Prior to founding Mission Control, Ewan worked at a major Canadian space company as a systems designer and project manager. He has been a subsystem design lead on three rover prototypes for the Canadian Space Agency. Ewan was a systems and electrical designer and operations engineer on the Space Shuttle Program and was a mission controller for 10 of the last 12 Space Shuttle missions at NASA JSC. He also conducted numerous testing and verification activities at NASA KSC. Ewan has degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics from Queen’s University and a Master’s degree in Technology Innovation Management at Carleton University. In his spare time, he likes to read, write, and escape to the cabin.

As Chief Technology Officer at Mission Control, Michele leads all technology development activities and R&D initiatives. Michele has broad engineering leadership experience, having led interdisciplinary engineering projects from concept to production across military, aeronautical and space applications. Michele’s research expertise is in robotic and planetary mobility. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University. When not spending time with his young family, you can find Mic in the Gatineau hills on a pair of skis or pedaling hard on his bicycle.

As Chief Science Officer, Melissa guides technology development to meet the needs of scientists, and conducts mission operations research. As a planetary geologist, she has led more than 10 human and robotic mission simulations with CSA, NASA, Western University, and others in Moon and Mars analogue environments around the world. Melissa is an Adjunct Faculty member at both Western University and the International Space University. She attained her Ph.D. (Planetary Geology) from Western University, and holds a diploma in University Teaching and a M.Sc. (Geology) from the University of New Brunswick. In her spare time, Mel likes to hike, canoe, do yoga, and spend time with her family.

Kaizad works in product and business development at Mission Control. With an academic background in aerospace engineering and robotics from Purdue University and the University of Toronto, Kaizad also supports activities in R&D, systems engineering, and analog test operations. Kaizad’s past experience includes leadership positions at Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, an international student-run space advocacy movement. Outside Mission Control HQ, Kaizad enjoys traveling, astro/landscape photography, hiking and climbing.

Adam is Mission Control’s Manager of Space and Education, developing project management structures and programmatic review of space projects and overseeing operations for our Mission Control Academy program. In the past, Adam has managed several CSA and ESA concept studies, and worked on the STS-114 mission, leading a team of analysts at NASA Johnson Space Center for maiden flight of LCS for on-orbit damage detection. Adam graduated with a B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics from the University of Waterloo.

Vinita Marwaha Madill is a Project Manager at Mission Control, and brings her background as a space operations engineer and Founder of Rocket Women, a STEM advocacy platform. Previously, Vinita has worked as a European Space Agency (ESA) contractor focused on human spaceflight operations for future projects, including the European Robotic Arm. At ESA’s European Astronaut Centre, Vinita helped design the SkinSuit and conducted a study on future spacesuit design and operations for lunar exploration. Vinita studied Mathematics and Physics with Astrophysics at King’s College London and went on to gain master’s degrees in Space Management from the International Space University (ISU) and in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University, UK.

Evan is a Software Engineer at Mission Control, working to design and implement real-time machine vision algorithms for the analysis of 3D stereo data. Prior to working at Mission Control, Evan lead a team on Carleton’s Satellite Design Project, designing and implementing the guidance and navigation solution for the CuSAT-1 3U cubesat. Evan graduated with a Bachelor in Aerospace Engineering (Space Systems Design) at Carleton University.

Becca is a Robotics Engineering Intern at Mission Control, working to design and implement machine learning algorithms for planetary exploration applications. Prior to joining Mission Control, Becca worked doing research on control theory at Queen’s University, and on modeling networks in the human brain at Inria in France. Her past experiences include being involved with organizing the Queen’s Space Conference and taking part in the Canadian Reduced Gravity Experiment Design Challenge (CAN-RGX). Becca has a degree in Mathematics and Engineering from Queen’s University, specializing in Systems and Robotics.

Michael is in his 4th year at Carleton University and studies Aerospace Electronics and Systems. He has completed five co-op terms at Mission Control since the Summer of 2017 and currently works part-time as a software developer. He has been instrumental in developing our flight and ground software technologies. Michael has previously served as Systems Team Lead for the Carleton Off-Planet Specialized Mining Team, and has also led the Payload Systems team on Carleton’s Blackbird UAV project. Outside of work, Michael enjoys reading and knitting.

Rafi is in his 3rd year at Carleton University and studies Software Engineering. This is his second work term at Mission Control, where he currently works part-time, primarily as a software developer for web systems. He was previously a research assistant with a professor at Carleton working on distributed ledger systems for autonomous networked vehicles. His interests include metaphysics and reading the thoughts of contemporary philosophers such as Kant and Camus.

