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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Meet the brains behind PH second nanosatellite Maya-2

Meet the brains behind PH second nanosatellite Maya-2

Published Feb 20, 2021 09:36 pm

Advancing the country’s space technology program, three Filipino engineers have developed the Philippines’ second nanosatellite, Maya-2.

In less than five hours, the cube satellite will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the S.S. Katherine Johnson Cygnus spacecraft.

The launch of Maya-2, which is part of the fourth Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite project  or BIRDS-4 Project, is set on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 1:36 a.m. (Philippine time).

The developers of Maya-2 are Department of Science and Technology (DOST) scholars pursuing doctoral degree programs in Space Engineering in Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in Japan. 

Their profiles were posted on the Facebook page of STAMINA4Space.

(photos from STAMINA4Space Facebook)

IZRAEL ZENAR “IZ”  BAUTISTA

● BS Electronics and Communications Engineering, University of the Philippines - Diliman

● MS Energy Engineering, University of the Philippines - Diliman

● Ph.D. in Space Engineering, Kyutech (candidate)

Bautista is the BIRDS-4 Project manager. He monitored the team's activities from planning, design, execution, implementation, and operation of the satellite. He also supervised the activities outside satellite development such as outreach, team events, and coordination between stakeholders.

MARK ANGELO PURIO 

● MA in Education, Adamson University

● MS in Electronics Engineering, De La Salle University

● BS in Electronics and Communications Engineering, Batangas State University

● Ph.D. in Space Engineering, Kyutech (candidate)

Purio was responsible for the Camera Mission (CAM) of the BIRDS-4 Satellite Project, which captures images using a commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) camera. 

He assisted in the design and development of a standardized backplane board (BPB) which holds the boards together and serves as a bus for inter-board connections and power supply.

He also supervised the media outreach of the satellite project "by managing social network services and sharing various information about the project so that the stakeholders and the people are well-informed of what is happening about the project.”

MARLOUN SEJERA

● BS Electronics and Communications Engineering, Mapua Institute of Technology

● MSc Electronics and Communications Engineering, Mapua Institute of Technology

● Ph.D. in Space Engineering, Kyushu (candidate)

Sejera ensured that the satellite has reliable communication with ground stations for the continuous execution of satellite missions. 

He also handled the Automatic Packet Reporting System - Digipeater (APRS-DP) mission which aims to demonstrate the functionality of low-cost Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) APRS digipeater and to provide amateur radio service to the amateur radio community.

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