Counsellors and Testimonials
Here you can find some consellors and testimonials from Swiss people who have completed an ESA Internship or Young Professional Traineeship program, from whom you can seek advice for your application.
Valère Girardin
Valère Girardin is passionate about space. He has been a Swiss National Trainee at ESA and is now a system Engineer of the ESA Beyond LEO Group. He is part of the Future Launchers Preparatory Programme team – enabling the future European Space Transportation ecosystem and services of the new orbital economy, thus crafting a visionary roadmap that transforms aspirations into tangible realities, benefitting Europe at large.
Luca Santoro
Safety Engineer in the Space Transportation Directorate of ESA
Luca did his Master in Mechanical Engineering at EPFL. He started his career in 2018 in the Netherlands within the YGT programme, working as a systems engineer for educational CubeSat and SmallSat. After his YGT, he joined the Guiana Space Centre between 2020 and 2022 working as a Quality Engineer for satellite launch campaigns. After his South-American experience, he joined back ESA in 2022 to work on the VEGA and Space Rider projects as a Safety Engineer, from ESRIN (Rome).
Olga Loegel
Young Graduate Trainee in Business Analysis - European Space Agency (ESA)
Graduate professional from an Engineering master in France with two career-shaping interests: supporting public institutions and bringing the benefits of space right down to Earth. Olga is a Young Graduate Trainee in the ESA Commercialisation Gateway team. She is involved in facilitating interactions between ESA’s different commercialisation programmes, and between these programmes and their stakeholders (entrepreneurs, industrials, researchers, investors). She spent one year in the ESA Centre for Earth Observation in Rome and is currently stationed at ESA HQ in Paris.
Loïc J. Azzalini
Robotics graduate student researcher - ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Loïc is passionate about the use of neuromorphic technology for space applications. Combining a background in robotics with a curiosity for neuroscience, he worked on biologically-inspired computer vision algorithms as a Young Graduate Trainee in the Advanced Concepts Team at ESA-ESTEC in the Netherlands.
Maurane Gisiger
Current Young Graduate Trainee in ESA’s Education Office
An astrophysicist by training, Maurane is passionate about both space exploration and education, fields which converge seamlessly in her current position as a Young Graduate Trainee in the ESERO education project. Here, she is dedicated to promoting STEM subjects and inspiring the next generation of space enthusiasts.
Vincent Wust
Young Graduate Trainee in Earth Observation Data Services Analytics
Vincent did his Master in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at ETH Zurich. Before becoming a YGT, Vincent took a detour into the Biomedical industry and worked as a development engineer for Roche. Vincent joined ESA as a YGT in November 2022 in Earth Observation Data Services Analytics at ESRIN. Vincent says “I am very happy about my decision to apply here. Every day I am learning new things, be it on topics related to my section, topics related to Earth observation and ESA in general, or even life in Italy.
Camillo Malnati
Software Engineer for SpaceCube GmbH, ESA - European Space Agency, Darmstadt, Germany
USI Degrees: Master of Science in Software & Data Engineering, 2020, Bachelor of Science in Informatics, 2018
Lucille Anne Siegfried
Lucile is an electrical engineer from EPFL, who is contributing to the EPFL Spacecraft Team's satellite mission. She is currently doing a six-month internship at ESA-ESTEC is the Power Management Unit. Lucile received the SXS Movetia mobility grant to support her stay in the Netherlands.
Alex Rössel
Alex is studying physics at ETH Zurich, with focus on astrophysics and cosmology. His passion lies in space exploration and satellite technologies, as well as finding applications of space science with contemporary challenges, like global warming. Presently, he is undertaking a five-month internship in Earth Observations at ESA's ESTEC.
Nicolas Maier
Nicolas is a dedicated space enthusiast. The SXS Movetia Grant will support his internship at ArianeGroup in Bremen, where he will work as a mechanical system engineer on developing a reusable rocket upper stage. During his studies, he spent two years at ARIS working on rocket recovery and a liquid propulsion engine.
Theofania Karampela
Theofania is currently interning at CNES, working on stratospheric balloons and building a simulator for the pointing phase of the telescopes they carry, with the aim of individualizing exoplanets.
After earning a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering, she specialized in robotics, focusing on learning and dynamic control in dexterous manipulation. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in Robotics, Systems and Control at ETH Zurich, with a focus on control system design for aerospace applications.
Maximilian Knill
Maximilian is pursuing a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich and has been involved with ARIS for nearly four years, where he helped develop the first student-engineered autonomous guided parachute recovery system for rockets. Currently at JAXA’s Hashimoto Lab, he is developing a vision-based localization algorithm for lunar landings that remains robust under changing lighting conditions.
Yannik Werner
Master's student in Robotics, Systems and Control, ETHZ
Since childhood, Yannik has had a deep fascination with understanding the underlying principles, therefore he started his studies as a Physics Bachelor. During his time at ARIS, his passion for the space sector was ignited. The work as a simulation engineer showed him that he enjoy solving complex problems programmatically; things like modeling, simulation and optimization were the reason why he transitioned to Robotics for his Master. Currently, Yannik is an intern in the field of Model-Based Systems Engineering at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt. The internship gives a deep insight into current research and the exciting projects at ESA.
