The IEEC collaborates with La Pedrera Foundation to bring small satellites closer to young people
‘NewSpace: Small satellites to change the world’ is a project to bring space closer to young people developed within the framework of the programme to promote scientific vocations ‘Youth and Science’ of the Catalunya la Pedrera Foundation. The Government of Catalonia, the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC — Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya), the i2CAT Foundation and the GoSTEM association are organising this activity within the framework of the Talent and Society axis of the NewSpace Strategy of Catalonia.
With this project, students will experience the excitement and demands of space in first person. During two weeks full of new knowledge and practical activities, they will be able to design, build and launch replicas of satellites with technological and scientific missions. By analysing the data collected, they will learn about the opportunities offered by research in the field of space and the discoveries it has made possible. In this way, students will have first-hand experience of carrying out a highly stimulating and ambitious engineering and research project that will enable them to collect data and obtain results by applying the scientific method.
Registration for the programme is open until 8 February!
More information:Â https://www.fundaciocatalunya-lapedrera.com/ca/petits-satellits-canviar-mon
Meet the scientific team
The scientific team is made up of experts from the IEEC and i2CAT. The team leaders (and other experts invited for the occasion) will accompany the participants on this adventure, combining theoretical sessions, space anecdotes, explanations of practical cases… And, above all, they will convince them that with small satellites we will be able to make our planet a better place!
Paula Lomascolo (IEEC)
Physicist, with a major in Fundamental Physics from the University of Barcelona (UB), and a master’s degree in Aerospace Science and Technology from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC).
With experience in several research centres, she currently works at the IEEC in the Talent and Society programme of the NewSpace Strategy of Catalonia, which promotes activities aimed at attracting, generating and retaining talent with the ability to develop solutions in the NewSpace field.
Dani Sors (IEEC)
Aeronautical engineer by the Polytechnic University of Madrid (ETSIA-UPM) with more than 15 years involved in educational, scientific and technological activities related to the space sector: Rockets, CanSat, stratospheric probes, Rockoons, CubeSats, etc.
He contributed to build and operate Enxaneta and Menut (first satellites of the Government of Catalonia) and has experience working at the European Space Agency (ESA-ESTEC) in The Netherlands, Open Cosmos, Satellite Applications Catapult (UK) and is currently Head of Services and Industrial Promotion Office at the IEEC.
Estefania Blanch (IEEC)
PhD in Physics, specialising in Geophysics, from the Ebro Observatory (URL-CSIC). Prize for the best doctoral thesis in Geophysics in Spain and Latin America. 18 years as a researcher in the Geomagnetism and Aeronomy research group at the Ebro Observatory on the effects of space weather on the terrestrial environment. Alumni of the International Space University where she studied the Master of Science in Space Studies.
With long experience in research dissemination, member of the working group of the NewSpace educational programme, member of the Ebro Lands ICE-URL STEM working group, trainer in the STEM a l’Espai conferences. Currently, she is an expert manager in Earth observation in the Services and Industrial Promotion office of the Area for the Promotion of the Space Sector of Catalonia at the IEEC.
Marcel MarÃn (i2CAT)
An aerospace engineer with a master’s degree in space aeronautics, Marcel is an engineer working at the i2cat research foundation. He is an expert in nanosatellite technology and IoT satellite communications. He leads, among several projects, the deployment of communication nodes throughout the Catalan territory in order to respond to all those applications where satellites are the only possible communication link.
Marcel is also the co-founder of the GoSTEM association, which has been carrying out scientific dissemination projects, focused on space, among young people since 2019, including the launch of more than 20 stratospheric probes in a large number of centres in Catalonia.
