Home News & Events Distinguished Speakers Distinguished Speakers SmartSat’s Distinguished Speaker series provides a unique opportunity to hear from leading global experts on the latest research and technological advancements in the space sector. Check our events page for upcoming speakers in the series: See Upcoming Events Upcoming Events Event 10:00 am 22 Jul 2025 Queensland Earth Observation Hub Showcase Past Speakers Ms Trudy F. Kortes Director, Technology Demonstrations Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Thu 19 May 2022 Mr Giuseppe Borghi Head of the ESA Φ-lab Division, European Space Agency 10 March 2022 Dr. Christa D Peters-Lidard Deputy Director Hydrosphere, Biosphere & Geophysics, Earth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Flight Centre 26 August 2021 Dr Alice Bunn International Director, UK Space Agency May 2021 Prof Ashish Mahabal Astronomer and Lead Computational and Data Scientist, CalTech February 2021 Dr Jose Velazco Technical Supervisor, Advanced RF & Optical Technologies Group, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory December 2020 Dr Claudia Giardino Senior Researcher at CNR-IREA (National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment) August 2020 Mr Douglas Weimer Director, Cyber Security Solutions at RHEA Group July 2020 Prof Kay-Soon Low Director, Satellite Technology and Research Centre (STAR) at National University of Singapore June 2020 Dr Max Pastena Future Missions / Earth Observation Programmes (EOP-ΦM) – European Space Agency, ESTEC Noordwijk June 2020 Mr Giorgio Saccoccia Head of Italian Space Agency February 2020 Dr Dan Hannan Retired US Government Service expert on Space Policy in architects for the Wideband Global SATCOM, Washington February 2020 Dr Charles Norton Special Advisor Small Spacecraft NASA HQ, Washington February 2020 Dr Sachi Babu Technology Validation Program Manager, NASA Earth Science Technology Office, Greenbelt February 2020 Mr Luca del Monte Head of Industrial Policy and SME Division, European Space Agency, Paris September 2019