Transfer of ESA know-how
Highly qualified and motivated professionals have brought ESA and the space industry where it is today. To maintain this level of performance Europe needs motivated students and young professionals. Education and know-how transfer between the older and the younger generations are vital to ensure a future skilled workforce. To this end ESA has identified a few key areas in which its Education office is making specific efforts to facilitate this transfer of know-how.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is one of the first areas that have been identified. Satellite Navigation has become a keystone for the development of Europe and its citizens. GNSS systems are a component of the global critical information infrastructure enabling broad new market capabilities and facilitating innovation and efficiency in safety, environment, science and public security.
The European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have set up two main GNSS projects, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) and Galileo.
Recent studies have revealed that 150,000 jobs in direct, indirect and induced employment will be created in Europe as a result of the Galileo programme. This means that adequate GNSS training and research infrastructures must be in place to supply the emergence of these knowledge-based future GNSS workers in the timescale of the Galileo programme.
Educational initiatives are being set up to provide educational partners with necessary means to enhance and promote the study and understanding on GNSS systems and applications. ESA, in its role of design agent for EGNOS and Galileo, wishes to share its expertise and knowledge in GNSS with selected European educational partners.
As a first initiative a dedicated ESA GNSS Education Workshop was organised facilitating the exchange of information among European universities and is a first step in the creation of a European GNSS University Network.
e-Learning and other educational materials on the EGNOS program can already be found on a dedicated ESA Learning EGNOS website.
In July 2009 the ESA International Summer School on Global Navigation Satellite Systems will be held at the Institute of Geodesy and Navigation of the University FAF Munich in cooperation with Stanford University (USA) and Institute Superieur de l`Aeronautique et de l`Espace (France). By supporting this summer school, ESA aims to provide students with a comprehensive overview on the design and development of satellite navigation systems as well as its applications.
