Innovation Nation: Advancing Australian Space Capabilities

Dr. Edward Tunstel received B.S. and M.E. degrees in mechanical engineering from Howard University, Washington, DC and the Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico, USA in 1996. He served as a leader in robotics and autonomy with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for nearly two decades, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory for a decade, and Raytheon Technologies Research Center for several years. He is currently CTO with Motiv Space Systems, Inc. His interests span research through deployment of robotic and autonomous systems as documented in over 170 publications in those areas and as manifested in substantial contributions to robotic systems for space and planetary exploration. He is an IEEE Fellow and served as 2018-2019 President of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society. 

Professor Andy Koronios is CEO & Managing Director of the SmartSat CRC. 
Andy is a professor of information systems and previously held the positions of Dean: Industry & Enterprise and Head of the School of Information Technology & Mathematical Sciences, at the University of South Australia.   

Dr Bhupi Singh specialises in aerospace medicine and is a qualified fighter pilot. He has 35 years of experience in the field of aerospace medicine, including human engineering and acceleration physiology. He has worked with the Indian Air Force, Air India, and the RAAF.  Currently, he is an honorary professor at the Institute of Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

Anke Pagels-Kerp was appointed Divisional Board Member for Space in October 2021. She is responsible for the research and development program of DLR’s 22 space research institutes. From 2016 to 2021, she was Head of Space Science Department at the German Space Agency. In this position, she was responsible for the agency’s research program and space program missions in the areas of solar system research and Astronomy/Astrophysics. Previously, she worked as a scientist in the Satellite Communications Department and was the responsible project manager for the German part of the European Data Relay Satellite System ‘EDRS’. Anke PagelsKerp has been a member of the space agency staff at DLR since 2009. Dr. Pagels-Kerp received her diploma in physics and astronomy from the University of Bonn, followed by a PhD in astronomy in 2006 at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn. Her research focused on millimeter VLBI observations of supermassive black holes. From 2005-2009, she was a research associate at the MoD-related science Institute for High Frequency and Radar Physics. She was responsible for the planning and execution of NATO campaigns involving radar. Dr. Pagels-Kerp is married and has three children.