SA - Hybrid | Start-ups and beyond: Collaboration in the Space Ecosystem

Nicola graduated from the University of Bari, Italy in 1987 with a degree in Electronic Engineering. He went on to work as a researcher in microelectronics high-reliability components at Tecnopolis S&T Research Centre, Bari before being appointed as Scientific Attaché at the Embassy of Italy in Canberra from 2001 to 2008.
In 2009, Nicola joined the South Australian Government as a Special Envoy for higher education research and technology transfer to Europe with the Department of Premier and Cabinet and later joined the Department of State Development as Director for International R&D Collaborations.
From 2003 to 2013 he was appointed as Adjunct Professor of Science and Technology at the University of Canberra, Australia, and in 2007 he became an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia.
In 2016 Nicola joined Defence SA (South Australian Government) as Director of the Space Industry and R&D Collaborations project.
In September 2017 the South Australian Space Industry Centre was created, with Nicola as Director. His focus was to support space industry growth and increase international R&D collaborations in South Australia’s space sector.
In 2018 Nicola was appointed Adjunct Professor at the University of South Australia – Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment and he was appointed on the board of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA). In the same year he was also appointed to the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the Italian Government for ‘promoting high-tech industry and R&D collaborations between Italy and Australia’.
In 2019 Nicola joined SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre as Director of Communication and Outreach, becoming Senior Advisor of South Australian Space Industry Centre and in 2020 Nicola founded and became the CEO of the Andy Thomas Space Foundation.
Nicola’s main passion, outside of his interest in space, is painting.

Aude Vignelles is the Executive Director, Program and Capability, of the Australian Space Agency. As part of the senior executive team, Aude leads and is responsible for writing the civil space strategy roadmaps, scoping and managing the Agency’s space programs and delivering on domestic and international activities. She provides an in-depth understanding of the national and international space industry, program management expertise and a breadth of space science or systems engineering skills. Prior to this role, Aude was the Executive Manager, Satellite & Fixed Wireless Operations at nbn.

Previously, Aude held senior and executive roles within Foxtel, Austar, Telstra, and Technicolor.

Aude is a space and aeronautics engineer (graduating from ENSICA, Toulouse) who started her career at the European Space Agency in the Netherlands. Her 30 years of experience in delivering large and complex programs embrace the introduction of new technology in the telecommunication, space and media industries. Aude has been living in Australia for the past 20 years and has contributed to the Australian space capability through White Papers, events at conferences with the growing start up community in Australia, and promotion for Women in Space and Engineering at universities

Dr Kathryn Robison Hasani is a Lecturer in Government at the Flinders University’s College of Business, Government and Law. She is a political scientist specialising in the role of political communication in the formation and dissemination of space policy at both the domestic and international level. She is the Vice Chair of Career Development for the International Astronautical Federation’s Workforce Development/Young Professionals Programme Committee and serves on the IAF Space Education and Outreach Committee. Dr Robison previously worked with the Space Generation Advisory Council as a member of its Executive Committee and is also a member of the UN’s Space4Women Network, the Launchpad Mentorship Programme at IAF, and was nominated by NASA to receive recognition as an IAF Young Space Leader in 2021. Her current research interests include public opinion on government spending on space, legislative processes which affect national and international space policies, and equitable and just access to space and space resources.

Carla is the Director of Flinders new MBA, a completely new redesigned MBA that is on the forefront by embedding innovation, Industry 4.0 and 5.0, industry engagement, and sustainability. Carla has spent the last 20 years working with numerous companies and start-ups across Europe, Australia, US and Asia, supporting their development in diverse areas such as health/nanotech, manufacturing & industry 4.0, fintech, energy, retail and tourism. Previously, Carla lectured Innovation & Enterprise topics at Flinders University and Entrepreneurship topics at some of Europe’s top business schools, such as Catolica Lisbon School of Business & Economics. Leveraging her passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, Carla also delivers national and international industry entrepreneurial programs to founders, start-ups and SMEs, which have contributed significantly to the ongoing development of the South Australian and Australian entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Dr Tony Scoleri is the co-founder and CEO of AICRAFT, a South Australian company established in early 2021 to focus on novel microelectronics and hardware solutions for Artificial Intelligence applications.

Previously, he worked for a year as the Chief Technology Officer at DEWC Systems, a defence engineering company focusing on Electronic Warfare.

Prior to DEWC Systems, he was employed at the Defence Science and Technology (DST) for 13 years where he led key research and developments in the areas of National Security, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Weapons and Electronic Warfare. In his last role at the DST, Dr Scoleri was the Australian manager for the situation awareness and missile warning system of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

Tony holds a Ph. D. degree in pure mathematics and computer vision from The University of Adelaide.

