European Space Agency Moon Orbiting Satellite (ESMO)
2006-2007
Since graduating from Warwick, I've held a variety of roles in engineering and leadership. I've worked in the energy sector, aerospace & defence and most recently started working for a start-up in the Data Center Cooling space where I lead Product Management & Marketing. I have often thought about my experiences with WUSAT and how the project helped set me up for the working world by teaching our group, the first group, about the importance of team-work and communication, especially when starting something new and sometimes undefined. I have fond memories of what we started and have enjoyed receiving Bill's updates over the years.
Mechanical Engineer – WUSAT-1
2012-2013
Nico (they/them) is a mechanical and aerospace engineer currently working for the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand as a Certification Engineer. This involves ensuring safety on aircraft of all shapes and sizes and approving design modifications. They previously spent almost 10 years working at Rolls-Royce, finishing as a Failure Investigator. In this role they investigated aerospace engine parts, from component life assessments all the way through to crashes and inservice failures. It involved hands-on laboratory work, Scanning Electron Microscope techniques and new techniques research.
Kristin Vollen
Mechanical Engineer – WUSAT-1
2012-2013
Since moving back to Norway I have worked in the two main engineering sectors in the Norwegian economy - offshore oil and gas, and maritime. In my maritime work I actually worked in Rolls-Royce Marine and felt a bit reconnected to the UK for a little while.
In my current role in ABB I work as a senior automation engineer focusing on modifications to some of our offshore platform simulators. Many of our biggest automation system deliveries in Norway are to the oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.
Prof Julia Hunter-Anderson
Systems
Engineer– WUSAT Space Systems Engineering
Lead – 2016 to Present
I have over 30 years of experience in engineering, team leading and management of predominantly large and complex space projects - in industry and government organisations.
I was system operations engineer for the Meteosat Third Generation satellite system for EUMETSAT, including support for the definition of operations engineering standards for the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS), and currently I am MTG LEOP Manager & Systems Engineer at EUMETSAT, responsible for the operations to position the satellites on the geostationary ring.
I have acted as WUSAT co-Director for Space Systems Engineering since 2016 (WUSAT-3 and WUSAT-4) and continue to guide WUSAT team members on appropriate Space Systems Methodology.
Jessica Lomath
Mechanical Engineer – WUSAT-2
2013 - 2014
Sub-System Technical Lead (Combustion and Turbines), Civil Aerospace division at Rolls-Royce I have worked in Aerospace Engineering at RollsRoyce since graduating from Warwick in 2014, starting in Defence and later moving to Civil Large Engines. For the last two years I have been in my first management role as a Technical Lead for several engines (including the Trent 900 which powers the Airbus A380), specialising in Combustion and Turbines. The role has a great mix of short-term reactive problem solving and urgent technical assistance, and longer-term design changes to improve engine attributes, and there's never a dull day.
Izzy Ferguson
Mechanical Engineer – WUSAT-2
2014 - 2015
My post-WUSAT life involves me working as a UK and European patent attorney at Marks & Clerk LLP. As part of my role, I work with businesses, universities, and individuals to protect their inventions (you may have heard patents mentioned on Dragon’s Den!). My role allows me to work closely with inventors and learn about a wide range of new technologies in all sorts of technical fields, including medical devices, automotive systems, aerospace and software. It is a great mix of engineering and law!
Anjali Yadav
Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineer – WUSAT-3
2018-2019
Process Centre Manager at Lufthansa Technik Landing Gear Services UK. As a business, we maintain, repair and overhaul landing gear from planes for customers around the whole world, including Emirates, Ryanair, British Airways and of course, Lufthansa. I have a team of three people and together we look at processes within the whole organisation; from shop floor to engineering and sales and fulfilment of parts.
Before this role, I spent 4 years at Rolls Royce as a graduate, production manager and business improvement manager, where I was working in Derby, Bristol and Birmingham. This kick-started my career within aerospace and aviation. I am proud to be a woman in engineering and I would recommend to any woman who is thinking about pursuing a career in engineering, that you will have a successful career and will benefit by having a very versatile and transferrable degree on your back!
Ellen Daly
Mechanical Engineer – WUSAT-3
2018-2019
Currently studying for a PhD in Astrochemistry at the Open University working in collaboration with Dynamic Imaging Analytics Ltd.
I've been developing a 3D-tracking system to automate the analysis of lab-based experiments where we recreate the collisions involved in planet formation.
