Overview

You have probably seen space in the news a lot lately and that is because there is a lot going on from sub-orbital space tourism, to the first image of a black hole, to helicopters flying on Mars. Yet this is only a small part of what goes on in the space sector.

Every day most of us will check the weather forecast, use Google Maps or watch TV without realising these all depend on the seemingly invisible infrastructure of satellites orbiting the Earth. The current era of space activity, known as Space 4.0, has been driven by the rise of commercial space companies, technology advancements and global cooperation. With this comes more opportunities for people to work in space, a career largely inaccessible to New Zealanders until recently.

This webinar will discuss what role chemical engineers can play in the industry and how you can get involved if you're interested.  

Speaker

Sarah Blyde, Project Engineer, Rocket Lab

Sarah Blyde is a project engineer at Rocket Lab responsible for managing the configuration of each Electron rocket built and launched by the company here in New Zealand. Sarah graduated from the University of Auckland in 2015 with a Bachelor of Engineering(Hons)/Commerce specializing in Chemical and Materials Engineering. After graduating, she worked as a petroleum engineer in Western Australia for three years before becoming much more fascinated by everything going on in the space sector. This passion took her to France where she completed her Masters in Space Studies at the International Space University in 2020 before returning home to New Zealand to begin her new career in space.

The material presented has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenters' own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the New Zealand Member Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.