Meet our speakers of the YPE 2025!
👋 Opening Remarks
Torsten Bieler
Space Systems Engineer, TEC
Torsten is a space system engineer, who has enjoyed working for the Agency since the end of the last millennium. He spent 17 years in TEC, followed by three years leading the Learning & Development Section, and six years in HRE. He is a co-Founder of Young ESA and the first manager of the YP Events, and he also serves as secretary of the ESA Project Manager Forum. Beyond his professional roles, Torsten is a father of three, a passionate football player, and a dedicated teacher of traditional Vietnamese martial arts.
Dr Dietmar Pilz 
Director of TEC
Dr Pilz has over 20 years of professional experience in the European and international aerospace industry, in various engineering and programme management positions in the defence and security sectors and the space community.
He joined ESA from Airbus Defence & Space, based in Immenstaad, Germany. Here he was the Head of Space Chief Engineering and Products, as well as Head of Site for Friedrichshafen, involved in all Airbus Space programmes, and hence in many ESA projects.
He managed a team of system engineers, product managers and end-to-end data managers across Europe and working in exploration, telecom, navígation, Earth observation and science projects, from Copernicus to Juice, Galileo SG to MetOp-SG and from ACES to the Orion European Service Module.
Previously at Airbus, he was Head of AstroBus and EO/Science/Exploration, and Head of Payloads and Life Support Systems.
Educated at the University of Ulm, Germany, and the University of California, Los Angeles, he has a PhD and Diploma in Electrical Engineering. He worked as a research scientist on microwave and antenna applications at Rockwell Scientific in Thousand Oaks, USA, before joining the former EADS in 2003.
More speakers to be updated
🏘️ Session 1 - Planetary Settlement
Safwene El khaira
ECSL Executive Officer
After a bachelor's degree in law and a master’s degree in public international law at Paris Panthéon-Assas University, Safwene specialised in Space Law through the Master of Space and Telecommunications Law at Paris-Saclay University.
His professional journey includes experience as a Legal Advisor in space and public international law at the French Space Agency (CNES) and a traineeship at the European Defense Agency, where he gained valuable insights into EU space activities and regulations.
As ECSL’s Executive Officer, Safwene will lead our initiatives, manage events and meetings, and serve as a link between space law communities across Europe and beyond.
Dr Claire E. Parfitt
Mars Exploration Study Lead, HRE
Claire obtained her PhD in spacecraft engineering from the University of Warwick in the UK. After working as a systems engineer on a range of projects from early phase small satellite concepts to missions such as EarthCARE, Solar wind, Magnetospheric, Ionic Link Explorer (SMILE), and ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover and she moved to the Netherlands in 2019 to work as a systems engineer in the ESA Concurrent Design Facility (CDF), specialising in Mars Exploration Studies. In 2023 Claire took over the role as Mars Exploration Study Lead in the Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration and is responsible for the study and technology preparation of future European Mars missions. Claire also chairs the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), where global space agencies come together to coordinate future Mars missions.
Serge Pieters 
Dietitian and Nutritionist
Serge Pieters is a dietitian and nutritionist in the areas of sports nutrition and astronaut physiology.
He is trained as a gourmet cook with experience in starred restaurants before specializing in more scientific studies.
He has clinical experience in the Queen Fabiola Children’s University Hospital (Brussels) and more specifically in the management of adolescents, diabetics and intensive care.
For more than 20 years, he has devoted his time to teaching sport nutrition and dietetics at the Haute Ecole Léonard de Vinci (Brussels), UCLouvain and Paris.
Fond of sports and having performed athletics at a national level, he expanded his training in sports nutrition in Paris.
He offers his knowledge and advice both to the Olympic athletes of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (more than 60 athletes since the Beijing Olympics) and other professional teams but also many amateur athletes with varied projects.
His other professional fascination, the conquest of space, leads him to be involved as an expert in the European Space Agency and more particularly in the physiological and nutritional aspects of the MELiSSA project. This fabulous mission consists in developing food for the astronauts for the journey to Mars.
Honorary President of the Professional Union of Dieticians of Belgium.