Paul Hilton is a Business Development Manager at Spiral Blue, a Sydney based company who have developed the Space Edge Computer, a technology capable of bringing the power of AI to space.

He is also a Captain in the Australian Army Reserves in the corps of Royal Australian Engineers where he has served for 12 years, including on domestic operations such a OP Bushfire Assist in January 2020. Previously he had an extensive career in insurance, including workers compensation, casualty and multinational insurances.

Paul has just completed his Masters of Space Operations at the University of New South Wales.

Shoaib is the CEO of Esper Satellite Imagery with an academic background in space systems development with experiences across sounding rocket payloads and medical imaging devices. Shoaib is also a Forbes 30 under 30 alumni mentioned in 2022 Asia list.

David Hello is an engineer. He has worked in the Airbus group for more than 20 years. He has held various positions related to the development of satellite imagery applications. He was particularly involved in European collaborative projects of the Copernicus program.
David Hello left the Airbus group in February 2014 to dedicate himself to the creation and launch of the company TerraNIS. He is the General Manager of the company.

Senior CNRS researcher and Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique, Alexandre has twenty years of experience in research related to physical oceanography, numerical modelling, in-situ oceanographic campaigns and exploitation of satellite data by deep learning methods.
He founded AMPHITRITE in December 2021 with three colleagues to promote concrete applications of our research work and defend the European sovereignty in AI technology for the ocean. He is the CEO of this company who fuses multiple satellite and in-situ data, using artificial intelligence, to provide innovative and reliable information needed to make the right decisions at sea.

Antoine Lefebvre is Kermap's co-founder and CEO, also head of R&D. A specialist in image processing and geographic information, he graduated with a PhD in Geography-Signal Processing then spent several years in public research in France (French national center for scientific research - CNRS and France National center for space studies - CNES) and abroad (China). He also has several years of experience as R&D project manager in the private sector.

Lloyd graduated with a degree in Space Engineering from the University of Sydney in 2005.
After completing a Masters in aero-structural optimisation he worked in weapons research for Defence Science and Technology Group specialising in modelling, simulation and analysis before starting Southern Launch.

Over 4 short years Southern Launch has now grown to almost 30 staff and has Australia’s first two launch facilities licensed by the Australian Space Agency, the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex and the Koonibba Test Range.

Back in 2021 the company also secured Australia’s first ever space launch permit for their first customer launching from Whalers Way. With numerous space launch permits currently being assessed by the Space Agency and other rocket launch regulators, and both ranges already fully booked for the rest of 2022 and 2023, Southern Launch looks forward to Australia once again becoming a world leader in space launches.

Michael Jones Executive Chairman and Group CEO of ELA is an experimental Test Pilot and was founder of Rex Airlines. Michael will present the development of the spaceport, it competitive advantage and the details of the first Launch from #ASC.

Mark Ramsey is a space industry professional with nearly 20 years’ experience in a diverse range of technical and leadership roles, including roles at Thales Alenia Space, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and NewSat. Mark is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Space Machines Company, an Australian startup who is Australia’s only in-space transportation and logistics company.

Mark graduated from Adelaide University with a Bachelor of Engineering and Diploma of Languages in 2003, and subsequently completed his Masters of Business Administration at the University of South Australia. Mark is Deputy Chair and a director with the Space Industry Association of Australia, is the former chair of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Adelaide Section.

Three years after joining IESEG Business School, Stanislas Maximin decided to entirely dedicate himself to Venture Orbital Systems, the startup of which he is one of the co-founders and CEO. He managed to combine his passion for aerospace with strategy and management skills.

Today he manages a team of more than 40 people and succeeds in driving the company’s strategy, finance and vision. In addition to VOS, his ability to build projects let him to found Astreos and build a unique space insurance offer. Having a strong sense of relationship, he set up numerous partnerships with the French Space Agency, the European Space Agency, ArianeGroup and others. These collaborations led him to found and become president of the Newspace Alliance, which federates the entire French Newspace industry.

Stephanie Morley is Trade and Investment Commissioner for the French Trade Commission, Business France, for Australia.
She leads a team of senior business development experts to facilitate trade, research and development collaboration and investment opportunities in Australia.

Business France is the government led agency supporting the international development of the French economy. Based in Sydney, Business France provides support to assist 150+ French companies each year.

Stephanie has 25 years’ experience in economic diplomacy, international trade and investment and project management with government bodies.

Prior to joining Australia, Stephanie has gained an extensive multi-sectoral knowledge, with a key focus on the technology sector, in assisting French companies to evaluate and identify business opportunities in Europe.

Stephanie Morley has spent several years working in the UK, Central and Eastern Europe and Russia and speaks French, English and Russian.