An iinterview with Gill Dal Din, Global Activation Executive focusing on Business Development and Growth for Space Trailblazers.    Gill is a superconnector who connects people and resources that catalyze change in high growth businesses.  She was instrumental in getting the aerospace ecosystem up and running in Christchurch from the early years.  Gill has a Bachelors degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Otago. Her professional journey range from health, franchise ownership, events promotion, aerospace, and championing new ecosystems such as the space in ..read more

An Interview with Erica Lloyd, Chief Revenue Officer at Zenno Astronautics, a New Zealand startup company revolutionizing space movement through the untapped energy of super magnets. Eric Lloyd who has a broad and varied career here in New Zealand and across Asia Pacific and the USA in Broadcasting, Technology, Banking and innovation businesses. Erica is a seasoned executive who started life running her own cutting edge tech services company in film and the television sector. She has worked on both sides of the camera as an on-air business journalist for Television New Zealand and Mediaworks ..read more

An interview with Betina Pavri, Senior Principal Engineer at the Paiahu-Robinson Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington. Betina is supporting the development of high-temperature superconducting magnet technologies for space applications.  Prior to moving to New Zealand, Betina has had a long and illustrious career at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she worked on many pioneering planetary missions including the Magellan mission to Venus, the Mars reconnaissance orbiter, the asteroid Dawn mission, and aspects of the Curiosity Mars rover mission as a spacecraft integratio ..read more

An interview with Peter Sefont, Technical Director for Zenith Tecnica, a contract manufacturer specialising in Titanium 3D Printing using Electron Beam Melting (EBM) technology.  Zenith Tecnica produces a myriad of additively manufactured parts for industries around the world; including large structural hardware for spacecraft and satellites. Peter graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelors of Engineering – Mechatronics degree and has also worked for Fisher and Paykel Healthcare prior to joining the Zenith Tecnica team. Recently, Zenith Tecnica manufactured space component ..read more

An interview with Khaki Rodway, Spaceplane Sales and Operations Director for Dawn Aerospace USA. Khaki has an extensive New Space business development and marketing experience working for launch companies like XCorp and Masten, to delivering payload to the International Space Station like Nanoracks, and  on orbit truster manufacturing like Bradford Space. Khaki is also the co-founder of NYC Space, An open community for the development of private companies commercializing space.   A graduate of Colombia University, she holds a Masters in Historic Preservation, and a Bachelors in Women ..read more

An interview with Kurt Janssen, CEO of Orbica based in New Zealand, Australia and Germany. Kurt is a geographer and geospatialist by trade, with a passion for emerging technology and data. Kurt has a BSc with Honors in Geography from the University of Canterbury and was the 2016 NZSEA Young Professional of the Year. He worked for central government such as the Ministry of Health and Ministry of the Environment as a Geographic Information Systems (or GIS) Advisor. He also worked for private companies in New Zealand and the United States such as ESRI, Abley and Orbviz. In 2017 he established awa ..read more

Mark is an Edmund Hillary Fellow from the US.  He launched Quidnet Ventures, a new fund to support early-stage NZ companies. Mark has spent over 30+ years in the technology and innovation sector, with experience in semiconductor manufacturing, open systems hardware. software development, big data, software as a service, and Internet of Things.  Previously he held both CEO and CTO roles at companies like SkywriterRX, Neustar, Symantec, and Airmedia. He ran IBM’s innovation lab in Japan and was Managing Director of Vista Labs (Vista Equity Partners), helping their portfolio companies ..read more

An interview with Chris Jackson, Head of Space Operations and Ground Segment at the Te Pūnaha Ātea - Auckland Space Institute based in the University of Auckland. He is overseeing the design and set up of the Institute’s Mission Operation Centre and Ground Station. He is also developing the operations support and building the capability of the centre to support large scale satellites and developing the business for national and international missions like MethaneSAT.  Chris has a long and illustrious career working for Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in the UK as Chief Engineer and ..read more

An interview with Dr. Scott Madry, Research Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.  He is also the founder and President of Informatics International, Inc., a global geospatial services company. He is a professor emeritus at the International Space University and has served as faculty in over 30 ISU programs around the world.   Scott has a Ph.D. in Anthropology and is a three time Fullbright Scholar. He specializes in space remote sensing, GIS, GPS, and regional, environment and cultural applications. He has consulted for a v ..read more

An interview with Alexandar Majstorovic,  co-founder and CEO of OutThere Astronautics, a student-led startup based in Auckland focusing on development of optical, intersatellite communications for cubesats.   Alex is working on a Medical degree and has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. His unorthodox background has led him to founding a startup that has won multiple awards including the latest Velocity Challenge for best innovation.  Today we’ll talk to him about his startup OutThere Astronautics, how to start a space company in New Zealand, and  what drives him to the spa ..read more