Beyond the Cradle 2024: Program
8:00 AM Breakfast and registration
8:45 AM We are go for launch | Ariel Ekblaw and Cody Paige
9:00 AM Keynote
Dr. Sara Seager, Professor of Physics, Professor of Planetary Science, and a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, astrophysicist
9:40 AM Our Sci-Fi Space Future panel
Samantha Harvey, novelist
Jason Ning, TV producer and screen writer of shows such as The Expanse
Moderated by Rick Loverd, Director of The Science & Entertainment Exchange, a program of the National Academy of Sciences
10:20 AM Break
10:40 AM Democratizing Access to Space panel
Dr. Darlene Lim, Research Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, Deputy Project Scientist for the NASA VIPER Lunar Rover Mission
Dr. Gordon “Oz” Osinski, Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, Geologist on NASA's Artemis III mission
Dr. Christianna Taylor, Chief Product Officer, G-Space
Maggie Coblentz, fieldwork producer
Moderated by Dr. Cody Paige, Director, MIT Space Exploration Initiative
11:20 AM Space Architecture panel
Georgi Petrov, Senior Associate Principal, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Brent Sherwood, space architect, and consultant
Gui Trotti, President, Trotti & Associates, Inc
Melodie Yashar, VP, Building Design and Performance, ICON
Moderated by Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, CEO, Aurelia Institute, Founder, MIT Space Exploration Initiative
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Future Worlds fireside chat
Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Professor and leader, Space Programs at ETH Zurich, formerly NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate
Dr. Erika Wagner, Senior Director of Emerging Market Development, Blue Origin
Marc Weiser, Founder and Managing Director, RPM Ventures
Sita Sonty, CEO, Space Tango
Moderated by Dr. Dava Newman, Director of the MIT Media Lab and Apollo Professor of Astronautics
(in Lecture Hall) SEI Alum & Student Talks
Phillip Cherner, MIT Media Lab
Sana Sharma, Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer, Aurelia Institute
Irmandy Wicaksono, Responsive Environments, MIT Media Lab
Larissa Zhou, food scientist and engineer
Don Derek Haddad, NASA Ames Research
1:40 PM Space and the Arts panel
Lita Albuquerque, Artist
Julius von Bismarck, Artist
Sydney Skybetter, Choreographer, Deputy Dean and Professor, College for Curriculum, Brown University
Moderated by Xin Liu, Artist and Engineer
(in Lecture Hall) Space Start-Up Talks
Imelda Alexopoulos, Director of Exploration Strategy, Fleet Space Technologies
Scarlett Elizabeth Koller, Co-founder and CEO, Mithril Technologies
Jordan Wachs, Director of Business Development, SpaceRake
Nicole Wagner, President and CEO, Lambda Vision
Van Wagner, Project Manager, Lunar Outpost
2:20 AM Break
2:30 PM Breakout Workshops
(in E14-240) Out of this World STEAM Engagement
(in E14-244) Designing the MIT Lunar Mission Control
(in E14-514b) Ethics of AI & Space Exploration
4:15 PM Explorer Fireside Chat
Dr. Katy Croff Bell, Founder and President of the Ocean Discovery League and National Geographic Explorer and Fellow
John Shoffner, Private Astronaut, Axiom Mission 2
Moderated by Dr. Aleksandra Stankovic, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard, Director of the Human Performance Lab and Executive Director of the Center for Space Medicine Research at Massachusetts General Hospital
5:00 PM Closing remarks
5:30 PM Reception