More speakers to be updated
🛡️Session 2 - Planetary Defence
Heli Greus 
Product Assurance and Safety Manager, RAMSES
Ms Heli Greus was born in Haukipudas, Finland. She studied Space Systems Engineering (BSc) and RF technology (MSc) in Finland. Before joining ESA in May 2007, she was working in Finnish space companies (Space Systems Finland, Ylinen Electronics). In ESA she has been working in variety of projects from Science (Euclid), Earth Observation (MTG) and Telecommunication (EDRS). In 2019 she joined the HERA project as Product Assurance and Safety Manager. Currently she is Product Assurance and Safety Manager of RAMSES project.
Richard Moissl
Head of the Planetary Defence Office
Mr Moissl has worked on data from some solar system missions (NASA/Galileo, Ulysses, Venus Express and Rosetta) as a scientist prior to joining ESA in 2011. Since then, he has served several years as liaison- and/or operations scientist for BepiColombo and Rosetta. His scientific focus has been mostly on small bodies in the solar system. Since 2015, he was also supporting the Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) and later the Hera mission. He joined the ESA Planetary Defence Office as mitigation activities coordinator in 2020 and serves since 2022 as planetary defence officer.
More speakers to be updated
🤝 YP Speed Networking Session
More speakers to be updated
💼 Session 3 - Commercialisation
Geraldine Naja
Director of CIC
Geraldine Naja is Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness at the European Space Agency (ESA). A French national, Geraldine holds over 30 years of experience, expertise and knowledge within the European space sector, in programmatic, managerial and strategy development positions.
She is responsible for elaborating and implementing ESA’s industrial and procurement policies, conducting negotiations with industry, and managing procurement for all the Agency’s activities and programmes. Furthermore, Geraldine is responsible for enabling and boosting European space commercialisation and business development ambitions through innovative programmes, tools and partnerships.
Geraldine holds an MSc in Engineering and Propulsion and an MSc in Political Sciences, from the French École Polytechnique and the École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées (ENSTA), and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) respectively.
Within various universities and institutes, Geraldine carries out teaching assignments about space policy, with the aim of inspiring future generations.
May Martin
Laboratory Technician, HRE
May has a background in Geology with Planetary Science from the University of Manchester, and specialised in analysing Apollo samples using spectroscopic and electron beam methods. She has also designed and developed lunar simulants for 4 years to support the planetary science and industry communities, and currently works in the Vulcan facility for the European Space Agency in the UK. Outside of work, she enjoys crafting, 3D design and printing, and boating along the Oxford canal.
Calum Turner
Se Engineering Support Service, TEC
Calum is a systems engineer in the Clean Space Office, where he works on in-orbit servicing, debris mitigation, and the preservation of astronomy from satellite interference. He studied at ISAE-SUPAERO, the International Space University, and the University of Edinburgh, and before coming to ESA as a YGT he worked in a variety of roles as a flight dynamics engineer, a space sustainability analyst, and as a science communicator.
🤵 DG Session
Josef Aschbacher
ESA Director General
Born in Austria, Josef Aschbacher studied at the University of Innsbruck, graduating with a Master’s degree and a PhD in natural sciences. He has had an accomplished international career in space, combining more than 35 years’ work experience at ESA, the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of Innsbruck.
As Chief Executive Officer of ESA, Dr Aschbacher is responsible for the definition, implementation and development of Europe’s space infrastructure and activities, which include launchers, satellites performing Earth observation, navigation, telecommunication and space science, together with robotic exploration and ESA astronauts working on the International Space Station. He is responsible for an annual budget of €7 billion and a workforce of 5500 distributed across several establishments, principally in Europe.
When taking up office as ESA Director General, Dr Aschbacher published a new strategy for space in Europe, called 'Agenda 2025', aimed at accelerating significantly the use of space in Europe through major new initiatives and programmes.
From 2016–21, he was ESA Director for Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESA’s ESRIN establishment in Frascati, Italy. He has been a key leader of the European Copernicus programme, which has grown beyond all expectations and is now considered to be one of the most ambitious and successful Earth observation programmes in the world.
