Dr. Jeevan Perera is a Senior Engineer at NASA, Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  He is currently Deputy Branch Chief for Dynmaic Systems Tests in the Engineering Directorate.  He has had assignments in varying technical and management areas and disciplines including as the risk manager for several manned space programs such as the International Space Station, the Orion Spacecraft and others.  Other roles have included the shared responsibility for the management of program business and project planning activities, management and assessment of project budgets, procurement, contracts, configuration management, security, information technology, project schedules, and others.  His early focus area was in software development which included management/oversight duties over versions of the primary and back-up flight software for the Space Shuttle.  Dr Perera has been with NASA for over 35 years and has earned both a Jurisprudence Doctorate (licensed to practice law) and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering with an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Enginnering. He is a licensed pilot and has served on many non-profit boards.

Michael Pawlyn is an architect, writer and public speaker. He has been described as an expert in regenerative design and biomimicry. He established his firm Exploration Architecture in 2007 to focus on high performance buildings and solutions for the circular economy. The company has developed a ground-breaking office project, an ultra-low energy data centre, a zero waste textiles factory and progressive solutions for green cities. Michael Pawlyn jointly initiated the widely acclaimed Sahara Forest Project; the latest version of which was opened by the King of Jordan in 2017.

• Prior to setting up Exploration, Michael Pawlyn worked with Grimshaw for ten years and was central to the team that designed the Eden Project. He is regularly booked as a keynote speaker on innovation and his TED talk has had over 2 million views.

• He has written two books - Flourish: Design Paradigms for Our Planetary Emergency (co-authored with Sarah Ichioka) and Biomimicry in Architecture – both of which have been the respective publisher’s best-selling title. In 2019 he jointly initiated ‘Architects Declare a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency’ – a global call to action which has spread to 28 countries with over 7,000 firms signed up.

• He has delivered a numbered of high profile lectures including as part of the following programmes: Cambridge University Darwin College Lecture Series, The Genius of Nature Series at the Natural History Museum of Utah, The CE100 Annual Summit organised by The Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

• He has been featured in The Financial Times, National Geographic, The Economist, Wired and The Guardian as well as in a large number of design magazines. His television and radio appearances include ‘Animal Einsteins’ on BBC television and a number of programmes on BBC Radio 4.

Matej Poliacek is a Columbus Flight Director at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), responsible for real-time operations of ESA’s Columbus laboratory module on board the ISS. His role involves coordinating the work of the astronauts aboard the station and the European flight control teams on the ground, as well as interfacing with the NASA flight control team in Houston. Beyond console shifts he is involved in a number of projects, the most recent being RESPIRE, a microgravity aerosol experiment selected by Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) and flown by Matej in the Aurelia Horizon parabolic campaign, aiming to advance human physiology research in space. His interest in human spaceflight research has also brought him inside an isolated habitat and into the field as a participant in several analogue research campaigns simulating missions to both Mars and the Moon, and to contributing to the organisation of the V4 Analogue Challenge, a 24-hour isolation mission that gave four analogue astronauts from Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary their first taste of analogue research. He is active in SGAC, where he started the “Postcards to Space” project, allowing the general public in Slovakia to fly their postcards to space and back with Blue Origin's foundation Club for the Future, and helped deliver events from regional workshops to Space Generation Congress 2023 and 2024, in Baku and Milan, respectively. Matej also serves on the Human Spaceflight and ACCESS committees of International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and has been recognised by Forbes Slovakia’s 30 Under 30, IAF’s Emerging Space Leader and Space and Satellite Professionals International’s 20 Under 35 awards. He holds an MSc in Software Development and a BSc in Statistics from the University of Glasgow.

