E-news December 2022

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Subject: E-news December 2022

"The real competitive advantage in any business is one word only, which is 'people'."

Kamil Toume

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at HE Space!

At HE Space we are already in a festive mood. Holiday cheer started spreading across borders as our different locations and sites celebrated Christmas in their own unique way. Here are the highlights of our Christmas celebrations in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, France and Spain.

Impressions of HE Space Christmas celebrations in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, France and Spain.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, what better way to celebrate it than by meeting up to enjoy delicious food and exchange gifts with friends, family and - last but not least - colleagues? In the first two weeks of December both on-site and office colleagues got together either for a Christmas lunch or dinner. Regardless of the group size, everyone had fun and enjoyed a festive atmosphere. For some these gatherings were even more special as they offered the chance to finally meet their colleagues in person.

Apart from cosy get togethers, our offices also fully embraced the Christmas spirit in more creative ways.

For example, our Bremen office was the first to look very Christmassy thanks to lovely decorations instantly setting a festive atmosphere.

Even the office dog Bruno couldn't help but being directly involved in the Christmas frenzy!

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands we turned the office parking lot into a Christmas market with decorated stalls serving warm drinks and sweets. Santa's fire truck also paid us a special visit and kept spreading Christmas jingles throughout the day.

If you missed our Christmas market and still need to pick up your Christmas hamper and sweater, there's no need to worry. You're very welcome to come by our Noordwijk office in January. Just drop an email to HR to set up a time and date.

The HE Space team wishes everyone a wonderful Christmas break and a bright 2023!

Giving students the chance to Discover their Space

Discover Your Space is a networking event organised every year at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) to connect students with a number of key players in the Dutch space industry, from established institutions to space start-ups.

HE Space Recruiter Vicente Gracia Galán talking to students at TU Delft at Discover Your Space in Delft, the Netherlands.

Unlike 2021, this year Discover Your Space was held entirely in person again. On the day, HE Space and many other companies active in the Dutch space sector gave a short pitch presentation about themselves and introduced workshop challenges for the students. After the pitches, at the networking drinks students aspiring for a career in the space industry had the chance to get to know the companies they found most interesting.

Our recruiter Vicente Gracia Galán delivered the HE Space pitch and together with Marketing Coordinator Barbara ten Berge engaged with many students who were enquiring about internship opportunities and were also curious about the job requirements for specific positions such as what it takes to become a Mission Controller or a Spacecraft Operations Engineer.

We enjoyed talking to aspiring space professionals and we look forward to keep supporting students in the Netherlands at more events like this next year!

Reinventing Space for the next generation

On November 29 HE Space UK Director Jason Maroothynaden attended the ReInventing Space Conference hosted by the British Interplanetary Society at the Aerospace Museum and Conference Centre, in Bristol (UK).

Impressions of ReInventing Space at the Aerospace Museum and Conference Centre in Bristol, UK.

In late November, HE Space UK Director Jason Maroothynaden travelled to Bristol to participate in the ReInventing Space Conference 2022, where space-based solar power generation was the focus of technical presentations. The conference was very informative and offered a platform to openly discuss some of the most pressing space issues.

HE Space was pleased to sponsor the lunch and the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) NextGen careers afternoon.

Great interest was sparked at the careers afternoon where Jason gave a presentation on "How to get that job in space" and joined a panel discussing the first steps to start a career in the space sector.

We were delighted to hear that our sponsorship helped fund student tickets for this event - what an amazing plus! We are already looking forward to the next BIS NextGen careers event.

New UK office opening soon!

To keep up with expanding operations in the UK, HE Space has secured a new - and bigger - office space on Harwell Campus, in Harwell (UK).

Impressions of the new HE Space office in the UK and its surroundings on Harwell Campus in Harwell, UK, with HE Space UK Director Jason Maroothynaden.

Mirroring the continued demand for UK space jobs, HE Space keeps growing its contracting and direct recruitment services by providing more jobs at Harwell (UK). Following this development, moving into a larger office has finally become a reality.

The new HE Space office on Harwell Campus is located in the HQ Building opposite the modern and eye-catching Quad Two building. After a draining six month search, HE Space UK Director Jason Maroothynaden successfully secured our new office space and collected the office keys on December 1. Unlike most buildings on Harwell Campus, the office features its own front garden with a cosy outdoors sitting area leading to the main entrance.