Isabella Curtis
Systems Engineer – WUSAT-3
2019 - 2020
I've continued at Boeing since graduation. I started on the Engineering Graduate scheme in 2020 and was offered a permanent role as a Systems Engineer during my second, 6 months placement, which I was really excited about. I decided to move off the graduate scheme into the full-time Systems role and have spent the last 3 years (!) with the team. I am the Lead Systems Engineer and I work within early concept development and prototype projects, focusing on autonomy in the underwater and air domains. This has included experience across the systems engineering V and lots of in-field test activity, whether that's on a boat or at an airfield! The experience and learning I gained from the WUSAT project has really guided me as a systems engineer, trying to bring all the disciplines together, and is what I do now in my role!
Alison Saxby
European Space Agency Moon Orbiting Satellite (ESMO)
2008-2009
Since graduating from Warwick, I have worked in Engineering Consultancy, seeing a great variety of projects and gradually developing my skillset across the technical challenges, project management, people management, commercial and business opportunity areas. I am currently the Group Leader for the Built Environment team at Frazer-Nash consultancy, within the Asset Integrity, Energy business. The team focuses on the material challenges, hazards, interfaces and technical assurance in Civil and Structural Engineering and the interfaces with mechanical systems.
I have found Engineering Consultancy to offer a challenging and rewarding career path.
Naomi Dobson Systems Engineer – WUSAT-3
2017-2018
I joined UK Astronomy Technology Centre at STFC as a Systems Engineer, and worked on 3D printed mirrors for CubeSats, beam traps for space mission LISA the gravitational wave-based observatory, ground-based instrument HARMONI for the ELT (Extremely Large Telescope) now being built.
I am now a Senior Systems Engineer at Leonardo UK, currently involved with the next generation of aircraft EO sensors.
I often rely on knowledge learnt from time at Warwick in particular modules on Signal and Image Processing, Power Electronic Converters and Devices, Systems Modelling and Control and the invaluable experience of being part of the WUSAT team.
Lidija Mirosnikova
European Space Agency Moon Orbiting Satellite (ESMO) 2009-2010
After graduating from university, I joined Ford Motor Company, where I am still working to date. I started as a power supply engineer responsible for 12V vehicle batteries and battery sensors on European vehicle lines, moving on to the vehicle security team in Germany as global lead responsible for the electrical steering locking feature. Today I am working in a leadership position; together with my job-share partner we manage a team of 15 engineers working on various vehicle features in Europe. Outside of work, my husband and I are raising two daughters in Cologne, Germany.
Anya Akram
Systems Engineer – WUSAT-4
2023-2024
Graduating from my Systems Engineering degree in 2024, I spent a year working at Atkins, within their Aerospace and Defence (A&D) business unit in Bristol. My role as a systems engineer was very varied and started with a huge Ministry of Defence (MoD) project aimed at overhauling the collective training environment. I was mainly working on system architecture for this project and had lots of client-facing responsibilities, presenting my work to people from all over the MoD. This was a challenge at first, but it was amazing to be given so much responsibility so early on and to come away with professional qualifications in systems architecture software (ArchiMate). I really enjoyed my time at Atkins and learnt a lot about what it’s like to work in engineering consultancy!
As a WUSAT Systems Engineer, I have been involved with development of WUSAT-4 to determine the format of the CubeSat Engineering model for testing and evaluation.
Nikita Bascombe
Mechnical Engineer – WUSAT-3
2016-2017
Currently I am a Vice President at Bank of America with six years of experience as a software engineer. I am responsible for designing and maintaining applications to support trading, risk, analytics and position management. I was first introduced to programming on a summer internship at Bank of America. After graduating from the University of Warwick with a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering I decided to join their technology graduate programme as a python developer supporting the mortgage trading business. After five years, I made the decision to pursue a front-end development role by moving teams internally to become a react developer supporting the credit trading business.
Claire Parfitt
PhD – European Space Agency Moon Orbiting Satellite (ESMO)
2008-2012
Dr Claire Parfitt
Mars Exploration Study Lead, Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration, European Space Agency (ESA).
Claire completed her PhD in spacecraft systems engineering from the University of Warwick in 2012. After working the UK space industry, she moved to the Netherlands in 2019 to work as a systems engineer in the Mars Exploration Studies team at the European Space Agency. Claire now leads the team and is responsible for the preparation of future European Mars missions. Claire also chairs the International Mars Exploration Working Group, where global space agencies come together to coordinate future Mars missions.
Sarah Iddles
