International Space University, Summer Session Program 2006

I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend International Space University (ISU) this past summer in Strasbourg, France. It was a nine week program and there were 104 participants representing 27 different countries.

I attended a total of 60 lectures on various topics including: Life Sciences, Policy & Law, Business and Management; Physical Sciences, Satellite Applications; Space & Society, Space Mission Analysis & Design and System Engineering. From MDA, Christian Sallaberger taught two Business and Management lectures and Eric Choi presented a lecture on Astrodynamics and lecture on Robotics. In addition to the lectures, there were workshops, panels, theme days, department projects and team projects.

I was part of the Business and Management Department. Our department assignment was to write a proposal for a meteorological microsatellite and we had a trip to EADS Astrium in Fridrichstafen, Germany.

I attended workshops on Microsatellites, Orbital Mechanics, and International Diplomatic Negotiations to name a few. One of the workshops was with the head of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts which was very interesting.

There were weekly panels including panels on the satellite industry, living in space, going to Mars, space tourism and there was an astronaut panel with six astronauts from different countries including the first Chinese Taikonaut.

In the second half of the summer, after the exam, we focused on our team projects. There were three team projects to choose from. There was one on micro/nanotechnology, one on artificial environments and I chose the Earth observation team project. The Earth observation (EO) team project focused on EO system solutions for small countries and regions. For each team project, we were required to complete a letter of intent, a draft report, three presentations, a final report and an executive summary.

Attending ISU SSP06 was an unforgettable experience. I learned about the latest space technologies and applications and I was very impressed by the caliber of people I met from around the world.

Above is a picture of Canadian Astronaut,
Dr. Robert Thirsk and Janine Symanzik
at the International Space University
in Strasbourg, France.

• Testimonials

• Shane Jacobs Article
• Janine Symanzik Article

• Sponsors/Affiliates and Links

• AUCC
• Bristol Aerospace
• COM DEV
• CSA – ASC
• DND - Défense Nationale
• ISU
• MDA
• OCE
• SSHRC – CRSHC

• Alumni

• CAISU