Vincent Gherold
Vincent is an EPFL master student working on the M4 (Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot) robot at Caltech. He has a deep passion for robotics and space exploration. His thesis primarily focuses on using deep machine learning for self-supervised traversability estimation.
Mariasole Aurora Agazzi
Bachelor's student in Interdisciplinary Natural Science, ETHZ
Space enthusiast with a dream to become a science communicator, also project manager at ARIS. Now at ESA-ESTEC in the Netherlands for an internship on Science Communication for the GAIA mission, supported with a 6-month SXS Movetia mobility grant.
Alexandre Chappuis
Master's student in Mechanical Engineering, EPFL
Alexandre has a strong interest in Space, he has led and participated in EPFL Rocket Team activities, thus gaining multi extracurricular experiences. He is an intern at ESA Headquarters in Paris and part of the team for Future Space Transportation Preparation. SXS and Movetia awarded him a 6-month European Mobility Program grant.
Andrea Paris
Master's student in Mechanical Engineering, ETH Zurich
After a one-year internship at the Alfa Romeo Sauber Formula One team, where he worked on Deep Learning models applied to Fluid Dynamics, he joined NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. During a six-month-long research program, he is involved in a research project on climate modeling and atmospheric turbulence. He got the SXS and Movetia grant for the 6 month NASA internship.
Adrian Fuhrer
Master's student in mechanical engineering, ETH Zurich
Student focusing on control systems and space technology. He is also an aerospace enthusiast and has served as vice president of the ARIS Association. Adrian Fuhrer is an intern at NASA JPL, Caltech for system design and miniaturization of instrumentation for the EELS mission (exploration of icy moons of Saturn). He is receiving academic credit for this research and the SXS-Movetia scholarship for a 7-month stay in the US.
Marco Trentini
Master's student in Mechanical Engineering, ETH Zurich
Marco possesses a deep-rooted passion for space and aerospace engineering, inspired by childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut. His expertise extends to robotics and lunar studies. With many years on the board of ARIS space association, his leadership and commitment to space research are evident. As he delves into his Master's thesis, the SXS Movetia grant will bolster his research endeavours at NASA JPL Caltech.
Thomas Rimbot
Former ESA Intern
With a background in Computational Science and a strong interest in space, Thomas participated in EPFL Xplore and EPFL Rocket Team activities and is currently working in software engineering for space robotics. He got a six moths internship at ESA-ESTEC in the Netherlands, Noordwijk, to work on data analysis and simulations for galactic cosmic rays characterization with JUICE and Venus Express. He was awarded the SXS Movetia grant to support his work.
Chloé Carrière
Space Influencer and Communicator
Chloé received Switzerland's first SEMP European Mobility Program scholarship for a space internship at ESA-ESRIN in Rome, sponsored by SXS and Movetia. She holds a Master's in Management of Space Technologies from EPFL Lausanne.
Alexander Perozzi
Master's student in Mechanical Engineering, ETH Zurich
Alexander will be an intern at the Rocket Augsburg Factory within the propulsion team. Enthusiast about rocketry and space exploration, he also has experience as a sub-team leader of the liquid rocket engine team at the ARIS Space Association. The SXS Movetia grant for 6 months will support his mobility to Germany.
Rick Roethlisberger
Master's student in Physics, ETH Zurich
Rick is enthusiast about anything space related, but especially loud rockets and far away exoplanets. He also has leadership experience as project manager and systems engineer in the ARIS projects Helvetia and Odyssey.
After an experience of developing an exoplanet space mission at the ESA Alpbach Summer School, he will work as an intern at the Rocket Augsburg Factory in the role of Systems Engineer Launchers. The SXS Movetia grant will support his mobility for 3 months to Germany.
Dino Fassino
Master's student in Mechanical Engineering, ETH Zurich
Dino is a student deeply dedicated to rocket propulsion and space exploration. Currently interning at Ariane Group, specializing in CFD simulations for rocket engine film cooling. Notably, he designed the Fluid Supply System for the hybrid rocket engine ASTREA at ARIS. The SXS Movetia grant is facilitating his journey toward contributing to Lunar and Martian settlement initiatives.
Grégoire Bourban
Former ESA YGT
Grégoire Bourban is working at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) as head of Space Exchange Switzerland (SXS) within the Vice-Presidency for Innovation (VPI).
Claudia Röösli
Former ESA YGT
Claudia Röösli works for more than 10 years in the field of geoscience, space and nature in research and development. As an engineer with a solution-oriented thinking, she works with satellite Earth observation data to transfer knowledge and innovative ideas and knowledge from research to industry.
Deborah Müller
Former ESA YGT
Deborah Müller is a Professional Space and Materials expert willing to transfer space operational knowledge, materials science & engineering and scientific research & developments into technical solutions for ongoing innovation in international industrial technology fields.
Julien Bonnaud
Former ESA YGT
Julien Bonnaud is responsible for Industrial Relations at Space Exchange Switzerland (SXS) and Swiss Delegate at ESA (THAG).
