Our Students
We mentor and train early-career scholars by actively supporting their proposed projects and involving them in ongoing research
Current students
Carolle Varughese
Carolle is a PhD student at the University of Auckland researching perceptions of risk related to space activities in New Zealand. She completed her Masters in Public Policy in 2022. Read More
Supervisors: Sarah Bickerton, Priyanka Dhopade, Kim Dirks
James Gray
James is a Masters of Aerospace Engineering student at the University of Auckland, researching global re-entry footprints of uncontrolled orbital debris. He completed his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 2025.
Supervisors: Priyanka Dhopade, Nick Rattenbury
Trista Ma
Trista is a PhD student at the University of Auckland, researching thermal protection systems for reusable launchers. She completed her Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering in 2023.
Supervisors: Tom Allen, Nam Kyeun Kim, Priyanka Dhopade,
Ayush Varma
Ayush is a Masters of Aerospace Engineering student at the University of Auckland, researching how to predict re-entering orbital debris using seismic data. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Physics in 2025.
Supervisors: Priyanka Dhopade, Nick Rattenbury
Natalie Porter
Natalie is a PhD student at the University of Auckland, researching corporate social responsibility in commercial aviation. She completed her Master of Engineering Management in 2021.
Supervisors: Priyanka Dhopade, Kim Dirks
Postgraduate alumni
Stevie Katavich-Barton
(Ngāi Tahu)
Stevie completed a Master of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland in 2025, researching the societal impact of satellite data. Read her thesis
Supervisor: Priyanka Dhopade
Ronda Geise
Ronda completed a Master of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Auckland in 2025, analysing national space priorities across the globe. She is currently a Graduate Trainee in Operations at Schaeffler in Germany.
Supervisor: Priyanka Dhopade
Darcy Foo
Darcy completed a Master of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Auckland in 2024, mapping environmental impacts of space activities to the planetary boundaries framework. He is currently a pilot in the Royal NZ Air Force and a Space Operations Analyst with the NZ Defence Force Space Program. Read his thesis
Supervisors: Cody Mankelow, Tom Dowling
Dr Philipp Nieke
Philipp completed a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Auckland in 2023, developing new additive manufacturing methods for thermal protection systems. He also worked on life cycle assessments (LCA) for space systems with our wider team. He is currently an additive manufacturing engineer at Zenith Tecnica. Read his thesis.
Supervisors (PhD): Nick Rattenbury, John Cater
Collaborators (LCA): Priyanka Dhopade, Cody Mankelow, Febelyn Reguyal