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OUR TEAM

Meet our dedicated team. For us the sky is not the limit. The Foundation’s core team consist of experienced and highly motivated advocates of space exploration. 

ESF TEAM – Lukasz Wilczynski

Lukasz

Wilczynski

Co-founder/President

Co-founder of the European Space Foundation. The originator of the European Rover Challenge project. Experienced dot-connector and communication consultant specializing in technology and innovation (data and content-driven communication). Owner of a PR consultancy working in the CEE region. Very committed space advocate. Author of articles and whitepapers on science and technology. Media pundit on the topics of space exploration and space technology transfer. Speaker and lecturer, organizer and moderator of conferences and events. In the past European Coordinator of The Mars Society and spokesperson of TMS in Poland. For his space advocacy work, Lukasz was awarded a unique award Tiuterra Crystal created by the Austrian Space Forum in collaboration with Swarovski. He joined the previous winners' ranks, such as Head of SpaceX Elon Musk, former head of NASA Charles Bolden, or head of the UN space sector agency, Dr. Simonetta di Pippo and European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. After hours, he explores programming, viewing it as learning a new foreign language of the future.

ESF TEAM – Mateusz Jozefowicz

Mateusz

Jozefowicz

Vice president

Member of the Board of the European Space Foundation and Mars Society Polska. Advocate of the human presence in space and the development of the space industry, in Poland and globally. Active entrepreneur, running and supporting several space and high-tech startups (ABM Space, Waven, EX-PL Space Mining Consortium, geological startups). Actively participated in domestic and international consultations with administration on the shape of space industry and development of space mining industry (co-operation between Poland and Luxembourg). Supporter of student teams at URC, ERC and satellite projects, such as PWSat2. Project Manager at ESA consortia related to Mars navigation and satellite solutions. Leader of awarded teams at 2017 Space Exploration Masters, Luxembourg – 1st place in Space Airbus-Merck KGaA Sustainable Exploration Prize category, and 3rd place at Innospace Masters 2018 Airbus category, Berlin. Laureate of the special award at URC: For Dedication to Supporting Poland’s Participation in URC. Speaker at numerous conferences, such as Breakthrough Discuss 2018, Standford, 13th Polish-American Conference on Science and Technology, Washington, among others. Participant of international science projects, such as robotics field missions in Sahara and Alpine glaciers, Mars DTM analysis project (EXOMHYDR, TGO-Cassis imagery, for Space Research Center, Polish Academy of Sciences). Publishes in technical and scientific journals, such as GSTF Journal of Engineering Technology and Astrobiology.

ESF TEAM – Anna Wilczynska

Anna

Wilczynska

Member of the Board

An experienced HR and Project Manager with over ten years of management experience. She gained knowledge and managerial skills managing among others customer service, administration, call center and HR departments in an international corporation. She led many international educational, training and implementation projects. She is passionate about topics related to digital HR, HR data analysis and the impact of HR on business development. She speaks English, German and Polish. In the future, she would like to learn the basics of coding in Python and is interested in topics related to artificial intelligence.

ESF TEAM – Anna Karahan

Anna

Karahan, PhD

ERC and STEAM Projects Coordinator

Graduate of biology with a specialisation in plant genetics and in vitro cultures. After working as lecturer, master’s thesis supervisor and researcher of cytogenetics and biotechnology in the university, she started travelling extensively. Worked with many international teams, gaining experience as a photographer and journalist as well. Author of many articles, publications and interviews, editor of books. Able to connect ideas and subjects which seem to have no common ground such as art, science and business. With the ERC project and the European Space Foundation connected from the very beginning. She is responsible for the ERC Inspiration Zone coordination and production, and STEAM projects. An advocate for women in STEM/STEAM.

ESF TEAM – Maciej Iwankiewicz

Maciej

Iwankiewicz

Baltic Project Coordinator

Experienced consultant and journalist, graduate in mechanical engineering and marketing management. Specializes in consulting and implementation projects in crisis prevention and management, public relations and public affairs, marketing strategies, and development. His passion is innovative solutions in engineering, robotics, and space projects. Author of articles on science and technology, marketing and management, organizational values and culture, and human capital management. Speaker and lecturer, organizer and moderator of conferences and events. The promoter of the use of robotic technologies in exploring and exploiting marine and oceanic underwater space in terms of environmental protection and the benefits of a sustainable maritime economy, especially in tourism, transportation, hydropower, and underwater mining.

ESF TEAM – Piotr Weclewski

Piotr

Weclewski

Engineering Officer

Space industry professional currently working as R&D Technical Lead at Airbus Defence and Space. Individual with love to solve challenging engineering problems. In the current role mainly focused on development of autonomous navigation systems for planetary rovers and different novel concepts and technologies for planetary exploration. Experienced with big missions (ExoMars, Solar Orbiter, Sample Fetch Rover) as well as many R&D projects related to rovers and orbital robotic systems, autonomy, alternative locomotion concepts, machine vision, AI, bio-inspired systems and other. Passionate about mentoring the next generation of engineers, bridging space and earth robotics, as well as enabling future concepts like In-situ Space Resources Utilisation.