Dr. Erika Wagner serves as the Lead for US BusinessDevelopment at The Exploration Company, one of the fastest growing spacecompanies globally, building reusable space capsules and lunar landers. Previously,Dr. Wagner spent more than a decade at Blue Origin, where she helped drive thecompany’s go-to-market strategies in suborbital research, commercial spacestations, and lunar technologies. Earlier, she worked with the X PRIZEFoundation as Senior Director of Exploration Prize Development and foundingExecutive Director of the X PRIZE Lab@MIT. She also served at MIT as ScienceDirector and Executive Director of the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program.

In the community, Dr. Wagner has worked with The NationalAcademies since 2014, including her current seat on the Steering Committee forA Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars. Her Board service currentlyfocuses on STEM/STEAM engagement and innovation with The Museum of Flight andAurelia Institute. She is an advocate for gender diversity in tech with theInternational Women’s Forum and Brooke Owens Fellowship.

Dr. Wagner’s interdisciplinary academic background includes studiesin Biomedical and Aerospace Engineering from Vanderbilt University, MIT, InternationalSpace University, and the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences andTechnology. Her research spanned both human and mammalian adaptation tomicrogravity, partial gravity, and centrifugation; as well as organizationalinnovation and prize theory. She has been named a Fellow of the AmericanSociety for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) and the Explorers Club,and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics andAstronautics (AIAA).

Martina Dimoska is an award-winning and published research scholar, engineer, and pioneering figure in space exploration at the national, regional, and international levels. She is the first Macedonian and the first female Balkan analog astronaut, having served as Commander of LunAres’ Terra Nova mission (supported by ESA, POLSA, and Axiom Space) and M08 SELENE. Her analog mission experience also includes the ESA-supported ICEE. Space mission, Astroland’s APICES under Commander and ESA Astronaut Reserve Ales Svoboda, and the NASA-supported UND ILMAH 14. Martina is also a Senior NASTAR Ambassador, holding Suborbital Spaceflight Certification.  

Her work has gained recognition from esteemed global platforms and organizations, including Forbes, Bloomberg Adria, Huffington Post, UNDP, UN Women, Europe House (EU), OSCE, Al Jazeera, TEDx, and many others. A three-time TEDx speaker and Google Women Techmaker Ambassador, Martina has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Emerging Space Leader Award from the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), where she remains actively involved. She currently serves as the National Point of Contact for North Macedonia at the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC).

Martina is the Founder and President of the International Space Alliance (ISA), a nonprofit organization working to bridge the gap between space agencies, industry, and academia while expanding space access to underserved regions. She is also the first Macedonian to secure a NASA Space Act Agreement with both NASA Ames and NASA Glenn for hosting the annual NASA Space Apps Challenge in Mountain View and Cleveland.

Currently completing her Master’s in Space Studies at the International Space University with a focus on In-Situ Resource Utilization and Material Engineering, Martina also holds degrees in Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology. She is a Global UGRAD alumna and a Commercial Space Studies graduate from Florida Tech, supported through the Aldrin Family Foundation scholarship. Through her educational outreach and her platform @astro_smarta, she actively champions diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM and space.

‍

Barbara Belvisi is an entrepreneur passionate about space, hardware, biology and AI. She started her career as an investor, from Private Equity to Venture Capital. She founded her own asset management firm at 27 to invest in deeptech startups and then co-founded Hardware Club at 29, a VC fund dedicated to hardware and robotics companies. Meanwhile, she participated in launching several innovation programs like Hello Tomorrow, the largest deeptech event in Europe. At 33, she left her investor career and started learning engineering and architecture. Drove by her childhood passion for nature and space, she spent a year with NASA engineers prior to launching Interstellar Lab.

Interstellar Lab’s mission is to preserve life on Earth and expand it to Space. To do so, it develops, manufactures and operates a biofarming platform combining hardware, AI and bioscience on Earth and in space. On Earth, they provide an integrated solution to cosmetics and F&B companies for clean production of plant-based ingredients. In space, they provide food production and plant research capabilities to space stations. As a first step towards their multi-planetary vision, NASA has selected their technology for food production in a long-manned mission. Interstellar Lab has also launched a lunar mission in partnership with Antoine de Saint Exupéry Youth Foundation to grow roses on the moon.

