Dr. Philip Ferguson | University of Manitoba

Dr. Ferguson holds the NSERC / Canadian Space Agency / Magellan Aerospace Industrial Research Chair in Satellite Engineering at the University of Manitoba. His research focuses on new spacecraft guidance, navigation and control technologies that can improve satellite reliability while simultaneously reducing the cost and design cycle times, thereby improving the accessibility of space.

Phil Ferguson is an Associate Member of the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) at the University of Manitoba, where he collaborates to explore how space and drone technologies can support Indigenous and Inuit communities in Canada’s Arctic. 

Dr. Jeremy Wang | Ribbit

Dr. Jeremy Wang is an aerospace engineer and entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience in uncrewed and autonomous systems for advanced air mobility. Jeremy currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Ribbit, which he co-founded in 2020. Ribbit builds and operates dual-use self-flying airplanes with a focus on connecting remote and contested regions. Ribbit is a contractor of record to multiple public safety, defence, research, and transportation agencies, and has additionally partnered with wholesalers, Indigenous communities, and humanitarian groups who spend $73M annually on air freight. In 2023, Ribbit performed Canada’s first automated gate-to-gate flight—now a routine occurrence at select airports.

Ibrahim Yimer | National Research Council of Canada

Dr. Ibrahim Yimer is currently Vice President of the Division of Transportation and Manufacturing at the National Research Council of Canada - Canada’s largest federal research and development organization with over 2000 scientists and engineers, advancing innovation in life sciences, engineering, transportation and emerging technologies. For the past 15 years, Dr. Yimer has held positions of increasing responsibility at the NRC, including Director General of the Aerospace Research Center and Director of the Gas Turbine Laboratory.

Tyron Woods | University of Manitoba

Dr. Tyrone Woods is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba. He is Co-lead and Mission Scientist for the Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and UV Research (CASTOR), a proposed flagship Canadian space telescope planned for launch in 2032. Dr. Woods studies the physics of some of the most energetic events and objects in the Universe, by combining theoretical simulations with observations across the electromagnetic spectrum. Before returning to Canada as a Plaskett Fellow at the National Research Council of Canada in Victoria, BC, he completed his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich, Germany, and held research fellowships in Australia and the UK.