Space Tourism Trainee

Born in Denmark in 1981 he started traveling at an early age. Moving with his family around Europe he got a taste of life in different countries: from living in Holland, to making a boat their home in the Mediterranean Sea, and finally settling in Ireland, where his family now lives. In 2003 he finished college and moved to Barcelona in Spain. He will soon move countries again and Houston will become his adopted town for the next four years.

After obtaining a B.Sc. in Experimental Physics from the National University of Ireland Galway, he turned his attention to space engineering. In Barcelona he enrolled in the first year of DoCTA (Doctoral programme of Aerospace science and Technology) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

He also partook in the 2006 International Space University SSP in Strasbourg, France. There he worked on a team project called “MiNI - Micro and Nanotechnology Initiative” where he specialized in ‘nanoengineering space applications’.

Coming back from this summer programme he was granted a 6-month internship in RICE University, Houston, Texas, as part of the ‘FAS science challenge’. Since this project he has been accepted in RICE University to undertake a Ph.D. in Chemistry, specializing in carbon nanotubes and nanotechnology, that is to begin in the Fall of 2007.

During his free time he likes to mix records: scratching, doing turntablism and Dj’ing. In the winter season he revels in the snow with his snowboard and in the summer he loves sailing. He enjoys soccer all year around. He speaks three languages and is eager to learn more. He likes meeting new people and communicating to exchange ideas. In order to facilitate that he has created a website www.aokengineer.com that he hopes can eventually reach a public audience and teach about the forefront of science and technology as he learns about it himself.