A number of members of PVL just completed a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia to attend the annual TEPS Summer Skills Series, organized by Catherine Neish and Christa Van Laerhoven. My trainees tell me they did a wonderful job and reported a very intellectually exciting and collaborative time out west. I asked Alex (4th from right in the first row) to weigh in on his experiences at the conference.
By Alex Séguin
On May 29th, 2018, seven members of PVL participated in the NSERC CREATE Technology for Exoplanetary Science(TEPS) Summer Skills Conference at the University of British Columbia. The workshop brings together young researchers involved in planetary science, exoplanetary science, and space instrumentation to encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations and to expose students of one field to two other complementary ones. Spanning the course of three days, the event offered us six keynote speakers and gave TEPS trainees an opportunity to present their latest research and receive feedback from their peers. This summer, PVL’s presence consisted of Paul (PDF), Christina (PDF), Jake (PhD), Giang (PhD), Charissa (MSc), Brittney (MSc), and myself, Alex (UG).
As students preparing ourselves to pursue a career in the space sector, it is always encouraging and helpful to observe established individuals already successful in the field. Such were TEPS’ keynote speakers, who not only showed us the type of work they perform, but also shared some useful tips on how to find our place in the industry. The first presenter was Dr. Jani Radebaugh (Brigham Young University) who discussed the significance of using Earth as a planetary analog and common pitfalls when doing so. She used geomorphological features found within the Solar System as examples; Sometimes, features are comparable while other times they only share a similar cosmetic appearance.
As powerful as Earth analogies are, one must be careful about the assumptions made. Another notable speaker was Dr. Ralph Lorenz (The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory) who explored the anatomy of a space mission with us. Amongst other things, he pointed to the motivations of space missions and commented that wherever they may fall (political, geopolitical, commercial, technology demonstration, and others), they will affect how the mission is carried out.
As an engineering student, my thoughts are usually aligned with system requirements and constraints, not politics, so this point was very interesting to me. When working on technical projects for long periods of time, it is sometimes easy to forget that space missions are immense international collaborations, and therefore are deeply rooted in politics and economics. Dr. Lorenz helpfully brought this back in perspective. Ultimately, his message was that mission success boils down to synergy between scientist and engineers, effective management and budgeting, and the survival of institutional knowledge during a long mission. These were two of the presenters, but let us not forget to thank the other four invited speakers who had equally valuable insights: Dr. James Keane (California Institute of Technology), Dr. Jaymie Matthews (University of British Columbia), Dr. Rory Barnes (University of Washington), and Dr. Tiffany Kataria (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
One of the main goals of the workshop was for student and post-doctoral trainees to present their latest work. This allows the presenter to get different perspectives on their project, receive feedback on their presentation style, and in a similar vein allows them to practice presenting to an audience familiar with their field but not their work. As a biased observer, I confidently assert that every member of PVL was very successful in their presentation and I congratulate them for their work. A special mention goes to Paul and Jake who were scheduled to present their interlinked projects one after another and used the coincidence to their advantage, creating one fluid and logical narrative. The last question Paul received was a perfect transition to Jake’s presentation, who then talked in depth about the question at hand. Beyond our lab members, the other TEPS trainees also had excellent presentations which were a great exposure to exoplanets and in some cases space astronomy.
On the second day of the workshop, MDA Richmond received all attendees and discussed with us the ongoing work at their facilities, the future of the space sector, and employment possibilities for astronomy and physics graduates. Although most TEPS trainees fall in that category, the tour was most relevant for the few individuals coming from an engineering or systems background (like yours truly!). It was exciting to get acquainted with state of the art missions like the Square Kilometer Array, Sapphire, and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission. Paul Kennedy, MDA’s VP Ground Systems, also gave us an overview of MDA’s presence in the industry and plans going forward. Space resilience seems to be on the agenda, as seen in the redundant nature of the RCM constellation satellites. I could also not resist asking him about MDA’s position with regards to space policy and legislation, and Mr. Kennedy assured that they are present in relevant committees and hope to continue acting at the forefront of this emerging conversation.
In conclusion, the TEPS Summer Skills Conference was a great opportunity to network with professionals and students alike, present our projects in a comfortable setting, and to familiarize ourselves with exoplanetary science. Moreover, many individuals with whom I talked indicated that they solved a problem within their project or saw a new avenue to explore after talking to the invited guests and organizers. In a similar fashion, this exposure stimulated my scientific mind and spurred me to write down some new project ideas, and to refine old ones. Of course, these will require thorough literature review but they serve as a testament that workshops and conferences can be fruitful in indirect ways! Hopefully, PVL will have an equal or stronger presence at TEPS’ next iteration, and we also look forward to see our colleagues from exoplanetary science and space instrumentation again in 2019.
If you wish to learn more about NSERC CREATE Technologies for Exoplanetary Sciences or want to apply to the program, head over to http://teps.science.yorku.ca
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