Adrien Doucet, Ram Prakash & Amir Kanan Kashefi – recipients of the Space Innovation Fund in 2021.
Three up-and-coming South Australian space industry entrepreneurs have been awarded nearly $60,000 in scholarships to advance their skills and help grow the state’s thriving space sector.
The scholarships are part of the South Australian Government’s Space Innovation Fund that aims to nurture talent for the state’s space ecosystem.
South Australian Space Industry Centre Chief Executive Richard Price said the scholarships will support South Australia’s brightest space talent, with successful applicants to develop their leadership skills and knowledge in the space sector by undertaking study at universities and space-related organisations both abroad and locally.
“Congratulations to these budding space entrepreneurs who have demonstrated their passion for South Australia’s space sector and a desire to build their own knowledge and skills in order to grow the expertise and capability of our industry,” Mr Price said.
“With international travel restrictions set to ease soon, it’s important to see initiatives like this continuing, as we build on the momentum in this exciting and rapidly growing sector.
“Despite challenging times, South Australia’s space industry is on an upward trajectory and the State Government is committed to building the pipeline of skilled space engineers, leaders and entrepreneurs needed to rocket this sector to new heights.
“South Australia is at the forefront of the nation’s space endeavours, now home to more than 90 space-related companies and a world-class entrepreneurial community building at Lot Fourteen.”
Three scholarships worth a total value of $58,500 AUD have been awarded to successful applicants, including:
- Adrien Doucet, Head of Innovation at Fleet Space Technologies, to undertake The Innovative Technology Leader course at Stanford Graduate School of Business in the US.
- Amir Kanan Kashefi, full-stack engineer with the International Space Station Archeological Project at Flinders University, to undertake a prestigious internship at the Machine Learning and Affiliated Technology Laboratory of Chapman University in California.
- Ram Prakash, aerospace engineer at Consilium Technology Pty Ltd, to undertake professional development and educational opportunities, including a post graduate course in space vehicle design and space resource fundamentals at The University of Adelaide.
This is the third round of the Space Scholarship Program, which was temporarily put on hold last year due to COVID-related international travel restrictions. The latest scholarship recipients will undertake their overseas study in 2022.
Round four of the Space Scholarship Program will open early next year.
