The Team

Executive Director

Emmanuelle David

Emmanuelle has 10 years’ experience in space transportation in academia, agency and industry from pre-development projects up to launch operations. She holds Space Engineering degrees both from the University of Technology of Compiegne, France, and the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. She has completed in 2021 a certificate of advanced studies at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zürich in Technology and Public Policy : Policy Process. She is International Astronautical Federation Space transportation committee and member of the board of the EUCASS- european conference for aerospace science.

She is engaged in increasing diversity and inclusion in scientific and engineering fields being a mentor program for the Swisstecladies and is also a member of the management group from the Swisstecladies Network from the swiss academy of Science (SATW). She is a member of Women in Aerospace and support the Space Generation Advisory Council “Our Giant leap” initiative.

Postdoc Researcher

Stephan Hellmich

Academic Director

Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib

Jean-Paul Kneib is a Full Professor of Astrophysics at EPFL, Director of the EPFL Laboratory of Astrophysics (LASTRO), Academic Director of the EPFL Space Center, and the Swiss Scientific Delegate to the SKAO Council.

Prof. Kneib specializes in cosmology, radio astronomy, fiber-positioner robotic systems, and space sustainability, among other areas. He holds a master’s degree in Astrophysics and Space Technology and a PhD in Astrophysics from Toulouse University. He was awarded an ERC Advanced grant for the project LIght on the DArk along with many other scientific and innovation grants. He has served in many telescope time allocation committees and (e.g. XMM-Newton, Hubble and JWST) as well as many grant allocation committees (e.g. ERC, SNF, ANR).

Student Projects Supervisor

Pierre-Alain Maüsli

IT Manager

John Maxwell

Administrative Specialist
Student Coordinator

Candice Norhadian

Working for eSpace since January 2016.

Communications Manager

Stephanie Parker

As eSpace’s Communications Manager, Stephanie Parker is responsible for the center’s press releases, news articles, newsletter, reports, media relations, and Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, among other tasks. Her background is in science communications, and in 2014, she received a master’s in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism from the University of Montana. After completing her degree, she was the Communications Specialist at Virginia Tech University before coming to Switzerland, where she worked as a freelance science journalist and translator (German to English). She joined EPFL in 2020 and began working at eSpace in early 2022. Along with her work at eSpace, she manages communications for the Square Kilometre Array Switzerland Consortium (SKACH) and the EPFL Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE).

PhD Student

Anne-Marlène Rüede

Anne-Marlene is a space and extreme environment architect from the Swiss Polytechnic Federal Institute in Lausanne (EPFL), where she studied architecture and space technologies. She worked on various projects, including satellite design, Mars human exploration mission planning, and space habitat design. Her current work as a PhD student at the EPFL Space Center (eSpace) involves developing design support tools for complex space missions and supporting infrastructure. She also serves as a coordinator at the Space Generation Advisory Council.

Engineer
Student Coordinator

Mathieu Udriot

Mathieu Udriot graduated from EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) in February 2022 with a Master in Microengineering, specialized in space technologies. His master thesis was on the Implementation of a Space Sustainability Rating. He was part of the EPFL team that won the European Rocketry Challenge 2021 in Portugal. Now a young professional at eSpace, Mathieu is involved in projects related to green space logistics, space sustainability, concurrent engineering, and supervises student teams.

Research Scientist

Xiao-Shan Yap, PhD

Dr. Xiao-Shan Yap joined eSpace as Lead Senior Researcher on 1 March 2023. Affiliated as (guest) Assistant Professor at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development (Utrecht University), Yap is an interdisciplinary social scientist working at the intersection of sustainability transitions, development economics, as well as global commons and earth system governance. Yap is pioneering a scientific research agenda on ‘earth-space sustainability’ aiming to address Earth-bound and space-based challenges in an integrative way for a sustainable planetary future. She founded the corresponding Earth-Space Sustainability Research Initiative and holds several leading positions in international scientific networks. Among others, she serves as a senior Steering Group member of the Sustainability Transitions Research Network (STRN) and Co-Chair of Commons in Space  under the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC).

At eSpace, Yap will lead the project ‘Space sustainability: Policy options and interrelations with Earth system governance’ in collaboration with the EPFL International Risk Governance Center (IRGC), supported by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The project will deploy an advanced mix-method approach, drawing on qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of primary and secondary data, as well as co-construction of problems and policy options with stakeholders. The project will provide evidence-based insights to policymaking through active engagement with the Space Sustainability Rating, OECD Space Forum and the International Telecommunication Union, among others.