Christopher Stewart
SPIN Project: Ultra-Green Launch & Space Transportation Systems Study
Supervisors: Oliver Turnbull – Head Systems Engineer & Nick Doughty – Systems Engineer
What are you studying at university?
I studied a Bsc in Astrophysics at the University of St. Andrews
Tell us a bit about the SPIN internship project you have been working on this
summer?
This summer I was working with the Orbex systems engineering team to help deliver a study as part of an ESA research program. The study was designed to investigate feasible launch vehicle architectures and test how “green” they were when measured against different environmental metrics.
What new skills have you learned while doing this internship?
I am fortunate enough to have some very knowledgeable colleagues who have a wealth of experience to learn from. Since starting I’ve been encouraged to learn by doing, which has been very valuable when it comes to increasing my competency with programming languages like MATLAB and other specific engineering tools.
Have you enjoyed working in the Space industry?
Absolutely, space is cool and you get to work on cool things, what’s not to enjoy???
What has been the highlight of the internship for you?
Gaining exposure to all different types of engineering. The way the company is organised allows you to work in so many interdisciplinary teams which means everyday you’re learning something new or exposed to novel concepts. Being able to go directly to people in the office, regardless
of department, is a fantastic way to learn.
How has doing this internship changed your plans or thoughts about
your future career?
I was lucky that going into the internship I already knew I wanted to be part of the Space Industry, thankfully, my attraction towards the industry has only grown from my experiences so far. I look forward to spending many more years doing real, tangible work on projects like those I’ve been
involved with so far!
https://twitter.com/orbexspace
https://orbex.space/
Vardhan Raj Modi
SPIN Project: Detecting Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from Oil infrastructure
Supervisors: Nikos Argyropoulos, Remote Sensing Data Scientist
What are you studying at university? MSc Satellite Data Science, School of Geography, Geology and Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom. I’m pursuing MSc in Satellite data science. The course mainly focuses on Earth Observation, Remote Sensing, Geospatial and Environmental data science. For me to gain practical programming experience, my coursework has been designed to deliver small scale projects on various topics related to the above detailed subjects. Some of the projects I have pursued were Data visualisation in Air Quality, Mapping of Wildfire extent.
Tell us a bit about the SPIN internship project you have been working on this summer?Greenhouse gas emissions pose a significant threat to the global temperature rise and climate change. The project is designed to tackle this challenge by detecting those emissions from the oil infrastructure using the satellite data. I had started on the project with a detailed review from the literature. Through publicly available satellite data of Sentinel 5P, and with the help of my supervisor, I was able to design a data pipeline that detects super ultra-emitters given the coordinates of an oil infrastructure location.
What new skills have you learned while doing this internship? There are handful of skills I have both learned and improved upon during my SPINternship. I have improved upon my research and data gathering skills, as those are fundamental for a research position in either industry or academia. I have certainly improved upon my computational programming skills, which would help me in the long run. Working with the company who are active in the energy market has given me an invaluable insight into energy operations and helped me to understand how I can better use my skills set to achieve Net-Zero targets.
Have you enjoyed working in the Space industry? Yes, very much so, I have travelled to UK to pursue my career in the space industry, and I was very delighted to learn that I had secured an internship with the SPIN program. I believe this SPIN internship will become a very strong foundation for my career in the space sector.
What has been the highlight of the internship for you? My internship with OilX was very exciting and educational. I have attended both the SPIN Induction event at Harwell, and SPIN Poster presentation in Leeds, where I got to interact with very talented people and share knowledge in our own expertise. Working remotely was more flexible and gave me autonomy to pursue invaluable knowledge into the GHG emissions, and it gave me much needed motivation to learn new things to tackle the problem.
How has doing this internship changed your plans or thoughts about
your future career?
I have always aligned my career goals and prospects towards tackling climate change and global warming. This internship has shed a new light into the various paths I can pursue to achieve those goals and prospects. I have grown very keen interest in pursuing environmental and atmospheric sciences in which I would like to use numerical weather modelling for the estimation of raising carbon dioxide levels that harms the climate.
My LinkedIn Profile – Link
OilX Twitter Handle – Link
OilX website – Link
Dana Gadd
SPIN Project: SPIN Snowdonia Test Campaign Project 2022
Supervisors: Dr Martin Heywood, Director Newton Launch systems
What are you studying at university?Aeronautical engineering
Tell us a bit about the SPIN internship project you have been working on this summer? I spent the summer assisting Newton Launch Systems to set up their test facilities at Snowdonia Spaceport in Llanbedr. This was hybrid working, where I was included in everything from market analysis to the design, manufacture and testing of equipment. My main focuses were designing a shaker table, assessing the operation of a thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC), operating rocket test fire equipment, as well as smaller projects such as work on Newton’s boost glider vehicle and an initial set up for a launch rail to fly small vehicles.
What new skills have you learned while doing this internship? I required further skills and experience in engineering design and working within a team, and also learnt R&D skills for running a test campaign, including design of space test equipment (specifically a shaker table), operation of a TVAC and the performance of materials for this, and the operation of rocket test equipment. This also required us of CAD and CFD thermal analysis.
Have you enjoyed working in the Space industry? Definitely!
What has been the highlight of the internship for you? Getting a chance to perform rocket static test firings – the whole placement was interesting, but there’s always a little more excitement.
How has doing this internship changed your plans or thoughts about your future career?
It has made me consider research & development/test engineering as an option, as well as confirm my passion to work within the space industry.
The company twitter name: @NewtonLS
The company website homepage: https://newtonlaunchsystems.com
