NUST Student Steps into the World of Spacecraft
From the NUST classroom to a European space training facility, final-year Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering student Dino José Almirall is taking his passion for technology beyond borders. He was recently selected as one of just 15 participants from across Africa by the European Space Agency (ESA) Academy to take part in a Spacecraft Testing Workshop at the European Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC-Galaxia) in Transinne, Belgium.
The workshop forms part of the Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme, co-implemented by ESA and the African Space Agency (AfSA). Led by ESA engineers, it combined lectures on systems engineering, product assurance, and assembly, integration and testing with practical work in the CubeSat Support Facility, including an ISO-8 cleanroom. Teams planned and ran vibration, thermal vacuum, and electromagnetic compatibility campaigns, then presented results to ESA experts.
Dr Smita Francis, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Electrical Engineering and Coordinator of the Namibia Institute of Space Technology (NIST) at NUST, endorsed Almirall’s participation. “Participating in the Spacecraft Testing Workshop will greatly enhance his exposure to global space engineering practices, strengthen his technical competencies, and contribute to Namibia’s growing ambitions in the space and environmental monitoring sectors,” she said.
Almirall, who led a NUST final-year project to design a small satellite system for detecting atmospheric carbon, said: “I plan to share the knowledge gained with fellow students at NUST through informal seminars, lab discussions, and direct support in student projects related to CubeSats, embedded systems, and space.”
ESA Academy has described the Africa–Europe training initiative as one that places students at the centre of future space activity, noting that “the future of space will be built by the people trained today.”
Almirall returned home with a certificate of participation and a course transcript that can be used to request academic credits. He intends to apply ESA verification practices in NUST laboratory and student satellite work, contributing to NIST’s practical training and research activities linked to the University’s Satellite Data Receiving Ground Station.
