Jürgen Schleppi
The Moon has a variety of useful elements to offer and we need to find ways how we can utilise them, as they are key to future long term missions to the Moon and beyond. Currently a Heriot-Watt PhD Candidate in Cooperation with the European Space Agency - Jürgen first graduated with a B.Eng in Aeronautical Engineering, majoring in Space Engineering and subsequently an international M.Sc. in Space Science and Instrumentation in 2014. His Master’s thesis in Sydney, Australia, was analyzing the performance of astronauts and rovers in a Mars Analogue scenario in the Australian Outback.
For the two subsequent years after his Masters, he worked at the European Space Agency's Astronaut Centre in the field of Astronaut Training and Operations. Since 2016, he has been a Heriot-Watt PhD student in Cooperation with the ESA, researching ways in which silicon solar cells, or other solar conversion devices, could be 3D printed on the lunar surface with only the raw lunar material.
Jillian Haslam
Jillian would like to create an awareness on how change has been beneficial to helping people in the privileged and the under-privileged world but how it is equally damaging to the youth who are opting to live in virtual worlds due to complete isolation. She would also like to draw attention to the fact of how more than half the world knows little or nothing about these exponential changes and how the educated and affluent among us can help these people in more ways than one.
Prof. Stephen Salter
Professor Salter is Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design at Edinburgh University. Internationally renowned for his pragmatic approach to modern global challenges, Prof. Salter invented the Edinburgh Duck for harvesting wave energy. Now working on climate engineering, Salter has pioneered a method of marine cloud brightening - wherein a fleet of vessels would spray a very fine mist of water into the air, help to bounce sunlight back into space, and thus mitigate the effects of increasing global temperatures due to climate change.
Professor Marc Desmulliez
Prof. Desmulliez is currently Deputy Head of the Institute of Signals, Sensors and Systems (ISSS) at Heriot-Watt. He is an expert in nature inspired design, sometimes known as biomimicry.
We live in a world in transition, where some natural resources are about to be depleted, traditional manufacturing processes show their limits and humankind is more conscious of its responsibility for our planet. There will be a discussion on how some scientists, engineers and architects are re-learning old lessons from nature to propose to the world a better future. Evolution has provided optimised methods of producing just about anything What inspiration can be taken from what nature does so well?
Dr. Gnanathusharan Rajendran
Dr. Thusha Rajendran is the director of the Developmental Psychology in Action Lab based in the Department of Psychology at Heriot-Watt University. He has recognized developmental differences between people as ‘Neurodiversity’ – a necessary variation in the gene pool and its monumental potential in not only aiding in learning processes for the neurologically different, but also providing a tool in opening new doors to understanding the mind, which in turn will help in making further radical advancements in the technology division.
Rossie Stone
Rossie Stone is the creator of Dekko Comics, an alternative learning resource. As a dyslexic artist, he used his own experience with education to create comics as an aid to learning. With enthusiasm and drive, he has managed a very successful crowd funding campaign to develop these comics further. The comics have been successful with children of varying ages and learning styles, including (if not especially) those with dyslexia and autism. This work has resonated with people all over the world and been featured on BBC News and STV.