Meganne Christian
Meganne Christian brings her extensive experience and expertise to chair the judging panel. Meganne is a Reserve Astronaut, and Exploration Commercialisation Lead at the UK Space Agency, and has been selected as a member of the European Space Agency’s astronaut reserve. She has a background working as a scientist at the Concordia station in Antarctica and is passionate about the future of space-based systems, technologies, and applications.
David Saint-Jacques
Engineer, astrophysicist, physician and pilot, David Saint-Jacques is an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency. He was selected in 2009 and joined the 20th NASA astronaut class. Upon completion of training, he held various operations, planning and support functions for NASA’s Mission Control Center and Astronaut Office. In 2018, David flew as co-pilot of the Soyuz MS-11 rocket to the International Space Station, where he lived 204 days and worked as flight engineer and crew medical officer of Expedition 58/59. There he conducted numerous scientific experiments, performed a spacewalk and used Canadarm2 to berth a visiting spacecraft.
Mike Curtis Rouse
Mike is at the forefront of advancing commercial space exploration as the Head of IOSM (In-Orbit Servicing and Manufacturing) at the Satellite Applications Catapult. His mission is to position the UK as a global leader in commercial space endeavours, driving innovation in in-orbit servicing, robotics, manufacturing, and propulsion technologies. Outside of Catapult, he is the CEO of Second Star, a new space propulsion company manufacturing high performance sustainable rocket engines for launch and in-space.
Professor Vanessa Speight
Vanessa is a professor of Integrated Water Systems at the University of Sheffield, specialising in drinking water quality transformations including treatment processes, storage and distribution. Her research spans hydraulics, microbiological constituents, and chemical contaminants in complex socio-technical urban water systems, to design and innovative sustainable water systems of the future.
Paula Mills
Paula is an expert in Lunar mission planning, operations, and ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilisation) activities, with a focus on space power applications beyond Earth. She specialises in spacesuit engineering for EVA operations, particularly in propulsion design and serves as a member of the UK node of the NASA SSERVI panel.
Prof Mahesh Anand
Mahesh is a Professor of Planetary Science and Exploration at The Open University, UK, specialising in the formation and evolution of planetary bodies in the solar system with a focus on Earth, the Moon, Mars and asteroids. His research interests centre on physical and chemical processes as revealed through the analysis of planetary samples, with a particular emphasis on the topic of water in the Moon. He is also a member of multiple international consortia focused on the origin and evolution of volatiles in the inner Solar system and the in situ resource utilisation of planetary materials.
Paul O’Callaghan
Water scientist, sustainability thought leader and documentary producer, Paul O’Callaghan believes the global water crisis can be solved in his lifetime and he is on a mission to help make it happen. Paul is the CEO and Founder of BlueTech Research, focusing on advancing water management technologies. In 2020, Paul acted as the executive director on the critically acclaimed documentary ‘Brave Blue World,’ which raised awareness of water crisis solutions. Paul is now co-producing ‘Our Blue World’ which will explore humanity’s role in rebalancing water systems. Paul holds a PhD in Water Innovation from Wageningen University and will soon be publishing his book ‘The Dynamics of Water Innovation’
Stefanie Moriarty
An accomplished strategic marketing and innovation partner, Stefanie brings commercialisation and route to market expertise to the judging panel. She has developed and launched physical products, digital platforms and technical solutions from within start-ups, incubators and global giants, and has advised on innovation and product development strategies showcasing a breadth of industry insights. Stefanie has deep experience in early-stage concept development, translating user needs into product requirements, assessing product market fit and solution adoption potential, developing winning value propositions and testing alternative routes to market.