Crowning moment in a big 10th year for STAR-Dundee Managing Director

RAes Award: crowning moment in a big 10th year for STAR-Dundee Managing Director

In the year that saw STAR-Dundee move into our own bespoke premises and adding to the celebrations of our 10th year since the company was formed, Steve Parkes has been honoured by the Royal Aeronautical Society in awarding him a Specialist Bronze Award for his instrumental role in the inception, development and continuing success of the SpaceWire Standard.

The Society’s Specialist Bronze Awards are presented for work of merit which has led to advances in specialist disciplines in the aerospace industry.

Receiving the award from Phil Boyle, President of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Steve said, “I am honoured to receive this award in recognition of the research I have had the pleasure to lead over the past 15 years. My thanks and appreciation goes to the members of my research team within the University of Dundee and STAR-Dundee, and to my colleagues across the world, who together made winning this award possible.”

Dr Philippe Armbruster, Head of the European Space Agency’s Data Systems Division said that “Professor Steve Parkes is well known to the European Space Agency for his numerous contributions to the work of its Technical Centre (ESTEC). He has been instrumental in the development of the SpaceWire concept, from its inception to its vast deployment within satellite on-board data handling sub-systems.”

Prof Tadayuki Takahashi of the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency, JAXA, said “Professor Steve Parkes is the leader of the SpaceWire activity in the world. The sixth Japanese X-ray satellite, ASTRO-H, is a new generation of satellite that uses the SpaceWire architecture extensively. We appreciate his tremendous efforts to collect all requirements from the international community and to formalize as the standard.”

Jim Lux, of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, “Professor Parkes has been a leading force in the development and acceptance of SpaceWire as a high speed on-board data connection. I expect to see more and better science data from future missions that use SpaceWire because of his advocacy and persistence.”