World Space Week 2021: Celebrating Women at Kepler

Adrianna Ascalon, Hardware Design Specialist

I’m a new grad on the hardware team, in which we take requirements from the systems team and translate them into fully functioning electronics for the next generation of our satellites.  

I’ve had co-ops in consumer electronics, IoT, and autonomous vehicles, so space really is the final frontier for me! I was on the Mars Rover team in university, but even that couldn’t have prepared me for the new challenges associated with designing circuits for space. If you told younger, science fiction-reading Adrianna that she’d be working at a space startup she would’ve shoved you back into the time machine in utter disbelief. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the space industry.

Christine Lee, Satellite Operations Specialist

My role at Kepler as a Satellite Operations Specialist is to ensure that all of Kepler’s assets in space are healthy and operating as expected. The three key areas of focus for my work are: 1) spacecraft in development, 2) spacecraft in orbit and 3) the ground segment. One of the many exciting projects I’m working on at the moment is working cross-functionally to develop, deploy and test our constellation management software (CMS).

Space was always something very magical and otherworldly to me, but the passion I have for space is definitely something that developed and grew over time once I got into the space industry. Growing up, I was not one of those people who knew what they wanted to do, what I did know was I love and have always loved learning new things, problem-solving and working cross-functionally. Working in the space industry allows me to enjoy all of those things on a daily basis.

My favourite thing about working at Kepler, aside from being able to work on cool space stuff, is the people here. Everyone that I’ve met and have had the joy of working with at Kepler is super hard-working, amazingly talented, and very supportive.

Diane Burchett, Director of Engineering

It’s my pleasure to lead an incredibly talented engineering design team from R&D to space flight ready.

I personally am excited about connecting people, places, and things and what better place to do that from than Space. I have a firm belief that humankind requires connectivity not only to survive but really to thrive here as well as off world and that is why I’m excited to be a part of Kepler, a company that is on a mission to build the internet in Space.

Polly Averns, Regulatory Associate

I work on the regulatory team, specifically focusing on policy and lobbying various administrations internationally- essentially making sure that our interests are reflected as well as possible by regulations.

I sort of stumbled into the space sphere by deciding to do my LLM in something that sounded interesting (Air and Space Law). Being lucky enough to work at Kepler, I am awed on a weekly basis by how cool space is, with its boundless uses and all that we have yet to learn!

Sarah McKenzie-Picot, Systems Designer

I’m part of the Space Systems team and my primary focus is Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT). 

My job, in short, is to ensure that our satellites get built and tested in such a way that we are confident they will operate as intended on orbit. Day-to-day, I develop test plans, build satellites, execute tests, and debug any problems that come up during the AIT phase. I also support our ops team with on-orbit satellite operations, particularly in the commissioning phase of flight where we run a number of on-orbit tests and checks to ensure the satellites are functioning as expected.

My favourite part about working at Kepler is that every day brings a new challenge. We’re designing, building, testing and launching new and exciting things all the time, and it constantly pushes me to be a better engineer. I went into the space industry for this exact reason – it’s exciting, challenging and different every day, and every day I learn something new.