My name is Hannah Currivan, I am a Space Systems Engineer working for Réaltra Space Systems Engineering, which is a Irish Space Industry Company. I am working on the PLIU (Payload Interface Unit) test breadboards for the European Space Agency PLATO mission, which is a M3 Cosmic Vision Mission. I am responsible for the reliability modelling of the PLIU payload test breadboard before its space standard breadboard is produced for the PLIU payload which will work for the duration of the mission.
Not a surprise but I am interested in space in my spare time but I also like to work on Raspberrry Pi projects (Not the pie version that you eat, but I do make a good raspberry pie), I also enjoy cycling and attending the gym, and travelling the world, and visiting historic space sites. When I was in secondary school, I was a senior prefect (head girl), I was also a member of a Meitheal Team, which is a team of 5th year students that helped first year students to settle into secondary school. I was also a member of the Law team where we would take part at national levels mock trial competitions in Ireland and international levels in New York. All the skills I learned from secondary school from being a good leader, being confident, and trusting your ability to carry out your work to a high standard, has helped me throughout my career.
What is your name?
Hannah Currivan
Company Information
Northern Sky Research – NSR (an Analysys Mason Company).
What is your position in the company/organisation?
Research Analyst
Tell us a little about the company you work for and how it’s involved in the space sector.
Founded in 2000, NSR is a global leader in Satellite & Space Market Research and Consulting Services. NSR specializes in the analysis of growth opportunities across four core industry sectors: Satellite Communications, Satellite & Space Applications, Financial Analysis and Satellite & Space Infrastructure. NSR was acquired by Analysys Mason in April 2022. We provide the most grounded analysis on the most pressing issues enabling anyone who needs to better understand trends in the satellite & space industries and their place in the larger economy.
Questions about your current Job
How did you get your current job?
The position was advertised on the NSR webpage back in the Summer of 2021 and after 3 interview stages I was offered a position as a Research Analyst.
Describe a typical day.
The day starts with checking emails and reading up on the latest activities in the space industry. I usually have a report or bottom-line article coming up, this means I will be interviewing industry connections and clients. For reports I would gather these insights and begin to form a forecast.
Does your job allow you to have a lifestyle you are happy with?
As a full-time remote research analyst, I enjoy the ability to change my working environment, and it also cuts out the morning commute.
What’s the coolest part of your job?
Talking with clients from every sector of the space industry from start-ups to primes. In addition, giving guidance to the space industry through forecast and insights.
Are there any elements of your job that you dislike?
It isn’t that one can’t find enumerate faults in any workplace since work is the object, but the faults are made trivial when compared to the personal meaning and satisfaction found in one’s own good work.
Questions about education and training
What subjects did you take in school/college and how have these influenced your career path?
Leaving Certificate – Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Applied Mathematics:
I enjoyed each of my leaving certificate subjects, but it was applied mathematics and physics that prepared me the most for my degree.
BSc in Physics with Energy & Environment – Technological University of Dublin:
During my degree I took part in a number of summer internships ranging from physics education (peerwise approach), particle physics (data tape research for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), for the 2018 CERN upgrade), plasma physics (alternative to pesticides), astrophysics (radio astrophysics), and Complex Inertial Sensors (working on issue that are quantum in nature, and upgrading the analysis process). As part of your undergraduate, one takes part in a 6-month placement which I did with Trinity College Dublin, working on the build of I-LOFAR, which is Irelands first radio telescope.
European Space Agency Spacecraft Operations weeklong training course:
Super intense training course covering several topics from case studies, mission workshops, and information on what is on-board a satellite and how they operate.
MSc Space Science & Technology – University College Dublin:
We covered a wide range of skills needed for the space industry from, Space Mission Design, Planetary Geomorphology, Technical Comms, Applications of Space Science, and Satellite Subsystems. As part of the third semester, you take part in a work placement which I did with Réaltra Space Systems Engineering. There I worked on reliability models for the European Space Agency PLATO PLIU (PayLoad Interface Unit). Once my placement was complete, I worked with Réaltra on PLATO PLIU and the engineering model of Ariane 6 Independent Video Kit (VIKI), which was then launched on Ariane 5 for the JWST launch on Christmas Eve 2021.
Professional Certificate in Space Resources – International Space University:
Super interesting course about resources in space and who are the early pioneers. We covered a range of material from, Resources Beyond Earth, The Space Resource Utilization Cycle & Technology Overview, The Customer, Lunar Ore Reserves Standards, Policies & Strategies, Legal and Regulatory Issues, and Space Manufacturing & Construction.
Professional Certificate in the Business and Economics of Space – Sphere (taught by Sinéad O’Sullivan):
I had such an amazing time with classmates that are world experts in the industry and having the opportunity to listen to their insights. We covered Private Sector Space, Space Financing, and Space Law & Geopolitics to name a few
What non-technical skills are necessary for your job?
Develop your writing skills, they are critical to communicate your insights. Learn a coding language or two these are super valuable in the space industry.
How did you develop those 21st Century Skills?
Write about topics that interest you, look at articles from the economist, for an example of format, and the type of language used. To pick up coding I would recommend YouTube and online courses to pick up a certification.
Questions about yourself
What have been the most rewarding events in your career so far?
Being part of the VIKI camera kit from Réaltra Space Systems Engineering was highly rewarding as the final model was launched with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) onboard Ariane 5. It was also awesome to hear an Irish company getting a shout out over NASA TV.
My first publication at NSR was highly rewarding as it invigorated my passion for space economic prosperity.
