – Kate Howells

Kate Howells is Global Community Outreach Manager for The Planetary Society, and a member of the Space Advisory Board. Her work focuses on space outreach and education, with a focus on planetary science and exploration. Kate lives in Montreal and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Educational Theory at Concordia University.

Dr. Melissa Battler is the Chief Science Officer at Mission Control Space Services Inc.

She is also an Adjunct Research Professor at Western University, and a visiting lecturer at the International Space University. Melissa attained her Ph.D. (Planetary Geology) from Western University, and both a diploma in University Teaching and a M.Sc. (Geology) from the University of New Brunswick. She conducts research in the areas of planetary mission simulations, rover operations, team psychology, and planetary mineralogy, and has played a leadership role in numerous university and space agency-led human and rover analogue missions since 2003. Melissa leads development and instruction of the Mission Control Academy experiential learning/rover mission program, and is passionate about pushing the limits of human and robotic space exploration, and inspiring the next generation to join in the adventure!

Dr. Marianne Mader, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Science Centres

Marianne is the new Executive Director for the Canadian Association of Science Centres, a member-based organization representing over 60 organizations that support the informal learning of science, technology, and nature across Canada. She is responsible for government advocacy, partnership development and creating programs for association members with a goal to build a strong science culture in Canada.  A Planetary Scientist with over 13 years of research and field experience, Marianne is also a Visiting Lecturer at the International Space University and Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Bhairavi Shankar from BeSpatial Consulting is a Planetary Scientist and educational entrepreneur

Through Dr. Shankar’s small business within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), she works with local not-for-profit organizations, educators and learners alike to bring forward space science in a more engaging manner. She promotes the role of space science to the general public at various science communication focused events within the GTA. Together with several professionals, she is a co-founder of the Women of Colour in STEAMM Canada (WoCScan) a not-for-profit organization that advocates for minorities in Canada in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and Medicine.

Dr. Parshati Patel, Public Education and Outreach Program Coordinator, Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, Western University

Parshati earned her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Planetary Science from Western University (2016) and has over half a decade of experience in public education and science outreach. She has held a variety of positions at Western University over the past six years ranging from an instructor to the coordinator of two outreach programs, as well as the producer and co-host of a planetary science themed podcast called Western Worlds. She has facilitated numerous classroom workshops and events geared towards school-age children, as well as general public engagements. She has recently begun investigating the impact of the outreach programs led by the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration. Dr. Patel is the co-founder of the Women of Color in STEAMM – Canada, a Science Consultant for children’s books, and serves in an Advisor to the Science Rendezvous – Western executive team, amongst other initiatives.

Socio-Economic Panel

Zac Trolley

Zac Trolley is an experienced project engineer with a diverse background. He is an intrepid adventurer, dabbling futurist, and talented communicator. He has worked as a technician, designed oil field electrical systems, developed NATO communication networks, managed construction progress, and coordinated multi discipline engineering efforts. He prides himself on breaking down barriers between industries and opens lines of communication by establishing common goals.

Driven by a passion to see humanity expand beyond Earth’s gravity, Zac has invested a lot of time analyzing how humans could live on Mars. He is continually looking for ways where people can collaborate and build off of each others’ ideas. Exploration encourages innovation and he believes that, by bringing people together to work on an impossible task, we can accomplish the impossible.

Astronomy Panel

Chair – Nathalie Ouellette, Ph.D., Coordinator, Institute for Research on Exoplanets (Université de Montréal) and Outreach Scientist for the Webb Telescope

Dr. Nathalie Ouellette is an astrophysicist and avid science communicator. Her research is on the formation and evolution of galaxies, particularly those found in groups and clusters such as the Virgo Cluster. She obtained her Ph.D. from Queen’s University in 2016. During her graduate studies, she was also the Queen’s Observatory Coordinator where she fell in love with science education and outreach. In 2017, she became the first Education and Outreach Officer for the new Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute where she helped build a foundation for their educational and public programming while continuing her research and freelance science communication.

She is now the Coordinator of the iREx and the Outreach Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope (collaborating with the Canadian Space Agency) where she hopes to help Canada embrace its role as a worldwide leader in the field of astronomy.

René Doyon, Ph.D., Professor, Université de Montréal, Director, Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Director, Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic

Prof. René Doyon’s research activities are focussed on the development of state-of-the-art astronomical instrumentation for various ground- and space-based observatories. He is also actively involved in various observational programs for detecting and characterizing brown dwarfs, exoplanets and young low-mass stars. On the instrumentation front, he leads several infrared instrumentation projects (camera and spectrograph) for the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic. He is the principal investigator of NIRISS, one of the four scientific instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope. He is also involved in a number of other instruments searching for exoplanets: the Gemini Planet Imager, SPIRou, and NIRPS.

Jesse Rogerson, Ph.D., Science Advisor, Canada Aviation and Space Museum

Dr. Jesse Rogerson obtained his Ph.D. from York University in 2016 for his work on quasar accretion disks and active galactic nuclei. All throughout his graduate career and beyond, he has been heavily involved in education and science outreach endeavours in both volunteer and professional capacities at a number of institutions including the Ontario Science Centre, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada and TELUS Spark. He has also been a frequent media contributor across Canada for many years.

He now marries his love of astronomy and education in his role of Science Advisor at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, where he helps develop educational and public programs that help Canadians better connect with space science.

