LUXEMBOURG, 5 June 2024. – The Asteroid Foundation appointed Djamila Aouada and Błażej Gładysz-Lehmann as the newest members of the Board of Directors. It also acknowledged the contributions and resignation of Guy Harles, one of the founding Board Directors.
Djamila Aouada is the founder and head of the Computer Vision, Imaging, and Machine Intelligence (CVI2) research group at the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust (SnT), where she serves as Senior Research Scientist and Assistant Professor. She also heads the Computer Vision Lab and co-heads the Zero-Gravity Space Lab in Luxembourg. Djamila has an engineering degree in electronics from the École Nationale Polytechnique (ENP) in Algiers and a Ph.D. in Computer Vision from North Carolina State University in the U.S.
Błażej Gładysz-Lehmann is a Counsel in the Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions practice of Arendt & Medernach, a law firm based in Luxembourg. He advises clients on local and international transactions, reorganisations as well as mainstream corporate matters linked to the structuring and set-up of companies and other joint ventures in Luxembourg. Błażej has a particular interest in the space, telecommunications, and space-related technologies sectors, and advises on the corporate regulatory, authorisation, and licensing regimes applying to such industries. He gives guest lectures in space law at the University of Luxembourg.
Guy Harles is a Founding Partner and Co-Chairman of Arendt & Medernach. He specialises in corporate projects, advising multinational and domestic companies, as well as private investors on the structuring of international transactions, private equity investments, corporate reorganisations, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and private wealth management. He is a founding Asteroid Foundation Director and, after serving eight years, is stepped down with the nomination of Djamila Aouada and Błażej Gładysz-Lehmann.
Asteroid Foundation’s board is now composed of nine members: Djamila Aouada, Daniel Biedermann, Błażej Gładysz-Lehmann, Maher Kalaji, Dorin Prunariu, Razvan-Petru Radu, Danica Remy, Grigorij Richters, and Markus Payer as Chair. For more: Board.
Asteroid Foundation is a Luxembourg-based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting worldwide awareness and understanding of asteroids and space at large and educating global audiences about the role and importance of space, science, business, and resources for our planet, economies, and societies. The foundation organizes Asteroid Day, a United Nations-recognized event held annually on 30 June, as an official day in the UN calendar, and it runs prestigious space education programmes in numerous countries throughout the year.
The 9th Asteroid Day programme will take place in Luxembourg, with Asteroid Day Lecture on 28 June and the Asteroid Day Festival on 29 June. For more: Press Release, Asteroid Foundation, Asteroid Day
“Asteroid Foundation welcomes Djamila and Blazej as new Board members and expresses its deepest gratitude to Guy Harles who was instrumental in launching and building the foundation and its renowned programmes”, said Markus Payer, Chair of the Asteroid Foundation. “Djamila’s and Blazej’s profound expertise in space research, education, law, and governance will be of great value and help us on our mission to reach out to an ever-larger audience, attract talent, evolve our organization, and continue to write the success story of Asteroid Day.”