He worked in various functions within ESA from 2001 onwards both in Paris and Frascati. From 1994–2000, he worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, in his latest position serving as Scientific Assistant to the Director of the Space Applications Institute. From 1991–93 he was stationed as ESA Representative in Southeast Asia, where he developed projects in the Asian region while, at the same time, working in a full-time academic teaching capacity as Associate Professor at AIT Bangkok.
In 2021, Dr Aschbacher became 'Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana', the highest recognition accorded to non-Italian nationals.
Laurent Jaffart
Director of CSC
Laurent Jaffart is the European Space Agency’s Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications and Head of ECSAT in Harwell, United Kingdom, since 15 May 2024.
In this role, Mr Jaffart leads the ESA satellite telecommunication programme, including the implementation of the full portfolio of the ARTES 4.0 programme activities, Moonlight, Civil Security from Space, and the ESA contributions to the EU Secure Connectivity Programme, IRIS2, in collaboration with the European Commission.
From France, Mr Jaffart has over 20 years of experience in the European space sector, most notably in senior leadership roles at Airbus Defence and Space.
Dominique Gillieron
Head of EO Project Department, EOP
Dominique Gillieron, 55 years old, is the head of the EO project Department in the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes at ESA, the European Space Agency.
With a double Master’s Degree in Space System Engineering and Astrophysics, he has made all his career in the space domain and worked for a wide range of stakeholders such as the French defence agency, Sodern - a small equipment supplier and Airbus Defense & Space - a large system integrator. He has a large experience in projects and programmes management especially in the Earth Observation and Science domain but also in implementation of large improvement project and the drive of major organisation change.
Sonia Toribio 
Galileo Ground Segment Manager
Sonia Toribio holds a master’s degree in computer science from the Universidad Politecnica in Madrid (1999), a master’s degree in system engineering from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications in Paris (2001) and a master's degree in Space Systems and Business Engineering from the Delft University of Technology (2011).
She has worked in the Galileo Ground Segment over the last 23 years, first in industry and then as part of the Galileo team at the European Space Agency.
In 2013, Sonia Toribio was appointed as ESA Galileo Ground Control Segment (GCS) Project Manager.
In 2020, Sonia was appointed as ESA Galileo Ground Mission Segment (GMS) and Ground Segment Security Project Manager.
In 2024, she was appointed as ESA Galileo Ground Segment manager responsible for evolutions of the GCS, GMS and Ground Segment security infrastructure.
👽 Session 4 - Sci-Fi: How Art and Technology Work Together for Space
David Raitt 
Former H/d of the Technology Transfer Programme
Dr David Raitt worked for ESA and its predecessor ESRO for 40 years in Paris, Frascati and Noordwijk in a variety of capacities. He was appointed Senior Technology Transfer Officer and Deputy Head of the Technology Transfer Programme in 2000 and instigated and oversaw many transfer studies and their results. He was responsible for introducing a space arts programme and conducted a major study on ascertaining whether technologies employed in works of science fiction could hold any relevance for current space concepts. He also carried out studies to assess the impact of space activities on young people as well as world leaders. He retired at the end of November 2009.
Giorgio Magistrati
Principal Payload Engineer, LISA mission
Giorgio Magistrati is a highly experienced aerospace engineer with a degree in Engineering (summa cum laude) from Politecnico di Milano, specializing in Nuclear Electronics. He began his career in 1991 as a hardware designer at Laben (now TAS-I), before moving to Carlo Gavazzi Space (now OHB-I) as an Avionics System Engineer, where he led key projects for ASI and ESA. From 2009 to 2019, Giorgio headed the On-Board Computers and Data Handling section at ESA-ESTEC, supporting various space missions in Science, Exploration, Launchers, Earth Observation, and Telecommunications. He later led the Exploration Research and Technology Development (ExPeRT) Team at ESA, developing technologies for space missions to the Moon and Mars. Currently, he serves as Principal Payload Engineer for the LISA mission, a space observatory for gravitational waves.