Tina Peters, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Tina Peters is a Postdoctoral Fellow studying supernovae and quasars in large imaging surveys. She is working with Prof. Renée Hložek on supernovae science in preparation for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Additionally, she uses photometric data to classify and estimate redshifts of quasars in other large imaging surveys. Her work also involves using statistical methods and large probabilistic catalogs to measure cosmological parameters or calculate the quasar luminosity function. Tina received her Ph.D. from Drexel University in 2016 where her supervisor was Prof. Gordon Richards. She joined the Dunlap Institute in August 2016.

Kiernan McClelland

Kiernan McClelland is a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at Carleton University with a doctoral focus on space security. He has a Master of Strategic Studies from the Centre for the Military, Security and Strategic Studies (CMSS) at the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Carleton University. His current research focuses on space power theory, space security, and decision-making apparatus within national space agencies. He has presented his research on space power at several Canadian and International conferences, including the Strategic Studies Journal Graduate Conference, the CDA Graduate Student Symposium, and the International Studies Association. At present, Kiernan holds the position of policy analyst with Space Strategies Consulting Ltd.

Amanda Green – Educator

Amanda teaches Junior High Science, Math, Coding, and STEAM classes in both English and French near Edmonton, Alberta.  She believes in creating authentic cross-curricular learning opportunities for her students to apply to real world problems, fostering a generation of young people armed to build a better future.  She has a talent for weaving space into just about any topic including her “Mars Seven Project”, a yearlong unifying theme where students grow Tomatosphere seedlings in simulated Mars and Lunar regolith as well as build habitats and code automated sensory and response plant care systems.  She recently received the 2018 Alberta Teacher’s Association Science Council Outstanding Teacher Award for her dedication and passion for science education.

Natasha Goumeniouk, Medical Student & CSA Junior Physical Scientist

Natasha is a final-year medical student at Queen’s University. After attending the International Astronautical Congress in 2016 as an ISEB-sponsored student she joined the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Exploration directorate. She conducts research on interdisciplinary communication and collaboration in the aerospace community with a focus on barriers to evidence-based health care. As a student she has undertaken courses relevant to aerospace medicine and hopes to combine her passions of science and medicine in an ever-expanding civilian space industry.

Nicole Buckley, Chief Scientist, International Space Station and Life Sciences

Nicole Buckley was born in Ottawa and grew up on military bases across Canada.  She received her Bachelors of Science (honours) and Master’s in Science (Microbiology) from the University of Saskatchewan.  Dr. Buckley was awarded her doctorate in Oral Biology from the University of Manitoba.   She pursued postdoctoral studies in molecular biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and the Université Laval in Quebec City.  Dr. Buckley’s past research interests include the development of probiotics for use on Earth and in space.

Dr. Buckley joined the Canadian Space Agency in January 2002 as Program Scientist for Space Life Sciences. Dr. Buckley was named Director of Life and Physical Sciences in July 2004.  In 2009, Dr. Buckley was named Chief Scientist, International Space Station and Life Sciences.  In this capacity, she is responsible for programming activities for the Canadian allocation of ISS and for developing and leading a robust life sciences program.  Communicating the benefits of science in general and the benefits of space science for all Canadians is one of Dr. Buckley’s favourite responsibilities.  Dr. Buckley has participated in over a dozen space missions on various space platforms including the International Space Station, and is working with her team to plan a full complement of activities for the future.

Socio-Economic Panel

Dr. Marie Lucy StojakChair, Space Advisory Board

Director of the School on Management of Creativity and Innovation at HEC Montréal, Canada’s oldest business school. She is a space law expert and has over 25 years of international experience in the aerospace sector, including interests in space commercialization, space and security, and Earth observation data policy issues.

Yoan St. Onge, Policy Advisor, Canadian Space Agency

Yoan St-Onge is an experienced communicator with a drive to develop sustainable partnerships while promoting a strategic vision and engaging future for space innovation. After several years in marketing within the academic sector at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, he’ll be joining the team at the Canadian Space Agency in the role of policy advisor. All while exploring the possibilities of using blockchain technology and smart contracts to accelerate innovation within the space sector for his Master’s thesis with the Royal Military College.

Jessica West

Jessica West is the managing editor of the annual Space Security Index report produced by an international group of civil society and academic partners. She is based at Project Ploughshares, a Canadian non-governmental organization engaged in research and policy advancement related to security, peace, and disarmament. Jessica has a Master’s degree from the Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University and a PhD in global security governance from the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo.

Dimitri Buchs

Dimitri Buchs is a Senior Consultant of Euroconsult based in Montreal, Canada, with expertise in economic and strategic analysis. Dimitri’s specialty lies in satellite communications. He is also involved in activities linked to the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) market. His activities include qualitative and quantitative business analysis, review of market prospects and business plans.

Since joining Euroconsult in 2007, he has managed and contributed to more than 30 consulting missions for a wide range of international clients including satellite operators, service providers and investment funds.   

Dimitri has a Masters of International Management and a Bachelors of Economics from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris.

Other confirmed speakers of the 2018 Canadian Space Summit include:

  • John Yates, Managing Director, Helix Technologies and Founder, Space Applications Catapult  Andre Dupuis, President, Space Strategies Consulting Ltd.
  • Sunil Chavda, Telesatt
  • Drew Klein, Director of International Business Development, C-COM Satellite Systems
  • David Ormondroyd, Account Executive, Planet
  • Bill Jeffries, Consultant, Elliam Inc.

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