[LUM#14] A Pioneer in Orbit

[LUM Magazine] - Published on March 15, 2021 in Information, Career Guidance, and Job Placement; Mobility

To help foster the development of the space industry in Senegal, the University of Montpellier is hosting three Senegalese students among the nine enrolled in the university’s “Development of Space Systems” degree program. Only one woman is part of this first graduating class: Aïssatou Sidibe.

She is a pioneer. In 2012, the Thiès Polytechnic School in Senegal launched the first degree program for aeronautical design engineers. When it came time to choose her major three years later, Aïssatou Sidibe decided to embark on this adventure. In doing so, she helped advance her institution’s ambitious goal: to develop aeronautical research and technological innovation in her country. In 2020, the third class of aeronautical engineers trained in Senegal graduated, and Aïssatou Sidibe was one of only three women in her class.

“My goal has always been to work in Senegal, but I wanted to first round out my training with design experience abroad, since there isn’t yet an aerospace design center in Senegal,” the young woman explains.

Space Adventure

So when the Senegalese Ministry of Higher Education contacted her school to present a new project, Aïssatou Sidibe didn’t hesitate for long and embraced this new mission: space. Senegal hopes to leverage space applications for the country’s economic, social, and scientific development. This ambition relies on nanosatellites—those small CubeSats that have revolutionized access to space—and the Montpellier University Space Center is a recognized expert in this field.

A new chapter began for Aïssatou Sidibe when she joined the first class of the university-level degree program in Space Systems Development at the University of Montpellier at the start of the 2020 academic year. It was a field still dominated by men, where she was the only woman. The curriculum includes: an introduction to space systems, space project management, English for the space sector, space law, mathematical tools for space, and—of course—space mechanics.

Future Executives

In short, it’s a year focused on space that helps train future leaders in the field. “I’m learning a lot, even though I already had some basic knowledge from my aerospace engineering degree, ” explains the young woman. Aïssatou Sidibe hopes to bring this knowledge and expertise back to Senegal once she completes her training. “A company that will manufacture nanosatellites is expected to be established there soon, and I might have a role there, ” the student says.

Keywords: Degree, Students, Training, International, LUM#14, LUM Magazine, University