Alexandra Ryan
ISU SSP Academic Coordinator

I graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Monash, Australia, and in 2018 completed the Graduate Certificate in Space Studies from the University of South Australia.

I'm currently completing a Masters of Astronomy at Swinburne University of Technology, also in Australia. My first experience with ISU was at the Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program back in 2014 in Mawson Lakes Australia, and I've since come back as a Teaching Assistant in 2017 and 2018, as well as the role of Participant Liaison in for the Space Studies Program 2018 in the Netherlands. This past SHSSP I was also an Associate Chair and Teaching Associate for the Team Project 'A Day Without Space'.

Goktug Karacalioglu
ISU SSP Deputy Director

During his secondary school years, everyone was thinking that Göktug (a.k.a. G2) will excel in literature and become a writer. Nope, he had surprised them all by picking “science” as his primary discipline and this was the beginning of his technical career.

In Turkey, you have to make a “sorted list of preferred departments” before you enter the nation-wide university entrance examination. He prepared such a list to put himself into “aeronautics engineering” but when the results were announced, he found himself studying “mechanical engineering”! Luckily he managed to take some astronautics classes which kept him alive! He then switched to Engineering Management for his masters and simultaneously worked as a launch systems design engineer in ROKETSAN for six years.

This was when he first joined ISU as a participant in SSP10 in Strasbourg. He then started his PhD on Operations Research (OR), but having no supervisor to accept him to write an OR thesis related to space in Turkey, he decided to move to France. There, he worked as the participant liaison for SSP13, then joined the MSS14 class, wrote a report about launch vehicle failures which won the SGAC scholarship award, graduated with cum laude, moved to California to work as a researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, worked on small spacecraft and space debris mitigation projects for two years, wrote a report on the “Impact of New Trends in Satellite Launches on Orbital Debris Environment” which won the SGAC scholarship award for the second time! In 2016, he was once again called as the participant liaison to SSP16 in Israel and decided to stay with ISU in Europe. He served as the Academic Coordinator for four ISU programs: SSP17 in Ireland, SSP18 in The Netherlands, and SHSSP18 and SHSSP19 in Australia. In 2018, he finished his second Masters Thesis on "Interchangeable Payload Swarm Drones" in coordination with SES, Luxembourg. He has recently been appointed as the Deputy Director for SSP19.

Oh, while doing all these, his old passion “to write” haunted! He started writing in the Space Safety Magazine and switched to NewSpace News when he moved to US. Coming back to Europe, he served as the managing editor of the Journal of Space Safety Engineering published by Elsevier and volunteered in organizing several space conferences and events.

All of the above, though, is Göktug’s "job" jobs. The moment he switches off his computer (and yes, he loves to do that!), he either starts dancing or traveling! With 6 continents and more than 50 countries already checked in his list, he is addicted to exploring remote destinations with his good old camera. His personal interest in launchers and launch sites has dragged him to many remote locations from Kourou in French Guiana to Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg in US, from Alcantara in Brazil to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, from Wenchang in China to Kodiak in Alaska. His next destination will possibly be Esrange in Sweden, or Andoyya in Norway, or hopefully, one day, Concordia in Antarctica!

He used to be a competitive ballroom dancer during his undergrad years. Currently, he is holding a dancesport adjudicator’s license and enjoys organizing, watching and judging ballroom competitions. Since 2014 he is the head of dancesport technical commission in Turkey as well as the national administrator of World Dance Sport Federation. To sum it up, if you occasionally notice him dancing in his office while reading a technical article, don’t be surprised!☺

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Carol Carnett
Space English Access Course Lead
Carol Carnett holds a graduate level certification in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She concentrates her work on English communication skills for professionals in the academic, administrative, and technical sectors of the space community, and continues training in her field through additional advanced degree programs.

Carol is a career Legal Services Attorney (retired); in addition to her JD, she has graduate-level degrees in Music/Theater performance and costume design. 2016 is Carol's 17th year with SSP, where she develops and coordinates the English Program activities to support the participants in communication, presentation, and report writing/editing skills. Carol enjoys playing hammered dulcimer and piano, bicycling, and visiting ISU graduates around the world.

Geraldine Moser
ISU Head of Business Development Unit

Ms Geraldine Moser is a French national who worked successfully in different countries. In profit and not-for-profit organisations of different sizes, mainly in the United Kingdom and Switzerland, primarily in marketing.

Geraldine holds a Master in International Marketing from the Management School of Strasbourg – the city where she was born and raised. She currently heads the Business Development unit at the International Space University.

She thoroughly enjoys meeting new people and cultures, especially linked to the space sector. She has a French certificate of First Aid (Red Cross).

She is a keen chess player and takes part in various sporting activities, including skiing, swimming and scuba-diving. She strongly believes in reducing marine litter and working towards cleaner oceans.

