The Technologies for Exo-Planetary Science (TEPS) CREATE program – directed by York Faculty of Science Dean Ray Jayawardhana – hosted a summer skills workshop May 29 to 31 for its trainees. Held at the University of British Columbia, the workshop attracted 45 postdoctoral Fellows, graduate and undergraduate students – with a large contingent from York University.
Held at the University of British Columbia, the workshop attracted 45 postdoctoral Fellows, graduate and undergraduate students – with a large contingent from York University
"The TEPS Summer Skills Workshop sparked conversations about where the fields of planetary and exo-planetary sciences are heading, and served as a gateway for future collaborations and internships,” said Brittney Cooper, an MSc student working under the supervision of Lassonde Professor John Moores, who is also the deputy program director of TEPS. “The workshop also allowed trainees to hone in their presentation and networking skills, while receiving valuable feedback on their current research and future endeavours."
Professors Catherine Neish (Western University) and Christa Van Laerhoven (University of British Columbia) took the lead in organizing the workshop, which offered:
- presentations by guest speakers Jani Radebaugh (Brigham Young University), James Keane (California Institute of Technology), Ralph Lorenz (Johns Hopkins University), Jaymie Matthews (University of British Columbia), Rory Barnes (University of Washington) and Tiffany Kataria (Jet Propulsion Laboratory);
- presentations by trainees in the TEPS program; and,
- and a tour of MDA, a global company that develops advanced surveillance and intelligence solutions, defence and maritime systems, radar geospatial imagery, space robotics, satellite antennas and communication subsystems.
The TEPS program is an academic-industry partnership funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Grants Program. It was established in April 2016, when the Government of Canada allocated $1.65 million over six years to the program, which has a total project value of more than $7 million. The program offers students and postdoctoral Fellows innovative and collaborative training environments, to position them at the forefront of the rapidly developing and exciting field of exo-planetary science. TEPS currently includes 31 trainees, 10 co-investigators across Canada, three industry partners, and more than 25 international collaborators.
Learn more about the program at http://teps.science.yorku.ca/.