Barbara is Top 10 Women in Tech in France, Top 100 Forbes, Best Innovator 2022, Choiseul 100, BOLD Award 2023.

Antonio is a Korean-born space policy and strategy expert. He is the Global Alliance Lead for ispace Inc., a Japanese company providing lunar lander and cislunar operations services. He was formerly the Country Manager for HEO and a Partner Sales Executive at Planet Labs - both satellite companies serving the Indo-Pacific area with space-based monitoring data. Antonio is also an underwater analog astronaut on the UMIC team in China, becoming certified as a PADI Astronaut Diver. Antonio serves on multiple space NGOs, including the International Astronautical Federation, Space Court Foundation, Interstellar Foundation, and Moon Village Association. He is a recipient of the Emerging Space Leader Award from the International Astronautical Federation, the Young Talent Award from the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council, and the ISDC Excellence Award from the National Space Society.

BS in Physics, MS Geosciences & Planetary Habitability. Penn State University.

Irene holds a master’s degree in Geosciences from the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) the US, with a specialty in Astrobiology, space radiation environments on the Moon and Mars, and planetary habitability. Her research was focused around the radiation environments on the Moon and Mars and in collaboration with. Dr. Francis Cucinotta, former Chief radiation officer at the NASA Johnson Space Center Professor and emeritus professor James Kasting, a world recognized authority in planetary habitability. She also holds a BS in Physics (with honors) from the University of South Florida (USF) the US. She has a long-life passion in addressing the critical emergency scenarios that can arise if astronauts on a space mission would be exposed to a mayor solar storm potentially compromising mission success and the health of the astronaut crews.

Luis Bernardo Guzmán (1984) is an artist, researcher, and curator working at the intersection of art and space exploration. He is the founder of Radix-Lucis Studio, a space dedicated to integrating art, biotechnology, and space exploration. Currently pursuing a PhD at Northumbria University Newcastle in the Space IDRT, Guzmán investigates the theoretical and practical relationship between art and aerospace technology through Organism-Oriented Ontologyand Cosmotechnics.

His artistic practice involves the development of biological sculptures — self-sustaining systems that evolve over time — while his theoretical work explores the plasticity of life in extreme environments, bridging art, philosophy, and astrobiology.

Guzmán’s work has been presented at internationally renowned institutions and events, including Ars Electronica, the London Design Fair, the Saint Étienne Biennale du Design, Talbot Rice Gallery (UK), the Biodesign Challenge at MoMA, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chile. His work has been collected internationally, notably by the Bernheim Foundation, and has been curated by the MIT Space Exploration Initiative.

He has been recognized for his contributions to the intersection of art and science, receiving an award from the Robert Callender Foundation for his innovative approach to bio-art and environmental exploration.

Guzmán has developed two space-borne art projects exploring bio-art and cultural narratives in microgravity: one aboard the International Space Station and another through the Plantsat cubesat mission. Currently, he is preparing three upcoming projects set to launch to the International Space Station and the Moon.

Luis serves as the Project Leader and Curator of the Moon Gallery Lunar Mission, scheduled for launch in 2027. He is also a member of Biofutures for Transplanetary Habitats (UK), Lateral Lab (UK), Cultural Negotiation of Science (UK), and the Space and Planetary Exploration Laboratory (CL), where he collaborates with scientists and artists to develop new forms of artistic expression in space

Rania Toukebri, Spacecrafts architect and Senior Team Leader with more than 10 years in the space sector. She worked on the design of systems and subsystems of many major European Space Agency projects: HERA - first planetary defense, Lunar Gateway (Artemis), Jupiter Icy Moons satellite, PLATO telescope and many others. She is mentor for the United Nations mentorship program #space4women, TEDx speaker and lecturer all over the world on space security and space technology topics, for universities and organizations like UNIDIR, African Union, EU events, UNOOSA, NATO and universities across the globe. She won several prices among them JCI TOYP award, SGAC pioneer award, top 10 under 30 in space in africa and top 100 of women in aerospace and defense in 2023 and 2025.