Veronica studies Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and is currently working part-time at Mission Control on science communications and public engagement. She was also a Fall 2018 co-op student and contributed to the development of machine learning algorithms for planetary exploration applications. Veronica has previous work experience at the Canadian Space Agency, analyzing exoplanet and asteroid satellite data. When she doesn’t have her nose buried in code, Veronica enjoys spending time outdoors while hiking, camping and gazing at the stars.

As Manager of Business Operations and Communications, and founding team member of Mission Control, Anne works part time to drive strategic communications and assist with business ops for the company. Anne has a management consultant background with experience in managing partnerships, performing market analysis, operations and change management in organizations. Before this, she graduated with an HBA from the Ivey School of Business at Western University. Outside of work, Anne likes to make pottery, hike, stargaze, and travel.

As Senior Software Architect and founding member of the team, Matt works with Mission Control’s R&D part time as a technical feasibility expert and provides guidance on systems integration, characterization and testing. Before his time at Mission Control, Matt was the lead developer for user interfaces on three rover programs with the CSA and worked with DRDC to develop satellite acquisition planning software. Mr. Cole received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s and an M.Sc. from UBC. Matt is an avid climber.

Apeksha is a 4th year Aerospace Electronics and Systems student at Carleton University. In the past, Apeksha was involved in Carleton’s Rocket Design and UAV Design Teams, and team lead for Carleton’s UGV Team. She was also a co-op student at Provectus Robotics, getting a lot of hands-on experience with robotics. Apeksha works part-time with Mission Control as a Software Specialist. Outside of work, she likes to read and draw.

In his role at Mission Control, Simon supports programs to deliver space ready components from chip to product, commercializing and developing technology related to space applications. Simon has worked as a Business Unit director for Versawave Technologies, directing R&D activities into commercialization while managing engineering, sales, operations and marketing. Simon worked as an independent consultant in the same capacity after his time as Director of Operations, Manufacturing, IT & Facilities at OneChip Photonics Inc., and at Bookham Inc. (formerly Nortel). Simon holds a M.Sc. Aerospace Engineering from Clifton College and previously served on the British Army Air Corps and as a UN Peacekeeper.

Ryan is Mission Control’s Mission & Systems Specialist. A professional engineer with over 10 years of experience, Ryan has worked on design, development, procurement and operations for projects including PCW, Anik F2, Anik G1, Nimiq 6, Urthecast’s OptiSAR constellation, and Telesat’s LEO Vantage constellation, to name a few. Ryan is an active member of local space and engineering communities, founding the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Space Society (CSS) and becoming Vice President of CSS in 2017. He also founded QShift Inc. a federal corporation providing space and satcom systems consulting services. Ryan has an M.A.Sc in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University, and undergraduate degrees in Computing Technology and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ottawa.

As Mission Control’s Senior Research Advisor, Michaela focuses on developing international research collaborations and supporting education and outreach activities. She has worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of London Observatory and was an analogue astronaut at the Mars Desert Research Station (USA) in 2014 & 2017. Michaela holds a PhD from the University of Bristol (UK) and is currently the Chair of the Slovak Organisation for Space Activities (SOSA).

Karl is an authority on robotics and autonomous vehicles whose opinion and commentary has been published and broadcast worldwide on Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC, and many other media outlets. As former director of the Robotic Mobility Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), his research resulted in more than 150 technical publications, 50 issued or filed patents, and numerous edited volumes, including books on the DARPA Grand Challenge and Urban Challenge autonomous vehicle competitions. Karl was named one of 2017’s “Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” by Goldman Sachs and designated a member of the 2017 “Recode 100” list of technology influencers.

Karl holds MS and PhD degrees from MIT, where he was a National Science Foundation fellow, and a BS from the University of Michigan, where he graduated first in his class. Karl is also an award-winning author of fiction whose novels and short stories have been translated into seven languages. Karl is co-founder and President of Boston-based nuTonomy, Inc., the leading developer of autonomous vehicle software. He has collaborated with Mission Control on multiple projects including the development of our Autonomous Soil Assessment System.

Christine completed a BASc in Engineering Science-Aerospace from the University of Toronto and Masters in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the MIT.

Christine has noteably worked with BAE, EADS Astrium Services, and was appointed Vice President for Research and Technology and Chief Technology Officer for the US arm of Airbus Group, Inc. At Airbus, Christine helped determine the technology needs of all business lines in the US and for delivered US-based research for the entire company.

Christine now focuses on organisational topics related to innovation and engineering. Through her company, CATx Technology, she also as a consultant to Toronto area technology start-ups on technology road mapping, strategy and organisational design. Christine is a member of Canada’s Space Advisory Board, which provides advice on Canada’s space strategy to the Minister for Industry, Science and Economic Development. She also sits on the Department of National Defence (DND) Independent Review Panel for Defence Acquisition and is a mentor for the Space stream at the University of Toronto’s Rotman Business School Creative Destruction Lab.