Joel Herrmann
ISU IT Manager

I have a background in software development but spent all my professional carrier as a systems administrator and in user support.

Being user oriented, I enjoy servicing the ISU community and ISU's evolving needs and have been doing so since more than 20 years now !

I love the challenges I'm presented through ISU and those which every year's program participants are proposing me.

And yes, you can say so: I am an ISU dinosaur !!!

Juan De Dalmau
ISU President

Juan is a graduate of ISU’s SSP Program in 1989, when he benefited from a joint scholarship of CNES and ESA. Last March, Juan was elected as ISU’s 6th President, and has succeed Walter Peeters in September 2018.

His background is in mechanical engineering, business administration, space studies, and languages. He has over 35 years of international management experience in engineering, operations, technology development, education and communications. He has worked in the private sector, in university and for the French (CNES) and European (ESA) Space Agencies.

His latest job was as Head of the Communication Office at ESTEC, ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands. He previously served as director of the Aerospace Research and Technology Centre (CTAE) in Barcelona, and as General Delegate of the Community of Ariane Cities (CVA). Earlier on, he worked as Range Operations Manager (DDO) at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou.

His involvement with ISU as Faculty member dates back to 1993, and he has also served as Director of the SSP Program and as Chair of the Academic Council.

Juan was raised in a German-Spanish family. He speaks seven languages. He and his wife Cristina enjoy a family of three children.

Muriel Riester
Librarian

Muriel has worked with the International Space University since July 1995. Muriel is the librarian at ISU central campus and is in charge for the library administration, collection development, systems and services, library website, database management & remote access.

Muriel began her professional career as a journal collection coordinator at the Mathematics Library at the Université de Strasbourg. She graduated from Loughbourough University of Technology (England) in Library and Information Sciences. Personal interests include spending time with family and friends, hiking and.... reading of course!

Omar Hatamleh
SSP Director

Omar is the Director of the SSP at ISU.  Prior to assuming his new assignment, Omar was the Chief Innovation Officer, Engineering at NASA Johnson Space Center responsible for empowering the organization creative thinking and develop capacity to innovate. Prior to that he was the Associate Chief Scientist at NASA ARC responsible for identifying new and promising areas of scientific research and supporting technologies that can be integrated into the Center's capabilities.  Previous roles at NASA also included Technology Relationship Manager, Advanced Development Manager, and Space Shuttle Orbiter Structures Subsystem Manager. Omar has Nineteen years of aerospace industry experience and has published over 33 international journal articles; he has four engineering degrees and has been an invited speaker to multiple national and international events. Omar has also been the recipient of several prestigious awards and recognitions from NASA.

 

 

Sebastien Bessat
ISU SSP Logistics Coordinator

Sébastien is an IT professional with skills in databases management and web development, holding a DUT in Computer Sciences. IT support was his main assignment in different positions for DARTY, Paris-Bercy, and Alcoa, St Cosme, France.

After a short period of self-directed learning, he ran a web design business and then took the opportunity to join ISU in 2011 in the position of web developer to support database enhancement and related services to ISU alumni and community members.

In 2013, Sébastien took up the challenge to support ISU in his new position as SSP Logistics Coordinator.

Andrew Butler
Associate Chair

TP Next Generation Space Systems: Swarms

Andrew is a Canadian Barrister and Solicitor, Australian Lawyer and Australian Registered Migration Agent. His research focus is the forthcoming intersection of international migration law and international space law governing the future human settlement of outer space. His most recent publication, 'Freedom of Movement in Outer Space as an Individual Human Right', can be found in volume 42 of the Annals of Air and Space Law. Andrew has completed a Master of Research from Macquarie University examining the Outer Space Treaty from an international migration law perspective, as well as the Strategic Space Law Program at McGill University. In addition to his Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne, he also holds two Master of Laws degrees and a Graduate Certificate in Migration Law. He is a proud alumnus of the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program (SH-SSP) in 2016, going on to earn a Graduate Certificate in Space Studies from the University of South Australia. Andrew was a member of staff on the 2017 Space Studies Program, held in Cork, Ireland, where he served as the Teaching Associate for the 'A Roadmap for Emerging Space States' (ARESS) team project. He also was the Associate Chair of the 'Space Ready: The Launchpad for Emerging Agencies' team project at the 2018 SH-SSP in Adelaide, Australia. Andrew is largely based in Toronto, Canada, and is currently employed in a research capacity by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute at the University of Melbourne and an immigration consultancy firm located in London, UK. In the decade prior he has worked in the corporate immigration field, in London, Melbourne, Sydney and Toronto as well as for both the Australian Departments of Immigration and Defence. He has also previously served in the offices of both an Australian and a United States Senator.