Title: Astropreneurship, the Post-COVID Planet and YOU
Speaker: Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya Abstract: The commercial space industry is quickly evolving from proof-of-technology to consumer-driven goods and services. How will this help citizens of Planet Earth during our post-COVID recovery? Why is this the right time for you to get involved? Join Rutgers alumna Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya, an ex-NASA scientist-turned-astropreneur with three decades' experience in spacecraft development and operations, commercial space startup growth, academic administration, and scientific research, for a discussion and Q&A.
Bio: Dr. Bhattacharya is founder and CEO of AstroHub (astrohub.co), a Singapore- and US-based startup dedicated to space workforce development for professionals and students through interactive, online courses, hands-on training using CubeSats. Her company supports student research on the International Space Station, with their eighth payload launch to space scheduled in a few weeks. Dr. Bhattacharya believes that her Rutgers education provided key programming and scientific analysis skills that enabled her to land a position as a calibration engineer on the NASA Hubble Space Telescope after graduation. Since then, she's worked on a number of missions, including the Mars Rover Program, the Galileo Mission to Jupiter, and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory. Her vision is to democratize global access to outer space. She also plans to take her husband on a space tourism vacation for their 50th wedding anniversary in 20 years. Dr. Bhattacharya earned undergraduate degrees in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers, and holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in space physics from UCLA.
