Agenda: SpaceTech 2025
From the Earth to the Moon
Wednesday, April 23
Agenda
Opening | Prof. Julie Shah, Department Head
Welcome | George Lordos (Sloan MBA ’00, SDM SM ’18, PhD ’24), SpaceTech emcee
Part 1: Glimpses of the Future of Space Tech
Keynote
Julien Lamamy (SM ’04, PhD ’07) Managing Director, iSpace Europe
Student lightning talks | Adriana Mitchell, Patrick Riley, Taylor Hampson
Audience real-time voting
Panel: New Space Technology Startups
Moderator: Palak Patel (MechE PhD ’26), extreme space environment researcher & inventor
Panelists: Scarlet Koller, CEO Mithril; Maximillian Bhatti, CEO Basalt Space; Evelyn Ruff (SM ’23), GNC Engineer II, True Anomaly
AeroAstro SpaceTech Expo and networking coffee break
Future Space Systems Capabilities for Science and Exploration
Chloe Gentgen, PhD student
Lunch | AeroAstro SpaceTech Expo and Networking
Part 2: From Space, for Earth
Keynote
Alexa Aguilar (SM ’19, PhD ’22), Lead space lasers engineer, SpaceX
Student lightning talks | Hannah Tomio, Shreya Sharma
Audience real-time voting
Panel: STEM Space & Science Communication
Moderator: Maia Weinstock, MIT News Office
Panelists: James Dingley, AeroAstro PhD student / Founder, Atomic Frontier; Jeff Foust (MIT EAPS PhD ‘99), SpaceNews; Stephanie Sjoblom, VP of Strategy, Aurelia Institute
Models of Good Governance
Mehak Sarang, Open Lunar Foundation
AeroAstro SpaceTech Expo and networking coffee break
Part 3: From the Earth to the Moon
Keynote
Bhavya Lal (BS ’90, SM ’92 (MIT Nuclear Engineering), former NASA Associate Administrator for Technology, Policy and Strategy
Panel: Return to the Moon
Moderator: Jeffrey Hoffman, Professor of the Practice MIT AeroAstro, former NASA astronaut
Participants: Forrest Meyen (SM, PhD’17), Co-founder and CTO, Lunar Outpost; Afreen Siddiqi (BS ‘99, SM ‘01, PhD ‘06), Research Scientist, MIT AeroAstro
AeroAstro SpaceTech Expo and networking coffee break
Student lightning talks | Cesar Meza, Anna Wadhwa, Annika Thomas
Audience real-time voting
Sustaining human life on the moon
“Assessing Mental Workload in Humans Using Infrared Light”
Amelia Gagnon, PhD ‘25
Closing
Lightning Talk Awards | Prof. Kerri Cahoy, Space Sector Head
Farewell | Prof. Olivier de Weck, Assistant Department Head