EDUCATION

MASc (Space Systems Engineering)
2009
University of Toronto (UTIAS), Canada

B.E. (Space Engineering)
2007
York University, Canada

Class XII
2002
St. Xavier’s Loyola, India

Class X
2000
Amrit Jyoti School, India

WORK EXPERIENCE

ESOC/European Space Agency (ESA), Darmstadt, Germany
Sep. 2009 – Present
Young Graduate in Trainee, Future Studies and Special Projects Division

• Developed S-band receiver station (end-to-end) which included procuring and assembling the hardware, programming the software radio and performing digital signal processing

• Operate an amateur UHF/VHF station to demonstrate the concept of low cost space mission and provided support to the GENSO network and the cubesat community

• Develop orbital coverage and communication models using STK

• Co-organized educational workshop for Master’s and PhD students on space systems and mission
operations

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), UTIAS, Canada
Sep. 2007 – Aug. 2009
Space Systems Engineer

• Operated CanX-2 and NTS; monitored telemetry and health, controlled and maneuvered the ADCS, and scheduled experiments for GPS, Atmospheric Spectrometer, AIS and propulsion (NANOPS) payloads

• Designed and developed a space qualified miniature VHF beacon transmitter and tested RF electronics for the upcoming CanX missions

• Assisted in setting up and testing the amateur UHF ground station at SFL

ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH PROJECTS

LUNETTE
• Research project under the supervision of Dr. Robert Zee - a Canadian nanosatellite mission to map Moon’s irregular gravitational field
• Personal contribution involves Phase A design of the communication subsystem and writing technical
reports and ICD

Ground Penetrating Radar System for Mars (GPRS)
• Fourth year undergraduate project under the supervision of Dr. Brendan (Ben) Quine - To develop a GPRS demonstrator model for Martian subsurface to detect water given the budgetary constraints of CAD$1000 & time constraints of a year
• Led a team of four engineers and managed the project, designed and constructed the ultra high
frequency wide band antenna and a receiver system

Autonomous Docking System using CRS+ A150 (ADS)
• Programmed a CRS+ A150 robotic arm to dock onto a pseudo-spacecraft using visual target recognition system
• Responsibilities included the end effector design, calibrating the camera and the arm workspace,
designing visual targets, determining the inverse kinematics solution, writing the robot control software, testing and debugging
 

Near Earth Objects – Detection and Tracking (NeoDT)
• Designed a long term space mission to detect Near Earth Objects (NEOs) approaching Earth, and to track their trajectories with the help of radar and optical instruments
• Lead a group of ten individuals, researched and developed the data analysis system, communication
architecture and optical payload system

Satellite Tracker
• Software project to track GPS satellites by directing a 46m radio antenna at Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO), Canada and receiving the incoming GPS-carrier signals from a given satellite in view

• Responsibilities included writing the tracking module in Matlab and testing the code at ARO

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

• LEX/OPS Workshop on Space Systems and Operations, ESA, Germany: Co-organized the workshop and gave a presentation on “Spacecraft operations – From an operator’s point of view”

• IAC 2009, Daejeon, S. Korea: Published and presented a paper on CanX-2 On-Orbit Operations

•Small Satellite Conference 2009, Utah, USA: Published a paper on CanX-2 Operations

•Calpoly Cubesat Workshop 2009, California, USA: Presented CanX-2 Operations poster

•Canadian Space Exploration Workshop (CSEW6), CSA, Canada: Presented LUNETTE mission poster

TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES
Certification and Skills
• Certified US FCC Amateur Extra Class Radio Operator (Call Sign: AC2CE)
• Surface mount soldering (including space flight hardware)
• Trained for space qualified thermal vaccum testing
• Trained for nanosatellite handling, integration and testing in a class 10,000 clean room
• Trained for precision milling and drilling with experience of 5 years in the University machine shop

Software Skills
• Satellite Toolkit (STK) mission analysis and design software
• Altium Designer; CADSoft Eagle and PSpice electronics circuit design software
• Advanced Design System (ADS); Ansoft Designer and HFSS for RF electronics and antennas
• LabVIEW; Solid Works; MatLab; Maple
• Java; C and Fortran programming languages

AWARDS AND ACTIVITIES
•One of the few students selected by Canadian Space Agency (CSA)to attend IAC2009 in Daejeon, S. Korea
•Active member of HAM and cybernetics club at ESOC, International Astronautical Federation, Space
Generation Advisory Counsel, Professional Engineers of Ontario, Engineers Without Borders and Canadian Space Society
•Received third prize for the most innovative engineering design for the course Engineering Design-II at York University
•Successfully demonstrated analytical, problem solving and technical skills by winning the ‘Teknix-24’, 24-hour on the spot design competition hosted by ES@Y and EWB (Jan. 2006)
•Invited by Amrit Jyoti School, Ahmedabad in Aug. 2007 to address the students, share my experience and provide guidance and motivation with regards to science and engineering

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
•Reading books, writing poetries, photography
•Skiing, hiking and swimming – Enjoy challenges and the satisfaction of overcoming them
•Yoga, running and cycling – Continuous development in patience and self-discipline
•Traveling – Visiting places and experiencing different cultures