AF Chair – Johnny Dessoulavy

Johnny is the Chair for the Aerospace Futures 2021 conference. He is currently studying an undergraduate aerospace engineering degree at Monash University. Johnny is also a member of a Monash engineering student team, Unmanned Aerial Systems.

People & Culture – Joe Steer

Joe is a South Australian aerospace engineer who has recently graduated from the University of Adelaide.

Joe first joined AYAA in July 2019 as a leader at the Australian Youth Aerospace Forum which motivated him to become as involved as possible in AYAA and to help foster an interest in aerospace in others. Joe is now acts as the scholarships coordinator which involves overseeing the selection of the Youth Australian Space Leaders, liaising with sponsors, and procuring more scholarship opportunities for young Australians.

Joe now works in the University of Oxford hypersonics group and intends to begin a PhD in October 2020. Joe hopes to pursue a career in high speed flow research and help in some small way to usher in a new age of supersonic passenger travel.

Legal Officer – Chace Eldridge

Chace is in his final year of a Bachelor of Aviation at Griffith University. Chace has also completed the first year of a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at QUT.

Chace only recently joined the AYAA as he saw the fantastic work they did at the 2019 AYAF and the opportunities this brought for both the leaders and participants of the camp. As a result, when there was an opportunity to join the team as Legal Officer for 2020 Chace jumped at it as he felt it was a role he would have the knowledge and experience to perform aptly. Chace has also been to the Kennedy Space Centre as a finalist in the 2016 Conrad Innovation Challenge after his team submitted ideas to further develop the modern space suit.

Chace has experience in legal procedure after working at Legal Aid QLD, as well as demonstrating a passion for sharing his knowledge with others with over 4 years of experience coaching in the sport and fitness industries. Chace hopes to combine his interests of aviation, aerospace and the law to help bridge the gap between commercial aviation and space travel in the future.

National Engagement Manager – Tristan Ward

Tristan Ward is in his first year of a Masters of Professional Engineering. He is majoring in Software engineering at the University of Western Australia.

His interest in aerospace technologies led him to Aerospace Futures in 2016. He earned the position of National Engagement Manager after he formed the organisation’s representation in WA. In one year as a State Representative, Tristan led four events with speakers of organizations such as CSIRO and Curtin University. Tristan already has professional experience in five countries. This includes co-founding a Tech start-up company in Australia with business partners in Singapore and Australia.

He has completed valuable research, taught university students, and has won academic and extracurricular awards. Most recently, he won an internship with the Space and Technology Research Centre at Curtin University. By harnessing his physics background, Tristan is interested in developing machines that can navigate space for the benefit of the Australian people.

VIC Representative – Hamish Self

Hamish is in his fourth year of a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics at Monash University.

Hamish’s involvement in AYAA began when he joined the Victorian Committee in 2019, where he was initially a committee member and later acting State Representative. In 2020, he hopes to continue growing AYAA’s presence in Victoria, and inspire younger students to pursue a career in STEM.

Hamish is a passionate member of Monash’s AURC rocketry team, competing in the inaugural Australian Universities Rocket Competition in 2019, and has interned as a laboratory assistant and satellite systems engineer. Hamish is passionate about space exploration and science communication, and hopes to pursue a career that combines his twin interests.

QLD Representative – Callam Bond

Callam is in his final year of a Bachelor of Aviation at Griffith University, before he begins his practical flight training.

Callam’s involvement within the AYAA begun in 2019, as he took up the role of Griffith University Representative within the Queensland Committee. In this role, he enjoyed the interaction he had with other students in his discipline as well as the coordinated effort of the committee to organise events for the benefit of those students.

As Queensland Representative in 2020, Callam strives to diversify the platform of the AYAA from aerospace engineering, and include professions such as pilots, aerospace IT specialists, drone pilots and the space sector. With his passion for service and aviation, Callam hopes to become a pilot within the Australian Defence Force.

NSW Representative – Joshua Rohan-Gould

Joshy is a 4th year Engineering and Computer Science student at UNSW, Majoring in Mechatronics and AI respectively.

He attended Aerospace Futures 2018 in Canberra and loved it, sparking an interest to get more involved in 2019 as part of the organising committee for Aerospace Futures. Joshy is devoted to becoming an astronaut/engineer living and working in space, ideally designing habitation and survivability hardware and software for colonisation. He has worked in Biomedical Engineering for 3 years, most recently as a Quality and Design engineering assistant.

You’ll be able to recognise Joshy from his loud shirts and highly-caffeinated and eccentric behaviour, but beware, starting a conversation with him about Elon Musk or space in general might be more than you bargained for.