Outer space has become an increasingly important resource for the Earth. Thousands of satellites orbit the Earth, providing social, scientific, and economic benefits to people on the ground. However, the rapid growth in the space industry poses challenges to space sustainability, which call for international collaborations.
In the upcoming Café des Sciences Lecture, we’ll invite two experts to share with us their research projects in the field of Space Exploration and Sustainability. We’ll first hear from Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib, Director, EPFL Laboratory of Astrophysics & EPFL Space Center (Space), who will share with us his perspectives on the current space industry and his research on sustainable space logistics. Following Prof. Kneib’s presentation, we’ll invite Prof. Dr. Shufan WU, Executive Vice Dean of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, to share his insights on how space science and technologies contributed to the SDG goals and the general SDG development in China.
Join us onsite or via Zoom to learn about this special topic and interact with the experts.
Program
November 25 Café des Sciences: Space Exploration and Sustainability
13:30 – 14:00 Registration
14:00 – 14:05 Welcome Remarks by Dr. Philippe Roesle, CEO, Consul, Swissnex in China
14:05 – 14:25 Presentation by Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib, Director, EPFL Laboratory of Astrophysics & EPFL Space Center (eSpace)
14:25 – 14:45 Presentation by Prof. WU Shufan, Executive Vice Dean, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
14:45 – 15:00 Discussion and Q&A
November 18 – 27 Exhibition: Archaeology of Light
Swissnex in China Booth at So Swiss Pop-Up Event
INLET (989 Long, North Sichuan Road/Wujin Road), Hongkou District, Shanghai
Speakers
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Bio
Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib
Director, EPFL Laboratory of Astrophysics & EPFL Space Center (eSpace)Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib is the Director of the EPFL Space Center since July 2017. This center has various projects, including developing space sustainability (technologies for active debris removal, space sustainability rating), developing technologies for moon exploration, and educating the young generation of talents in the space domain through a hands-on project led by students (construction of Rockets, Cube-Sats, Rovers with participation in international competitions).
Prof. Kneib is also the Director of the Laboratory of Astrophysics (LASTRO) since April 2016. He is invested in astrophysics and observational cosmology research. In particular, he has been the principal investigator of the SDSS-IV/eBOSS project from 2011 to 2018. He has led the construction of the fiber positioner robotic system for the SDSS-V project, and his now working on the miniaturization of these robots for future cosmological projects, including the Chinese project MUST (Multiplex Survey Telescope) led by Tsinghua University. He is also the Swiss Science Delegate at the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO an international organization that includes China, building the largest radio-astronomy infrastructure in the world). He is also scientifically renowned for his work on gravitational lensing and the mapping of the Universe in 3D thanks to redshift surveys.
Together with Prof. Sarah Kenderdine, he is currently the curator of the exhibition: Cosmos Archaeology which take place at EPFL Campus until Feb 5, 2023.
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Bio
Prof. Dr. Shufan Wu
Executive Vice Dean, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityProf. Dr. Shufan Wu, is the IAA Correspondence Member, AIAA Associate Fellow, Chair Professor, and the Executive Deputy Dean of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), P. R. China. He was graduated from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) in China with BSc, MSc, and PHD in 1990. He worked as an associate professor (1994) and full professor (1998) in NUAA, then he has spent 17 years in Europe working at the TU Braunschweig in Germany (1995-1996), TU Delft in Netherlands (1998-1999), Surrey University in UK (2000-2002), and the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) of the European Space Agency (2002-2013), working all the time in aerospace research and technologies. He also worked as the Chief engineer and manager of the China-French cooperated science satellite SVOM project and the STU-2 CubeSat mission during 2013-2017 in the Shanghai Engineering Centre for Microsatellites. He moved to SJTU in July 2017 as a chair professor. His main research topics cover the guidance, navigation and control of flight vehicle, satellite system engineering, micro/nano satellite technologies and application.
Institutions
The EPFL Space Center (eSpace) is an interdisciplinary hub, working with students, academic institutions, international space agencies and industry partners, with an overall mission to promote space related research and education at EPFL. eSpace achieves its mission through three key areas: Education, Fundamental research, and Innovative development projects.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University is one of the famous institutions of higher learning with the longest history and reputation at home and abroad. It is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education and jointly built with Shanghai Municipality. After 125 years of unremitting efforts, Shanghai Jiao Tong University has become a domestic first-class and internationally renowned university, and further defined the vision on constructing a “comprehensive, innovative and international” world-class university.
CAFÉ DES SCIENCES
Café des Sciences is an event series at Swissnex in China initiated in 2019, offering a platform for Swiss spotlight scientists, start-ups, artists and designers to present their projects and connect with the local community. The lectures offer a casual setting in which speakers can present their work and engage with the attendees during a Q&A period. Audiences are welcomed to enjoy the networking reception with Swiss flavor after the talk. Starting in 2021, the lectures are scheduled to take place on the third Thursday of every other month at Swissnex in China or our partner spaces.
The Café des Sciences event series is supported by Presence Switzerland.