The Team
The ECOSat team is made up of 20-30 undergraduate students at any given time. As UVic engineering uses a 1:1 school / coop rotation, the team changes every semester. Regardless, we all try to keep as involved as possible, even if abroad, and always welcome new members. Feel free to drop by our general meetings, or stop by room A221 in the ELW for more information.
Justin Curran - Chief Engineer
Justin Curran
is a 4th year Electrical Engineering Undergraduate student. He has held the Chief Engineer position on the team since its inception, and will continue to until the completion of the satellite and on through the pre-launch and ground station operations of the satellite team. Having volunteered for the position at the initial team meeting he has been very satisfied with his initial decision and strongly encourage others on a continuing basis to join and get involved with not only the project but the CSDC.
Prior to bridging to UVic as an undergraduate he completed an Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology with Renewable Energy diploma program at Camosun College in Victoria, BC. At Camosun Justin received ample hands on training in circuit design, troubleshooting, and the fabrication of printed circuits boards.
He is also the Co-President for the UVic Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) group.
Above and beyond his extracurricular activities Justin also has a small consulting business for Electronic and Embedded Systems. He is currently doing active work for an orthodontic firm based out of Amsterdam, Netherlands and Victoria, BC. He also consults for ESI Environmental, located in Sidney, BC, that designs and assembles volumetric moisture sensors for soil mediums.
Nigel Syrotuck - Project Manager
Nigel Syrotuck
is a 4th year Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate student. He has spent the last year on the team, first as the Lead Mechanical Engineer until moving into the Project Manager position last September. He will continue to manage the team until completion this year.
Having entered into the challenge without knowing what to expect, he is happy to have taken the plunge into the Aerospace industry and is excited to be a part of such an amazing project. He has maintained my involvement in the mechanical side of the team and is amazed to find myself actually learning how to actually use overcomplicated powerful programs like FEMAP.
Besides the CSDC, I also am organizing the Western Engineering Competition 2013 for Victoria BC, a conference for over 200 undergraduate students held annually in a university in Western Canada. I also maintain my involvement in the UVic Engineering Students Society as prior Director of Events for both streams.
Robin Novlesky - Communications Lead
Robin completed his Electronics Engineering Technology diploma in the summer of 2009, and is currently in the process of earning a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering at UVic. Before, and during his time at UVic, he worked in the development of high-reliability embedded systems for downhole application. On top of his responsibilities as ECOSat's Communications Lead, he also works as the Communications Lead for UVic AERO, a student organization open to all faculties, made up of people passionate about flight and aircraft.
João Lousada - ADCS Lead
João Lousada is a Masters student of Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Lisbon (UTL), in
Portugal. He's currently working on his masters' thesis as part of the ECOSat Project by developing the Attitude Determination and Control System software. This software will make use of a "Kalman Filter" based on magnetometer readings to accurately determine attitude that the control algorithm will use for optimum attitude control.
The opportunity to be a part of the design and development of a "real life" satellite was what brought him, initially, to UVic and he is enjoying the chance to work with this team on such an exciting project.
Previously to joining the ECOSat Team, João also studied at the Politechnical University of Catalonia (UPC), in Spain, as an exchange program, where he got familiarized with spacecraft design and development. In addiction to that, he also worked as an intern at TAP Portugal, the main airline company of Portugal.
Murray Meehan - Webmaster and Sensor Polling System Designer
Murray is currently in the process of earning a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering at UVic specializing in Digital Signal Processing. During his time at UVic, he worked in the development of sanity-monitoring systems for mobile embedded devices. On top of his responsibilities as ECOSat's Sensor Polling System Designer and Webmaster, he also works as the Treasurer and Event organizer for the UVic IEEE Student Branch, an organization dedicated to promoting hands on learning opportunities and industry engagement in the student body.
