Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine February 2018 - 63

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2018.181003

News & Information

"To Infinity and Beyond" - Buzz Lightyear - Report on Young Professionals in Space 2017
Tushar Sharma
University of Calgary

ith the motto, "To Infinity and Beyond," in mind, a group of
young motivated professionals set out to achieve a dream-A
dream to make new space accessible and demystify its exploration. This idea culminated in Young Professionals in Space, a
unique event for young professionals and by young professionals
aimed at getting all the change makers of this generation under a
single roof to discuss and deliberate on the exciting slew of opportunities offered by aerospace technology and exploration.
On the morning of November 24, 2017, the event kicked off in
Bengaluru, India. The event was attended by industry professionals
and academicians alike. While the event offered youthful exuberance, it also offered the tempered experience of learned individuals,
thus creating the perfect platform for ideation and problem solving.
Talks were offered by industry experts and academicians from
different disciplines including Dr. Lorenzo Lo Monte from AES;
Prof. Ravinder Dahiya from Sensors Council; Prof. Steve Reising
from Colorado State University; Tim Lee, the Global SIGHT Chair
2017; Dr. Quenton Bonds from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; and many others. The topics ranged from weather forecasting
and remote sensing to radar imagery and smart technology.
The highlight of the event was the 3-day YPinSpace bootcamp.
It was a unique offering to students and professionals to delve into

and experience first-hand the development cycle of a satellite. The
attendees learned about payload design and the dynamics of launching and sustaining a startup business in the aerospace domain.
To further promote startups in aerospace, a special track discussing entrepreneurial challenges was offered. The track featured representatives from leading startups like Team Indus, NoPo Technologies, SatSure, Space Kidz India, Rocketeers, Xovian, and Bellatrix
Aerospace. The audience asked the panel questions about how to
launch and maintain a startup in the new aerospace domain and was
enthralled seeing the success of these startups and motivated to start
something of their own[em-dash]the true spirit of the event.
The event was wholeheartedly supported by the IEEE Aerospace Electronic Systems Society, the IEEE Microwave Theory
and Techniques Society, the IEEE Sensors Council and many other
IEEE organizations. Due to the success of this first edition, YP-inSpace will be offered in Barcelona, Spain this summer from July
16 to July 19, 2018 at UPC-BarcelonaTech, Campus Nord.
Involve. Innovate. Inspire. YP-in-Space truly lived up to the
expectations set for it, and all in all, it was a grand success! At the
offset of it all, Young Professionals in Space makes a bold proclamation- Be it Moon or Mars, Young Professionals will be at the
center of it.

Left: Young Professionals in Space Group. Right: IEEE AESS Young Professionals representative Lorenzo Lo Monte.

FEBRUARY 2018

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine February 2018