Due to the busy festive period, unsurprisingly our office furniture won't be delivered before January. Well rested after the Christmas break, our office renovation will resume in full swing in 2023.

We look forward to having the new office up and running and we can't wait to host an official office opening and welcome colleagues and visitors in the new year!

COMING SOON! Space Conversion Course

At HE Space we are dedicated not only to existing space talent but also to future space professionals. To help them transfer their skills and get their dream job in space, we will be launching a Space Conversion Course in the new year.

To make it easy for career changers to transition to the space sector, we are partnering with UK space recruitment and training experts, the Space Skills Alliance, to launch a Space Conversion Course starting in 2023.

The course is specifically designed for people who have some experience in a different industry, and will be structured into two parts:

Part 1 - Get up to speed with the space sector and its jargon, get help applying your current expertise in a space context
Part 2 - Get expert advice on how to polish your CV, hone your interview technique, and make yourself more employable

If you know anyone who is trying to switch careers and wants to join the space sector, please direct them to our website where they can register their interest and get notified of the upcoming course dates. For more information please contact info@spaceconversioncourse.co.uk.

Our Newcomers

We are happy to announce that the following colleagues have recently joined HE Space. A warm welcome to:

Andrea Melara joined HE Space as a

Radio Navigation Engineer at ESTEC in TEC-ESG.

He holds a MSc in Electronic Engineering and a Master in Nanotechnology and Entrepreneurship from Venice University.

After 10 years of experience within the Italian aerospace industry, in 2017 Andrea started to support ESA on Galileo G1G SIV and SE activities.

In his free time, he likes to practise fishing and sports such as football, volleyball and tennis.

Marc Pous Sola joined HE Space as an Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineer at ESTEC. He is originally from Barcelona, where he conducted his Master's and Ph.D. studies in Electronics and Telecommunications at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). Marc worked at UPC as a researcher and co-founded the EMC Barcelona startup. Thanks to a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship, he was a visiting Scientist at ESTEC.

In his free time, he enjoys travelling to discover new cultures, practising different sports, and going to his seat at Camp Nou stadium to watch F.C. Barcelona.

Piotr Linek joined HE Space as Project Controller at ESTEC. He is from Poland and lives in Leiden together with his wife and a not so well behaved dog. Piotr has worked in oil and gas for most of his career, in various roles: manpower planning, IT product management and project control. Project control is where he feels most fulfilled, this is why he decided to pursue a Master of Science in Financial Management and Control at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. If all goes well, Piotr should graduate in June 2023.

His hobbies include chess, travelling and he also likes getting to know people from different cultures.

Piotr is still practising his Dutch, even though he has been living in the Netherlands for over 10 years... it's just taking him some time.

HE Space Children's Foundation supporting children's education in Nepal during the Covid-19 pandemic

Top to bottom - Students learning through online education material in absence of teacher in Chainpur. Shree Janjyoti Basic School Hakpara and Shree Kalika Primary Schools - collecting trash with students and pupils playing in the newly built playground.

In spring 2021, The HE Space Children’s Foundation sponsored the “From school to school” (Van School tot School) project in South-eastern Nepal for a third year. At the time, the pandemic was still largely affecting the work in the area, hindering the training of teachers over longer periods. Once lockdowns were eased, staff from the Centre for Educational Policies and Practices (CEPP) went from school to school explaining the government decisions and sanitary provisions to reopen schools.

Once schools reopened in the summer, CEPP also managed to give a digitization training to teachers to help them understand the use of computers in the classroom. This has sparked curiosity in the teachers to further develop their digital skills.

Adopting a practical learning approach, teachers and children joined forces to set up a plant nursery to teach children about agriculture. On the occasion of World Environmental Day, the importance of keeping the school environments clean and green was made clear to the children as they helped teachers collected plastic around the school grounds.

The “From school to school” project has just come to the end of its proposed multi-year plan with the HE Space Children’s Foundation. The staff from the Centre for Educational Policies (CEPP) would still appreciate further support and the work for improving the schools in this area of Nepal remains important. BIKAS is a Belgian NGO that supports CEPP in their work to improve education for the children in Nepal. Donations are always welcome and can be put to good use in support of children's education.

HE Space Live

Upcoming events

12 January

New Year's party, Bremen

20 January

New Year's party, Valkenburg

27 January

New Year's party, Cologne

2 February

NL Space New Year's reception, Noordwijk