• Adriana has a background in theoretical physics, her award-winning PhD and postdoctoral

• work focused on quantum effects in biology and the origins of the building blocks of life in

• space. Adriana is currently a researcher at Stellenbosch University and the National Institute

• of Theoretical and Computational Sciences, both in South Africa, and also an expert at the

• Singularity University in California.

• In 2019, she left her position as Head of Innovation for Africa with SAP to found Proudly

• Human. She has visited Antarctica, Norway, deserts in the Middle East and Africa, the

• Aquarius Reef Base undersea habitat and submarine naval bases on location scouts for

• Proudly Human’s Off-World Project. The Project, also to be streamed globally as a

• documentary series, is a range of off-grid habitation experiments in the most extreme

• environments on the planet, in preparation for life on the Moon, Mars and beyond, as well

• as a resilient future here on Earth.

• Since 2017, Adriana is a Director at the Foundation for Space Development Africa, and also

• the chief scientist for the Foundation’s Africa2Moon Project, currently shortlisted for launch

• to the lunar south pole. Africa2Moon will be Africa’s first Moon mission, and potentially the

• world’s first lunar radio telescope, performing new science not possible from Earth. She is

• also a member of the committee on Space Resources of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy

• Anticipator.

• In 2025, her book “Out of this world, and into the next” detailing the vision of humanity’s

• journey into the stars will be published in China, and internationally with Profile Books. In

• the meantime, she is a visiting scientist at Shenzhen Nanshan Huitong School in China.

Daniela de Paulis is a media artist exhibiting internationally. She is also a licensed radio operator. Her artistic practice is informed by Space in its widest meaning. Since 2009 she has been implementing radio technologies and philosophies in her art projects. She is currently Artist in Residence at the SETI Institute (California) and Visiting Fellow at the Green Bank Observatory (West Virginia), with the support of the Baruch Blumberg Fellowship in Astrobiology. She is collaborating with prominent research institutes, including the European Space Agency, INAF (Italian Research Institute for Radio Astronomy), the Donders Centre for Neuroimaging and the University of Cambridge. For her projects, she is using state of the art radio telescopes, such as the Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia), the Allen Telescope Array (California), the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (UK), the Medicina Radio Telescope and the Sardinia Radio Telescope (Italy). In 2009 she developed the Visual Moonbounce technology (also called EME SSVT), in collaboration with international radio operators, and for the past fifteen years she has been developing innovative projects combining radio technologies with live performance art and neuroscience. She is a Corresponding Member of the IAA (International Academy of Astronautics), a member of the IAA SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Committee and a member of the IAA Moon Far Side Protection Committee. She is part of the committee organizer for the Electronic Visualisation in the Arts conference in London and part of the editorial board for the Springer Space and Society series. In addition to her artistic practice, she has published academic papers with the Leonardo MIT Journal, Routledge, Springer, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, among others. She is the recipient of the Art of Neuroscience Prize 2022 with the project Mare Incognito, also shortlisted for other international festivals and featured on Scientific American. Her project “A Sign in Space” is the Winner of the Gizmodo Science Fair 2024, and has been featured by international media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN, CBC, ABC Australia, Wired, Scientific American, as well as radio and television programmes.  . She presented the project as part of the Billingham Cutting Edge Lecture at the International Astronautical Congress in 2022 and 2024. De Paulis is the winner of the Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement 2023. In November 2023, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 52959 Danieladepaulis.

