Meet our Alumni
Sammia completed a LLM in Transnational Legal Studies at the Free University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) in 2018 and is currently pursuing a LLM in Air and Space Law at the University of Leiden (Universiteit Leiden). Additionally, Sammia has a BA in Arabic Language and Culture from the University of Amsterdam (Universiteit van Amsterdam). These academic backgrounds combined resulted in a general interest in international space law and policy and a specific interest in developments in the space sector in the MENA region.
Tapaswini Sharma is an Indian student who works with several international organizations specializing in different fields of outer space. She is an Analog Astronaut at Habitat Marte, Research intern for the Space Court Foundation, Youth Ambassador at iGIANT, Board Member at Etre, a Junior Ambassador at the Jacques Rougerie Foundation and a Space Hero Insider. She is also a Member of the Alliance for Space Development and YOUNGO. She is keenly interested in space activities and has worked on several projects related to spacecrafts and future space habitats.
Pankaj Mehta (He/Him) is pursuing B.A.LL.B.(Hons.) at Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur, India. As a law student he has developed keen interest in the areas such as Gender & law, Public International Law, Human Rights Law, Jurisprudence, Space Law & Policy and IPR Law. Currently, he is working as an Associate Editor for DNLU Student Law Journal.
Raoul Cardellini (he/him, they/them) is a half Italian and Half German Law graduate. They pursued a Master of Laws at the University of Perugia (Italy): during their studies they undertook a semester at the KU Leuven (Belgium) for the purpose of taking exams and attending classes, as well as seven months at the Freie Universität Berlin (Germany) for the purpose of doing research for their Master’s Thesis.
Their thesis, drafted and defended in English, was a comparative analysis of the utilization and spread of the proportionality principle as well as the balancing technique as adopted by the ECJ, the ECtHR, by the United States, Germany, and Italy and their respective Courts.
They are currently pursuing a second Master’s degree in “European Legal Integration and Human Rights” while being a Legal Trainee in Berlin, after which they intend on further specializing in Space Law. They discovered a passion for Space Law back in 2021, and have been trying to hone their skills and legal knowledge so as to pursue a career in this field.
Joey graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in History and Foreign Affairs in 2019, and earned his J.D. from Florida State University College of Law in 2022. A space enthusiast since the age of 6, he always knew he wanted to do something in the field. In law school, apart from his internship with the Space Court Foundation, he served as President of the Aviation and Space Law Society and competed in the 2022 Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition. Joey currently works as an attorney in the field of construction and business litigation out of Orlando, Florida.
Stella Ngono Ambassa is an attorney licensed to practice in the state of New York. She earned her first law degree in Cameroon, then she graduated magna cum laude with an L.L.M Master’s Degree from Mississippi College School of Law. Stella is fluent in Russian, French and English and she has experience in civil litigation and immigration law.
Aniela Barug graduated from Leiden University with an Advanced Master of Air & Space Law and Masters in Public International Law. She is from the Netherlands and has been a space enthusiast for a while now. Her interest in legal issues related to activities of States and public private entities in the airspace and outer space has grown during her bachelor study at Leiden University. She believes that (Inter)national legislation has to keep pace with space technology that is advancing rapidly. This interrelationship makes it very attractive for her to further specialize in this field and start a challenging career.
Silvia Beghi graduated in Law, Master’s Degree, at University of Pisa in 2017, with a specialisation in International and European Law, I attended the Master in Space Institutions and Policies at SIOI, the Italian Society for International Organization, in Rome, followed by an internship at ASAS, the Association for services and applications for space. Currently working for a logistic company, Silvia is a space enthusiast who is looking for a future in the space sector.
Meghna. D. Dhanwani is currently a law student who has interned at quite a few places in different aspects of law.
Meghna is currently an intern at SCF which has been truly immersing. In aspects of law a few of Meghna’s interests are, Mediation, Intellectual Property Rights, Aviation and Space laws.
Megnhna is a person who is open to new challenges, tries to learn and develop various skills, and implement them the best ways possible.