Honestly working around world experts in the industry is really rewarding. I could not have asked for any better guidance.
What is your dream job?
I will continue to develop my skills as an analyst to one day become a Partner at NSR -Analysys Mason company. I aim to have some say in the direction of the space economy through my analysis of real world data and insights.
Keep on top of news in space, and develop analytical skills e.g., Excel, Python, R code, etc. Take some time to write out ideas you may have and see if you can improve your writing. There are so many online resources such as Brilliant, EdX, and Coursera. I would get as many certifications as possible. When you graduate from secondary school make sure to do a LinkedIn profile so you can start building your network in the industry.
1. Has your opinion of STEM changed since you were a teenager?
No it has not. I wanted to be a physicist since around the age of 11-12 years old, I was always jealous of the physicist I saw on TV because I wanted to be them. My parents always gave me science books when I was younger and I would also watch BBC Megamaths which was a children’s show in the nineties about multiplication and division, and relating it to objects in the world around you. I also watched loads of history and science documentaries growing up and still do, as it is what sparked my interest really early on. I always sat down to watch a shuttle launch, and I have been watching SpaceX since its founding, looking at all there failures and successes, and their amazing livestreams. In school I really enjoyed science and maths for the junior cert and for my leaving certificate subjects I studied physics, chemistry, and applied mathematics.
2. In your opinion, what is the biggest myth about STEM careers?
That it is really hard. Not to lie, every degree is hard to get as nothing is ever handed to you. You will always need to work hard to get to where you want to go, and physics and the STEM field in general require long hours at university to become a good scientist, but I believe if you have the passion you will work as hard as you need to, to become what you want to be.
3. Describe an interesting day in your current position.
The day does vary from meetings with Réaltra team members, Ariane Group, and the European Space Agency and OHB, to making inbuilt interfaces for Réaltra, and building reliability models.
4. What do you love about your current role?
I love the responsibility I have been given, because I get the opportunity to learn new skills. I also get to network within the space industry, and also help move the Irish space industry forward.
5. What has been your most exciting career moment to date?
Receiving training with the European Space Agency in Spacecraft Operations in Belgium at ESA ESEC, where we even planned our own mission. Also working in the Irish space industry is very exciting. I also enjoy running my space industry blog as I get to speak to people that are making huge changes in the space industry today, such as head of innovation and research at space florida and a spacecraft operator from inmarsat.
6. Do you ever get to travel abroad for work?
I have gotten to travel to Oxford University Keble College for a conference for “Undergraduate Women in Physics”, where I got to see the “JET”(Joint European Torus) experiment at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire. I also got an opportunity to receive training at the European Space Agency in Spacecraft Operations.
7. What kind of other experts do you work with on a day to day basis?
I work with project managers, test engineers, and consultant engineers. Funny thing is that most of the engineers in Réaltra Space Systems Engineering are physicists like myself!!!!
8. What do you hope to achieve in the next year in your current position?
I hope to continue working on the PLATO PLIU payload, and talk more to the public in relation to Ireland’s space industry, and to continue my blog, and help Ireland get more space contracts.
9. If a young person told you that they would like to get into your role, what advice would you give them?
What I would say to them is to start learning “CODE”, the code being “scratch ”, “python”, “C”, “R”, “java” even get your first computer being a Raspberry Pi Zero W, or a Raspberry Pi 4, and learn how to code and make applications for your own computer. In terms of school I would say to work hard, if you need help understanding a topic ask your teacher and have a look for a tutorial on youtube, as people make great videos for all sciences and maths topics. You can also join your local CoderDojo and be part of big projects that you can then present at fairs such as “Coolest Projects”; you can also make a project for the BT Young Scientist, and for the ESB Science Blast. Even in school create your own STEM club.
10. Did you complete any sort of placement or internship during your studies? If so, did it prepare you for what you do now?
I have taken part in multiple internships over the course of my undergraduate degree, which have all contributed to what I do now. I was a research assistant looking at physics education and a particle physics undergraduate experiment called midipix at Technological University of Dublin. I was a summer intern at the University of Glasgow with the department of experimental particle physics where I worked on the project for “Characterisation of high-speed readout for the VELO upgrade”, as the LHCb Experiment will go through a major upgrade in 2018-2019 replacing most of its detectors and completely changing the trigger and data acquisition system. This upgrade will allow the experiment to operate at higher luminosity and to select the signal candidates more efficiently. My project was to make a device to test the newly designed data tapes, so I made a rail on which the upgraded data tapes were tested on to see if the bending of the tapes over a number of times would cause diffractions and error in the data. Then I carried out an internship in the area of plasma physics at the Technological University of Dublin looking at ways of sterilising food and medical appliances using our understanding of Plasma Physics; which is where we examined different types of gases that could be used and at what temperatures and Intensity the plasma should be used when treating samples. Then in the summer of 2017 I was part of the construction team for Ireland’s first radio telescope “I-LOFAR”, Ireland Low Frequency Array, prior to being on the building team I was working on Solar Flare data from Poland’s LOFAR Station at Trinity College Dublin. Then I started to work in the Irish space industry “InnaLabs” working on there gyroscopes, as an engineering intern.
11. Name one thing on your bucket list.
Starting my own space company is definitely a thing on my bucket list. Getting to contribute to the next voyage in human history, to be part of the next columbus mission to the new world (the universe) is definitely a dream!!!!
12. What television series are you currently watching?
Myself and my boyfriend are currently watching The orville on Netflix. The orville is like a star trek comedy, its great.
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