• Lina Khalifeh is the Founder and CEO of SheFighter, The First Self-Defense studio for women only started in Jordan, The Middle East, and expanded to 35 countries globally.
• The studio was founded in 2012 and has trained more than 25 thousand women and certified 700+ female Instructors all over the globe.
• Lina Khalifeh has many great achievements,
• - President Barack Obama mentioned her in his speech at the White house in 2015, and named her "Leader of Social Change".
• - Lina was awarded the "Stuart Scott Humanitarian ENSPIRE award", presented by ESPN and UFC 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
• - She was awarded “The Economic Empowerment Leadership award”, by Hillary Clinton and Vital Voices in Washington D.C. in 2018.
• - She was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum 2019 in Davos, Switzerland.
• - She published her book “SheFighter: From Trouble Maker to Global Change Maker”
• SheFighter Website: www.shefighter.com

‍

Abigail (Abby) Harrison is the Lead of Research for Starlab and the Voyager Institute for Space, Technology, and Advancement (VISTA) teams at The Ohio State University (OSU). Starlab is a commercial space station being developed by an international joint venture with support from the NASA Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Destinations Program to succeed the International Space Station at the end of this decade and provide ongoing low-Earth orbit research capabilities. At OSU, Abby leads university research initiatives that develop cutting edge space research pipelines spanning engineering, physics, materials science, bioastronautics, agriculture, medicine, and other fields. Concurrent with this position, Abby is pursuing a PhD in Biophysics at OSU where she studies reactivation of human pathogenic viruses under the stress conditions of a spaceflight environment. Previously, Abby completed a MSc as a Graduate Research Fellow at Queen’s University studying Arctic region biogeochemistry in the Facility for Biogeochemical Research on Environmental Change and the Cryosphere (FaBRECC) lab and a BA in biology from Wellesley College. In addition, Abby has conducted immunology/neuroscience research at Harvard Medical School, astrobiology research at the Space Life Sciences Labs, machine learning research at Wellesley College, and limnology research at Lake Baikal, Siberia. Abby has had a passion for space exploration her entire life and is working towards becoming a NASA astronaut. At 15 years old, Abby served as the Earth Liaison for European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, helping to share his experiences living and working in space with people on Earth. She then went on to found and lead The Mars Generation non-profit for 7 years. Under her leadership, this organization reached tens of millions of people with digital science content, engaged more than 2,000 students in a student leadership development program, secured hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide hands-on STEM experiences for young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and aided teachers around the world in developing and delivering space and science curriculum in grade school classrooms. In 2019, Abby was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her innovative education advocacy work with The Mars Generation. Abby is the author of Dream Big: How to Reach for Your Stars, a book that guides young people in developing the skills necessary to achieve their dreams. Recently Abby was a member of the teaching team for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, where she mentored undergraduate students in designing research to fly on the International Space Station. Abby is a prolific public speaker and staunch advocate for the future of space exploration and STEM education. She has delivered hundreds of presentations on these subjects, ranging from grade school audiences to the US House of Representatives. In 2024, Abby received the prestigious commercial space industry Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship and worked as an engineering intern at the commercial space company Voyager Technologies, during which she contributed to testing the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane, improving laser communications systems for the International Space Station, and the development of the Starlab commercial space station.

Abby has trained as a pilot, Rescue SCUBA Diver, and Emergency Medical Technician and is always searching for her next adventure. Abby has studied Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Spanish and is passionate about all types of collaboration in the space industry, including international and private/public sectors. In her free time she creates educational videos and content on social media to excite more people about space and science. You can join Abby on her journey to become an astronaut by following her at @astronautabbyofficial.

Jay Harman has successfully commercialized numerous award-winning products and has been recognized by the US, Japanese, and Korean Societies of Mechanical Engineers for his contributions to the field of fluid dynamics.  Named a lifetime Invention Ambassador by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Jay’s work on nature-inspired design is featured in many documentaries.  Along with his role as CEO of the engineering firm PAX Scientific, he is a published author and holds more than 25 patents.