RESTON, Va., July 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) published the 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen (D12) Op-Eds – a collection of unique perspectives on today's most pressing space sustainability challenges. The 12 visionaries who comprise the D12 will present their ideas on the opening day of 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas. Organized as rapid-fire lightning talks, the D12 will address burning topics from the challenges of balancing growth through responsible space sustainability to orbital debris risking human space exploration.

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) (PRNewsfoto/AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

ASCEND is the world's premier outcomes-focused, interdisciplinary space event designed to accelerate building our off-world future. In its fifth year, D12 is produced in partnership with astrodynamicist Moriba Jah, chief scientist and co-founder of Privateer. More than 50 people have participated in the D12 program since 2020. Read all their Op-Eds here.

This year, the D12 is supported by the Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce helping amplify underrepresented voices as they promote messages on space sustainability.

The 2024 ASCEND D12 cohort includes startup founders, association leaders, aerospace and engineering scholars, and policy experts in the space industry. They hail from Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, the United States and its territory, Puerto Rico.

The 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen are:

  • Nifemi Awe, Management Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
  • Priyanka Dhopade, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland
  • Martina Dimoska, Founder and President, International Space Alliance
  • Jose Figueroa, Founder, Aqua/Sky Launch Innovations
  • Amir Gohardani, CEO, Springs of Dreams Corporation
  • Kim Macharia, Executive Director, Space Prize Foundation
  • Isabelle Mierau, Founder, Space Debris DAO
  • Sumbal Mushtaq, Founder, Astralbeam Organization
  • Alma Okpalefe, Executive Director, World Space Week Association
  • Carolyn Overmyer, Director, Orion Chief Engineer, Lockheed Martin Space
  • Olga Stelmakh-Drescher, Chief Policy, Legal & Government Relations Officer, Exolaunch
  • Salman Ali Thepdawala, Ph.D. Candidate and Munich Aerospace Scholar, University of Bundesweehr – Munich

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open. Press passes are available.  

Contact: Rebecca Gray, RebeccaG@AIAA.org, 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
AIAA is the world's largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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SOURCE AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

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