ESF TEAM – Anna Losiak

Anna

Losiak, PhD

Science Officer

Ania is a planetary geologist working at the Polish Academy of Sciences. She focuses on studying impact craters and surficial processes on Mars. She is also involved in various outreach activities and Mars analog missions. She studied geomorphology and sedimentology at the University of Warsaw, geology and meteoritics at the Michigan State University (funded by the Fulbright Graduate Student Award), and finally she obtained PHD at the University of Vienna. Ania worked at the Lunar Planetary Institute in Houston, Institute of Geological Sciences Polish Academy of Sciences (thanks to NCN grant) and at the University of Exeter thanks to a prestigious Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual Fellowship. She led numerous field and laboratory studies, as well as since 2012 she is also involved in preparing and running Mars Analog Missions: between 2013 and 2016 she has led the science team at the Austrian Space Forum. Ania published >20 peer-reviewed papers in some of the leading journals in the field of geoscience and planetary science (Lithos, Astrobiology, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, Journal of Sedimentary Research). She is actively popularising planetary sciences in Poland – in TV, radio, multiple youtube channels, during Pyrkon and many other events. And most importantly, Ania is a main Science Judge and a proud designer of a Mars Yards for European Rover Challenge since 2019.

albertlewandowski

Albert

Lewandowski

Experienced Solutions Architect with focus on Deep Technology solutions and Business Development. Albert worked as the Engineer, Architect and Team Leader in the Big Data, AI and Cloud projects for several years during which he had the opportunity to cooperate with startups and corporation from the world, being engaged in digital transformation process. He was the member and participated as the speaker during Cloud and Big Data conferences like Berlin Buzzwords, Big Data Europe or Data Science Summit. In the past, he also worked as technology journalist in Polish media and was the member of the Internet of Things working group in the Ministry of Digital Affairs in Poland.

Currently Albert is focused on developing blockchain-based platforms for FinTech and ecommerce/retail, and creating solutions for Space economy. He is also responsible for development of IT and robotics in the agriculture startup Hugo Green Solutions.

ESF TEAM – Mateusz Bogusz

Mateusz

Bogusz

ERC Communications Coordinator

Associated with the European Space Foundation since 2019. Highly involved & proactive. Passionate about space & robotics. Works as a Digital Manager in a PR agency in Poland. He also holds the position of Communications Coordinator in the ERC project at the European Space Foundation. Worked with, among others: EU Agency for the Space Programme, Polish Space Agency, Green Caffè Nero, Concentrix, Hyland. Graduated with honors in Graphic Design (2021, Master's) & Multimedia and Interactive Graphics (2019, Bachelor's). Holds a postgraduate in IT Project Management (2023). AgilePM® & PRINCE2® certified.

ESF TEAM – Roksana Lojek

Roksana

Lojek

Volunteers’ Coordinator

After 10 years of working as an accountant, she decided to devote herself to events organization as well as coordination of the volunteers’ work for sport, tourism and education since 2019. Cooperating with the European Space Foundation since 2016. Very creative, social, problem solver under any difficult circumstances.

ESF TEAM – German Sarmiento

German

Sarmiento

Affiliate Partner, Sustainable Habitat Project Coordinator

German Sarmiento is a Professor, Researcher and Director of the Chapter of The Mars Society Colombia. His main research focuses on the development of research projects in the area of engineering and space robotics, using a variety of techniques and procedures that contribute to the advancement of space projects. Participating in the most important international competitions in the development of rovers for space missions such as NASA and the ERC (European Rover Challenge). German supports the development of educational projects for schools, universities and research centres based on STEM in the generation of food and new technological instruments for the future of humanity and new planetary explorations.

SandraMendoza

Sandra Catalina

Mendoza Lopez

Affiliate Partner

Young Systems Engineer Researcher with knowledge in graphic and plastic arts. She’s got experience in the development of projects with children and young people in STEAM methodology. She integrates art as a playful knowledge in the technology teaching process, promoting scientific thinking in explorers' new generations. In cooperation with the Mars Society Colombia chapter, her goal is to promote projects as the primary basic education and research orientation at an early age. She gives way to the new generations and integrates engineering with innovation, creativity, play and learning, science, and technology.

ESF TEAM – Leszek Orzechowski

Leszek

Orzechowski

Affiliate Partner, Lunares Habitat Project Coordinator

Leszek is an architect and founder of Space is More. In his research, he focuses on space architecture and user-centered aspects of human spaceflight. Leszek is an enthusiastic science advocate with hundreds of lectures presented to the public and an award-winning designer. His company Space is More is focused on space architecture and engineering. The group created a number of scientific reports on the future manned Moon and Mars missions presented during international competitions and conferences. Space is More was a part of a winning team in ESA Moon Challenge for a report on returning to the Moon in the next decade and a finalist of NASA 3d-Printed Habitat Challenge phase 1 from 2015. The team won multiple architectural awards for Mars bases and colonies including Marsception (2018) and Mars Colony Design Competition (2019). Currently, Leszek Orzechowski is leading operations and conducting research at Lunares Research Station. The station is an analog habitat designed to study human health and psychology during simulated crewed planetary missions. Since 2017 a total number of 11 diverse teams conducted isolation missions inside the habitat.

sahba

Sahba

El-Shawa

Affiliate Partner, The Jordan Space Research Initiative

Sahba El-Shawa is a Jordanian-Canadian young space professional originally from Palestine. She holds a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and a MSc in Space Studies from the International Space University. Sahba is passionate about human rights and social issues, as well as space sustainability, accessibility, outreach, and education. She is the founder of the Jordan Space Research Initiative (JSRI) which aims to bridge space R&D with sustainable development and establish an analog research facility in Jordan. She is also an active volunteer holding several volunteer roles in the Space Generation Advisory Council and the Moon Village Association, and is committed to creating opportunities in space for underserved communities, promoting awareness of the benefits of space exploration, and helping guide the industry towards a more equitable and ethical future.

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