Toby Fadida is a junior Australian lawyer practicing in the area of litigation & dispute resolution. He holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Accounting from Deakin University and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice.
Toby has been a legal research assistant for a seminal Australian constitutional law academic. He was on the team that won ‘best idea’ in the prestigious legal hackathon, LawWithoutWalls-X. Throughout the course of his university studies Toby held paralegal and clerical roles in commercial litigation practices. Toby achieved the highest grade in the cohort for International Commercial Law. He completed an internship at the Australian Institute for International Commercial Arbitration and Australian Disputes Centre and worked at a pro-bono community legal centre. He was a memorial finalist at an international insolvency moot in the first year of his studies and was invited to Uppsala University, Sweden to participate in Winter School on International Arbitration.
He is actively involved with Space Generation Advisory Council projects as well as mentoring and volunteering programs. In addition to space and dispute resolution he is passionate about environmental and public health issues.
Martin Fischer was born in Chicago and went to the University of Michigan for a B.A. in Sport Management. He worked for a start-up company and coached water polo before attending Dominican University for a M.A. in Conflict Resolution. He spent the next five years in Oregon and California, mediating disputes in state courts, training adults and youth in mediation, and coaching water polo. He then committed to the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2019, intending to concentrate in Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications law, as well as litigation. Ultimately, Martin aspires to be a mediator of the moon and help peacefully resolve outer space disputes.
Diana Chicas García is from Virginia, USA, and a daughter of immigrants. She earned her undergraduate degree from George Mason University and is currently a second-year law student at Howard University School of Law. Prior to law school, Diana obtained international and local experience in the education sector. Since starting law school, Diana has interned at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She is currently a member of the Charles Hamilton Houston National Moot Court Team and a student attorney at the Howard Civil Rights Clinic. Her practice areas of interest are space, tech, civil rights, and appellate work.
An avid learner, with a keen interest in Technology, Robotics, Space, and the Law of artificial Intelligence. He has Contributed to the growth of organizations at various levels.
He has participated in a number of local and international debate and Moot Court Competitions with a certified skill in legal advocacy.
Anubha Gupta is from India and is currently pursuing her BBA/LLB from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), Delhi
Ujwala Iyengar earned her BA LL.B, with first-class honours, from Gujarat National Law University in 2019. She has assisted policymakers in the drafting of the Space Activities Bill, 2017 at the Indian Space Research Organisation, Bangalore. She has also worked with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) on intellectual property right issues that arise from different kinds of platform systems used to stabilise spacecrafts. At the SGAC Space Law and Policy Working Group she has worked on multiple projects ranging from space resource utilisation to debris mitigation. She is the process of graduating from the Institute of Air & Space Law, McGill University (Montreal, Canada) where she was awarded the N.M Matte Prize for outstanding performance in space law and the MITAC Research Training Award for her thesis titled “Trading of space technology and the role of international cooperation: Achieving sustainable development goals through the global space industry in an inclusive environment”. She has worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Air & Space Law focusing primarily on “benefit sharing” as under the Outer Space Treaty. Currently, she is working as a Research Assistant for Dr. Ricky J. Lee.
After completing a Masters in Public International Law at Oxford, Josselyn had the opportunity to do an internship at the United Nations, the year of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. It was during this year that he had the chance to talk to space lawyers who told him about the urgency of the situation: that of a legal framework that is less and less respected, and increasingly present private and state ambitions. It was from there that he decided to become a space lawyer by starting a PhD in space law.
It has been over two years since he started his research on the right to self-determination in outer space at the University of Aberdeen.
He is part of the Société Française de Droit Aérien et Spatial in Paris, which allows him to attend certain meetings which bring together specialists in the field.
He believes that the disputes in outer space that humanity will face in the decades to come should not be taken lightly and that we need to increase awareness of space law from a pedagogical angle.
