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Swiss Space Systems Holding SA – S3, Switzerland Dr. Cem Asma studied Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering at Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey), where he got his BSc. and MSc. degrees. After working for a defense industry company as an R&D engineer, he moved to Belgium for higher education. He got his second Masters degree (Research Master in Aerospace) at von Karman Institute and he started working there as a researcher. He worked at von Karman Institute as a senior researcher and project manager for various aerospace projects that are supported by European Space Agency and European Commission, among others. In the meantime, he got his PhD degree from the University of Ghent in Belgium, performing an experimental research on hypersonic flows. Dr. Asma has also volunteered as the project coordinator for Space Generation Advisory Council, a non-profit NGO which aims to represent students and young space professionals to the United Nations, States, and space agencies. Currently he is the Head of Academic Projects at Swiss Space Systems with the main focus on the development of nano-satellites. Dr. Asma’s research activities focus on high-speed aerothermodynamics, measurement techniques and wind tunnel testing, plasma physics and re-entry flows, sensors and payloads on board of satellites and experimental spacecraft. Dr. Asma has been a key person in the initiation and management of the QB50 Project, where 50 CubeSats from universities all over the world form a network to perform scientific research in the lower thermosphere. Contacat: cem.asma(at)s-3.ch

Switzerland, Cem O. Asma, Ph.D.



University of Ljubljana Saso Blazic received his B.Sc., M. Sc., and Ph. D. degrees in 1996, 1999, and 2002, respectively, from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana. He is currently a Professor with the University of Ljubljana. From 2010 he has been partly employed by the Slovenian Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies (SPACE-SI). His research interests include control and modelling of nonlinear dynamical systems. In recent years the focus of his work is directed towards autonomous mobile systems and satellites where the areas of formation flying control and visual based satellite attitude control should be mentioned. Prof. Blazic is a member of the design group of the NEMO HD mission (cooperation between the SPACE-SI and the University of Toronto Space Flight Laboratory). He was a member of the group from SPACE-SI that performed several experiments on the Prisma mission (OHB Sweden). He published 46 papers in peer-reviewed journals (among those 28 in journals with impact factor). From 2010 he is serving as a president of the Automatic Control Society which is a regular member of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). Contact: saso.blazic(at)fe.uni-lj.si

Ljubljana, Prof. Saso Blazic



Dipartimento di Ingegneria Astronautica, Elettrica ed Energetica (DIAEE), University of Rome la Sapienza Fabio Santoni received the Dr. Eng. degree in Aeronautical Engineering (cumlaude) and the PhD in Aerospace Engineering both at Universita’ di Roma “La Sapienza”, in 1992 and 1996. In 1996 he was visiting scholar at Stanford University, were he participated in the small satellite programs Sapphire and Opal. He had technical managenent responsibiliy in the education program UNISAT at University of Rome “La Sapienza”, till 2009. He is presently Associate Professor in Aerospace Systems at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Astronautica, Elettrica ed Energetica (DIAEE) of University of Rome “La Sapienza”, where he established the Aerospace Systems Laboratory. His research activity is mainly devoted to nanospacecraft design, attitude determination and control, space debris observation, mitigation and remediation techniques, including end-of-life disposal and active debris removal. Contact: fabio.santoni(at)uniroma1.it

Italy, Prof. Fabio Santoni



CASTRA Space and Solar-Terrestrial Research Institute (SSTRI) Dr. Vassilev received his M.Sc. diploma engineering degree in Applied Physics – Microelectronics and Optoelectronics from the University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1994. His M.Sc.thesis work was in the field of modelling the quantum properties of semiconductor structures. In 2004, Vesselin received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium being at the same time affiliated to the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC), Belgium, the worlds leading independent R&D centre in the field of semiconductor technologies and applications. Vesselin’s Ph.D. research area was in the field of modelling and design of protections circuits against Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) events in semiconductor devices and circuits. In the 2005-2009 Dr. Vassilev was part of the product reliability team of Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, USA, providing solutions and support to the wirelesses products groups at TI in the area of ESD design for state of the art advanced integrated circuits. In 2009 Dr. Vassilev established the start up company Novorell Ltd., which provides Electronic Device Automation (EDA) software tools and consultancy services to companies worldwide in the areas of ESD design reliability solutions for the nowadays integrated circuits and technologies. In 2010 Dr. Vassilev initiated the establishment of Cluster Aero-Space Technologies, Research and Applications (CASTRA), a non-profit non-government organization in Bulgaria combing the expertise, capacity and resources of 23 (at present time) organizations in the country – such as SME’s, Universities and R&D centres with activities related to the aero-space filed and its applications to the benefit of the whole society. At present , Dr.Vassilevs serves as the CASTRA’s CEO and is also affiliated to the Space and Solar-Terrestrial Research Institute (SSTRI), part the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – the leading space research organization in Bulgaria, successfully executed in the past two human space […]

Bulgaria, Dr. Vesselin Vassilev



Sofia University Prof. Plamen I. Dankov received his M.Sc. degree in atomic physics and his PhD degree in Microwave Physics from the Faculty of Physics in Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Bulgaria, in 1980 and 1988, respectively. In 1989, he joined the Department of Radio-Physics and Electronics in the Faculty of Physics and now he is an Assoc. Professor in Microwave and Wireless Technique. He has established teaching of many courses in the area of Radio-Electronics, Wireless Communications, Microwave and Wireless Technique, Microwave Measurements, Antennas for Wireless Communications, EMC in IC’s, Basic Principles of Mission Design with Small Aerospace Vehicles, etc. Currently he is a Chair of two successful Master programs: “Wireless Networks and Devices” and “Aerospace Engineering and Communications”. He is also a scientific consultant for material characterization and antenna radomes in RaySat, Bulgaria and Gilat Ltd. (Gilat Satellite Networks). The research efforts of Dr. Plamen Dankov are focused on characterization of dielectric material properties and anisotropy; microwave measurements; RF planar devices, antennas and antenna arrays, electromagnetic 3D simulators, near-field measurements; EMC measurements, safety standards for microwaves; satellite communications, aerospace engineering and small satellites, etc. He has more than 125 papers, presented and published in different journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Dankov is member of the Review Board of the Annual European Microwave Conference EuMC (more than 180 review notes), IEEE-MTT, IEEE-MWCL, IEEE Instrumentation and measurements; IEEE Microwave Magazine, etc. He is member of IEEE in 4 societies: 1) Microwave Theory and Technique; 2) Antennas and Propagation, 3) Instrumentation and Measurements, 4) Aerospace and Electronic Systems. Dr. Dankov has participations in several international and local contracts in different areas: material characterizations, plasma antennas, THz beams; controlled thermonuclear fusion (EUROATOM), COST VISTA project: Versatile, Integrated, and Signal-aware Technologies for Antennas, etc. A new joint project between Sofia University and Siberian […]

Bulgaria, Prof. Plamen I. Dankov