Software Engineer at SES Satellites
Graduating with an MSc. in Electronics and IT Engineering, Tom soon found his passion in the Space Industry where he applies Systems and Software Engineering knowledge to automate satellite operations. He started out as an instrumentation engineer working on large telescope arrays (including the European Extremely Large Telescope) and has been looking upwards to Space ever since.He joined the European Space Agency at the age 22 of where he lead the commissioning of a CubeSat (OPS-SAT) which demonstrated the use of open source software for space operations and the benefits it brings. From a single CubeSat he then moved to fleet operations of large MEO/GEO constellations at SES, where he currently works as a Software Engineer in the Operations Architecture division.
Where initially Space was only for large agencies and governments, the last 10 years have seen a NewSpace revolution with the emergence of the private Space Industry, fueled by improved technology and more affordable launch opportunities. The latter has led to a boost in innovation accompanied by a range of new profiles and job opportunities. Software already adopted on Earth is now finding its way on-board satellites bringing new data insights, allowing satellites to perform autonomous on-board processing resulting in new data products for geospatial intelligence for use by the agricultural, urban planning, energy, transportation and other industries.Tom will present his journey along with the landscape and current developments in the sector which draw parallels with downstream applications, providing insights to participants interested to start or to switch to a career in the Space Industry.