Participate in the ESA Academy’s Online Product Assurance Awareness Training Course 2021
Following the success of the previous three editions of ESA Academy’s Product Assurance Awareness Training Course, ESA’s Education Office is happy to announce a new edition, which will take place between 15 - 24 November 2021.
Online sessions will be organised during the afternoon according to Central European Time (CET). Participants will be requested to attend the 8 sessions live.
How important is Product Assurance in Space missions? Failure is not an option in Space Missions and Product Assurance is critical for a successful space mission.
This course was developed in collaboration with ESA’s Product Assurance and Safety Department and will give the opportunity to University students to get useful and concrete knowledge in Product Assurance (PA) . Experts will teach them how this knowledge is implemented in a space project not only in ESA but also in the space business.
PA engineers are a crucial part of mission operations. They are responsible for ensuring that materials, mechanical parts, processes, and electrical components used in spacecraft and launchers are fit for their purpose over the entire lifetime of the mission.
Given the nature and importance of this role, ESA’s PA engineers are required to have a different mentality than the other team members. While “thinking outside the box” is a cliché for some people, it is absolutely essential for PA engineers. These engineers need exceptionally high levels of perception, forethought, and imagination to anticipate problems and pre-emptively save missions from failure.
it is absolutely essential for PA engineers. These engineers need exceptionally high levels of perception, forethought, and imagination to anticipate problems and pre-emptively save missions from failure.
The PAA Training Course is designed to attract the next generation of specialists needed to fulfil these vital positions. Run by ESA’s current PA managers and discipline experts, it allows the students to discover, through interactive online lectures, how PA is an integral part of engineering activities, playing a role in the development, design, test philosophy, building, and operation of systems.
Preliminary schedule
| Day 1 |
Welcome and Introduction Overall Context of Space Project |
| Day 2 | Setting the Scene |
| Day 3 | Quality Management and Assurance |
| Day 4 |
Dependability Safety |
| Day 5 | Software Product Assurance |
| Day 6 | Materials and Processes |
| Day 7 | Radiation Hardness Assurance |
| Day 8 | Product Assurance in Space Business |
Upon completion of the training course, students will be evaluated via an online questionnaire and will receive a certificate of participation as well as a course transcript, allowing them to request ECTS credit(s) from their respective universities.
Who can apply?
Students enrolled in university who fulfil the following criteria:
- aged minimum 18 years old. ESA Academy and relevant partners will only appraise applications from students who have no or limited professional experience in relevant scientific, engineering or other space-related topics;
- be a citizen of an ESA Member State, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania or Slovenia;
- be enrolled as Master (Bachelor studies completed), or PhD student in a university for the academic year 2021-2022 (not graduating before the training course);
- be studying an Engineering subject;
Exception could be made for students enrolled in a scientific degree with a minimum engineering knowledge and a clear interest in the management and implementation aspects of space projects.
Selected students will be requested to attend all 8 afternoon sessions live.
How to apply
- Fill in the application form;
- Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images);
- Upload a CV (PDF, Europass format, no images, maximum 2 pages);
- Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or academic supervisor of current university (if not possible due to the current confinement situation in your country, please ask a university professor or an academic supervisor to send a recommendation email to tlp@esa.int);
- Upload a copy of academic records (PDF).
All answers and documents should be in English (except academic records if not available).
The deadline for applications has been extended to 5th October 2021, 23:59 CEST.
For more information, please contact tlp@esa.int.