Dr Greg Olsen speaks to ESA's ISS Business Club

Since returning from his 10-day mission to the International Space Station on 11 October 2005, Dr Olsen will be making his first appearance in front of a European audience. In his keynote speech "Science and Technology – An Easy Way Up", Dr Olsen will not only touch on the experiences he made during his stay in space, but also emphasise that science and technology form a solid basis for a successful career.

Under an agreement with ESA, Dr Olsen participated in the research programme on board the ISS where he acted as a test subject for three experiments. These aimed to study the response of the human body to the microgravity environment and were designed to shed light on processes that cause discomfort and pain to millions, such as nausea, lower back pain, and changes to the body's bacterial flora.

"As an entrepreneur and a scientist who visited the ISS to conduct experiments, Dr Olsen is a real pioneer. We are very glad that he accepted to support ESA's research into human physiology," says Maurizio Belingheri, Head of ESA's Commercialisation Division for the ISS. "We at ESA are helping to pave the way to a future in which industry's access to research in space is facilitated. Of course, not all entrepreneurs will themselves be able to join missions to the ISS to conduct their own product research in material science, medicine, etc. But this is not at all necessary: with its European Astronaut Corps, ESA has a highly qualified team of specialists at its disposal who are scientifically trained to conduct the most complex tasks in space."

Dr Greg Olsen, a successful entrepreneur and researcher, as well as founder of EPITAXX, Inc., and Sensors Unlimited, Inc., rose to prominence from humble beginnings. Growing up in Brooklyn as the son of an electrician and a school teacher, he pushed himself to earn degrees in electrical engineering and physics and to attain a Ph.D. in material science.

"It is great that there are scientists like Dr Olsen with a genuine interest in visiting ISS and conducting experiments there. For those of us contributing to the International Space Station, entrepreneurs like Dr Olsen stand for the conviction that research in space has a real scientific and commercial value. And of course, in order to implement industrial research in space successfully, two things are needed: professional astronauts and reliable space structures and components – built by a high-performance space industry," says Michael Wahl from cable-producer W.L. Gore & Associates GmbH, an IBC Member.

The European ISS Business Club is ESA's industry club for the contributors to the European Elements of the International Space Station. It serves as an international networking platform offering numerous opportunities for establishing business contacts and for exchanging ideas with public and private sector decision makers. Furthermore, the IBC provides a wide range of marketing services to add value to strategic corporate communications. Its members are not only the system integrators, but also companies providing products or services to the design, development, operation, and utilisation of the European Elements of the ISS.

Interested people, who are not able to attend, can watch the event via video live streaming on the following internet address: http://streamiss.spaceflight.esa.int and follow the link to the IBC Network Event

Further information on the European ISS Business Club – IBC http://www.european-ibc.com

For further information please contact:

Maurizio Belingheri
Head of Commercialisation Division
Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration
Noordwijk (The Netherlands)
Tel: +31-71-565-4687
Fax: +31-71-565-5232

Dieter Isakeit
Head, Erasmus User Centre and Communication Office
Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration
Noordwijk (The Netherlands)
Tel: +31 71 565 5451
Fax: +31 71 565 8008

Anthia Reckziegel
Head of Members Relations and Services
IBC Secretariat – Members Relations and Services Office
Bonn (Germany)
Tel: +49 228 36668-89
Fax: +49 228 36668-66
Email: anthia.reckziegel@european-ibc.com