Women In Engineering and Leadership Conference 2023

Maria is an AOCS and Mission analyst and Focal Point on AI for AOCS/GNC at Airbus Defence and Space. While she was pursuing her BSc and MSc in Control Systems Industrial Engineering at UPV/EHU (Spain), guided by motivation and passion, she sought opportunities to open her career path towards AI and space. The student rocketry team "BiSKY Team" was her first step into the space sector as co-founder, Chief Flight Control & Simulation and finally BiSKY Team Leader. At the same time as she was in university, she joined an AI research laboratory for 4 years learning and working on Machine Learning, Computer Vision and Optimisation techniques. She finished her university studies with a second MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University (UK), during which she joined CranSEDS as Project Manager of the UKSEDS Satellite Design Competition, obtaining all the eligible and overall rewards. After her studies, she joined Airbus Defence and Space in February 2022. Joining ADS was her lift-off into the space sector, working at present in exciting ESA missions such as TRUTHS and Sentinel3 Next Gen-Topo, as well as innovative R&D projects with AI on satellites and rovers.

Nikita is a Payload Systems Engineer in the Telecoms Department at Airbus Defence and Space. She graduated with a BEng in Aerospace Engineering from Queen Mary University of London and pursued Master's in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University. She was a part of the BAMMSAT-on-BEXUS Bio-CubeSat Project while studying at Cranfield, where she worked as a PCB Electronics Engineer and a Marketing & Outreach executive to promote the project via conferences and social media. She is also an active STEM ambassador for schools and universities in the UK and abroad and was the winner of the SGAC-Euroconsult World Satellite Business Week Scholarship in 2022. At Airbus Defence and Space, she currently provides RF & Software support through data processing and payload testing for commercial projects.

Rosa is a Wing Structures Engineering graduate at Airbus UK. She studied her bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain), where she was a local Euroavia member. During the last year of her degree, she had the opportunity to study for a semester in Politecnico di Milano (Italy) with an Erasmus scholarship, where she started to develop her passion for aerospace structural design and analysis. The year after, she finished her studies with a MSc in Aerospace Vehicle Design at Cranfield University (UK). In September 2022 she started the Airbus UK graduate program in Filton with a placement in the A220 stress, fatigue and damage tolerance team and she is currently working with the structures test team in a UK government funded project called Smarter Testing. 

Vanessa is the UK and US Innovations Manager at Airbus Defence and Space, based in Stevenage. She’s enjoyed working for Airbus for over 26 years and graduated from Southampton University with a MEng in Aerospace Systems Engineering and the Aeronautical prize.

During her studies she took the opportunity to get real-life work experience – firstly at MBDA, then at the Asher Space Research Centre in Israel. Coming from an all-girls school she adapted to being the only girl on her degree course. 

When she joined Airbus she started out as a Missions Systems Engineer on Envisat, the world’s largest civilian EO spacecraft, then as a Cost Engineer. After this, she spent a gap year in Ghana as a Project Manager for a Sightsavers project co-ordinating the 18-25 year old volunteers who helped carry out eye tests for 20,000 people. When she returned to Airbus, her journey took her on to other exciting roles such as being a Project Manager, Bid Manager, Performance Manager and Product Manager. As a Project Manager, she made regular visits to the UAE to support the build of a satellite ground station!

Today, she is responsible for a portfolio of Innovation projects and is experienced in Innovation Methods & Tools - she is a ThinkWrong facilitator, motivator and ecosystem connector! 

Furthermore, Vanessa is proactively involved in outreach activities like the UK Youth Rocketry Competition, UKSEDS judge, SGAC webinar speaker, is a ‘Women in Defence’ mentor (Read her article for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Feb 11th 2023) and a member of the internal Equality and Gender Diversity Working Group!

Marie is the head of Avionics Systems UK department at Airbus Defence and Space. She always had the desire to work in the space industry and pursued an engineering diploma in France at Centrale Lille followed by an MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University (UK). She started as a mathematical consultant for the space and defense industry and learned about control, image analysis and software development, while working on projects like SolarOrbiter and Exomars. She then moved to Airbus Defense and Space to be closer to the actual spacecraft design where she was GNC team lead on the ExoMars Rover and AOCS architect on Solar Orbiter. Following the completion of the Solar Orbiter activities, she was tempted by the beautiful Portuguese city of Lisbon and moved there as Head System Engineer for Tekever Space aiming to develop the INFANTE micro-satellite. After more than 10years as a technical engineer, Marie decided to focus on supporting her teams and helping them deliver flagship spacecraft. At this time, she moved to the management side of engineering, first as Team Leader of Flight Systems UK for Deimos Space and then as head of  Avionics Systems UK department at Airbus Defence and Space, helping her teams deliver various projects from BIOMASS to ARIEL and hopefully many more missions.

Penélope is a Wing Structure Repair Graduate at Airbus Commercial Aircraft UK. She studied pursued a BSc in Aerospace Engineering at University of Seville (Spain). During the last two years of her degree, she joined the Formula Student Team "ARUS" as a designer and stress analyst of the pedal box. Having always had in mind that she wanted to pursue a career in structures, she went to Cranfield University (UK) to study an MSc in Advanced Lightweight and Composite Structures. After her studies, she joined Capgemini in November 2021 as a stress analyst and Airbus in September 2022 as a Wing Structure Repair Graduate. The graduate program is now giving her the opportunity to explore different sectors of the Aerospace industry, such as stress analysis in repair or design in the A400M.  

Penélope is a Wing Structure Repair Graduate at Airbus Commercial Aircraft UK. She studied pursued a BSc in Aerospace Engineering at University of Seville (Spain). During the last two years of her degree, she joined the Formula Student Team "ARUS" as a designer and stress analyst of the pedal box. Having always had in mind that she wanted to pursue a career in structures, she went to Cranfield University (UK) to study an MSc in Advanced Lightweight and Composite Structures. After her studies, she joined Capgemini in November 2021 as a stress analyst and Airbus in September 2022 as a Wing Structure Repair Graduate. The graduate program is now giving her the opportunity to explore different sectors of the Aerospace industry, such as stress analysis in repair or design in the A400M.