Jacob was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and currently attends American University in Washington D.C. where he is a member of the Global Scholars 3-year Cohort. He is pursuing an accelerated BA/BS double major in International Studies and Computer Science and has conducted research on technology policy domestically and internationally. Jacob has taken particular interest in the rapidly evolving capabilities of human innovation and spacefaring through the lens of international law and technology policy, which often struggles to keep up with scientific advancements. Jacob has gained proficiency in multiple programming languages, AI frameworks and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. After graduation, he plans to begin law school and aspires to become a space/technology lawyer. In his free time, Jacob enjoys mountaineering and backpacking, playing saxophone and traveling.
Lauren Peterson grew up between the Bay Area in California and in Zurich, Switzerland. She attended University of the Pacific for undergrad where she played Division I Field Hockey and majored in International Business. After graduation, she worked at Google for a year before leaving to join a small tech startup in San Francisco for two years. Then she enrolled in Northwestern Law, where she will graduate with her JD in May 2021. During her time in law school, she’s published a few works, including, Governing the Unknown: How the Development of Intellectual Property Law in Space Will Shape the Next Great Era of Exploration, Exploitation, and Invention (Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, Spring 2021) and her debut nonfiction book The Future of Governance in Space (New Degree Press, April 2021). She is currently working on her second nonfiction book. Also during her time at Northwestern Law, she’s interned for the technology company Wonolo in San Francisco, CA and the space company Momentus in Santa Clara, CA. After graduation, she plans to join the law firm Goodwin Procter at their San Francisco office.
Julie Pradel is a PhD candidate at the Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, writing her thesis in space law about appropriation in outer space. Specialized in international law, she holds an LL.M in the field, from Stetson University College of Law of Florida, and a Master’s Degree in International Economic Law, obtained at Université Toulouse 1 Capitole.
In the following years, Julie will sit for the New York Bar, as she aspires to become a space lawyer in the United States.
Keya Rebello is an advocate based in New Delhi, India. She is interested in discussions surrounding space law, public international law, and criminal law.
Maria Lucas-Rhimbassen is a PhD Candidate in Space Law at the University of Toulouse and CNES (France), where she has also worked as a Graduate Researcher on issues such as national space legislation and resilience. She has consulted with aerospace companies such as Airbus and Thales Alenia Space and has been invited to NATO conferences to speak on critical space infrastructures. Prior to her position at the University of Toulouse, Ms Rhimbassen earned a Strategic Space Law certificate at the University of McGill and a Master of Management at HEC Montreal where she worked as an Innovation Counselor. Ms Rhimbassen has a Juris Doctor from the University of Moncton where she focused on the Law of the Sea. Her current interests evolve around interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to a long-term sustainable space economy focused on commercial space.
Pablo Treviño is a third year student pursuing his Law Degree at UDEM, in Mexico. Born and raised in Monterrey, he has a keen interest in the field of Public International Law.
Pablo became a space enthusiast not so long ago, and has since aspired to practice law in the field. He’s an active member of SGAC’s Space Law & Policy Group, as well as the International Legal Honor Society of Phi Delta Phi.
He enjoys reading, watching sitcoms and spending time with his friends. He also likes to do volunteer work, and is currently working as a middle school student counselor.
Darlene Sanchez is an undergraduate student at American University’s School of International Service, concentrating in Global Comparative Governance. She has been active in the space industry in the past few years, attending several space-related conferences. She is working to attend law school in the coming year and hopes to work in space law in the future.
Sajal Sharma is a senior Assistant Professor of Law at the School of Law, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India. He obtained his law degree ( BA LLB Hons) and went on to complete his LL.M with specialization in Intellectual Property Laws from the Department of Law, University of North Bengal. From the days of his graduation, he has a keen interest in the legal policy and legislations governing the emerging areas of technology related laws. He is an accomplished academician having over seven years of teaching and research experience. He developed keen interest in the area of space law since the passing of the US Space Law Competitiveness Act of 2015. This law caught his interest in the context of the developing property rights in space related activities. He is currently pursuing his PhD in the area of the developing commercial rights in outer space activities with special reference to intellectual property rights. At the University, he teaches intellectual property laws, air and space laws, corporate laws among other disciplines of law. He is very passionate about the immense growth that is taking place in space laws and engages himself actively in the research efforts towards a more sustainable growth in space law and policy.