Noora Archer 
YGT, HRE
Noora is a Young Graduate Trainee (YGT) who works as eXtended Reality (XR) developer and Game Designer at Spaceship ECSAT that is part ESA's Terrae Novae European Exploration Envelope Programme (E3P) and HRE-FE. Joining ESA in 2023 at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC), her work revolves around developing immersive experiences that support the early development and preparation for various operations and scenarios on LEO, Moon and beyond. Before YGT she gained a considerable experience on immersive and narrative experience development through her Master's Studies in Game Design, and as a co-founder of Virtual Reality start-up company and various Art and Design related projects targeted to Museums, Building Industry, Architecture and new, Immersive Digital Journalism. Noora is passionate about storytelling and user experience design, aiming to bring it into all of her work.
Ava Dobrynine
Artist
I'm Ava, and I'm a full-time artist; by that I mean that I've not only been raised by artist parents, who were actors, but that I've also spent my life--and still am spending it, drawing and doing art-related things most of the time. I currently work as a storyboard artist for animation and cinema, and spend the best of my free time drawing fanarts and working on personal projects. As a child, I did have a phase of being interested in astrophysics, but my math skills (or lack thereof) didn't allow me to push this ambition further. That said, I compensated by a thorough interest in space and science-fiction, which has always been one of my favourite genres and subjects, and I went from imagining my own versions of futuristic societies (either in a near or very distant future) to directly working with Didier Schmitt on an anticipation graphic novel, Red Safari, which allowed me to further my knowledge of the current state of space exploration and related technologies.
👩 Breaking Barriers: Shaping Futures Through Dialogue and Mentorship
Torsten Bieler
Space Systems Engineer, TEC
see Opening Remarks at top
Carmen Ancuta
Project Controller, GALILEO
I am an aerospace engineer and former Young Graduate Trainee (EGT) at ESA. With over a decade of experience as a propulsion system engineer, I have worked across several fields of engineering (mechanical, aerodynamic, materials, turbomachine external systems and engine architecture) in the industry. Recently graduated from Boston University with a business degree (which was the most fun educational experience I had to day). In December 2023, I returned to ESA, taking on the role of Project Controller and working for GALILEO.
Maria Piera Padula
Programme Coordinator of FutureEO, EOP
Maria Piera Padula is the Programme Coordinator of FutureEO in the Directorate of Earth Observation and works mainly in ESRIN. She has studied Space Engineering at Politecnico di Milano and holds a diploma in Management of Innovation. She has started her career as a YGT in ESA HQ in Strategy and Planning and has since then worked for Airbus Defence and Space as Project and Proposal Manager and in various space companies and organisations across Europe in the fields of Earth Observation, Science and Space Situational Awareness.
Fernanda Ramos
PhD in Remote Sensing
Fernanda’s lifelong passion for space inspired her to earn a PhD in Remote Sensing from Université de Savoie, France. Since 2001, she has worked in the aerospace industry, supporting global governmental space programmes and helping businesses commercialise and scale growth initiatives. With over 20 years of experience in International Business Development across Europe, Canada, Latin America, and Africa, she now contributes her expertise at the European Space Agency. Committed to fostering the next generation, Fernanda actively engages in mentoring programmes and associations, inspiring young minds to pursue careers in STEM and space exploration. Her dedication continues to drive innovation and international collaboration.
Valeria Pettorino 
Euclid Project Scientist, SCI
I am a physicist, and I work as Euclid Project Scientist at the European Space Agency (ESA), in ESTEC, Netherlands, within the Science Directorate.
After my PhD (Naples, Italy, 2005), I worked in Torino, Trieste (Italy), Heidelberg (Germany), New York (USA), Geneva (Switzerland). I got a permanent position at CEA Paris-Saclay (France) in 2016 and then joined ESA in 2023.
My main expertise is in cosmology and dark energy, bridging between theory and observations. I have worked for ESA Planck (2009-2018) and ESA Euclid (since 2007) space missions. I took part to science diplomacy initiatives, and to different mentoring initiatives for women in science (Space4women and Supernova Foundation).
Max Ghiglione 
Digital Payload Engineer, ESA
Max is a Digital Payload Engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA) in ESTEC, supporting Navigation, Communication and Earth Observation directorates. He studied electronics engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin. He started his career in the space industry at Airbus, in Munich, working first as an intern, then developer and project manager. Max was actively involved young professional networks throughout his career and believes that open dialogue, curiosity, and mentorship are key for our development.
