By Dr. Bhairavi Shankar
As we mark Asian Heritage Month, this is an opportune time to honour and acknowledge the stellar contributions of several women with STEM expertise with Asian Heritage. Each woman featured here has a unique journey entering the world of space exploration, with interests starting as early as childhood or gaining experiences as they embarked on a STEM journey. We showcase global women who share Asian identities, encompassing countries like Bangladesh, Burma, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka while calling North America home. Explore their stories below and share with friends and family!
Kumudu Jinadasa
Kumudu Jinadasa is a mechanical engineer specializing in aerospace and has worked as a robotics instructor in the past. Currently she is a mission manager and Program Lead at the Canadian Space Agency. She coordinates projects onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and often works with astronauts. Beyond her work at the CSA, she is active in the bodybuilding community and has won numerous awards!
Manavi Jadhav
Dr. Manavi Jadhav is a cosmochemist and laboratory astrophysicist. She conducts laboratory analysis of stardust grains found in meteorites. She uses a range of spectroscopic tools to further understand how materials like dust in star environments survive all stages of the solar system formation and evolution. Fun fact: she explored Antarctica and searched for meteorites back in 2013.
Mariam Naseem
Mariam Naseem, is a Polar and Planetary researcher working on her PhD at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on characterizing the Arctic sea’s ice structure. She studies polar regions to understand cryovolcanic processes on icy ocean moons like Europa and Enceladus around Saturn. Back on Earth, she tracks sea ice coverage in remote and inaccessible areas to determine the impact of climate change in polar areas.
MiMi Aung
MiMi Aung is the director of technical program management for Amazon’s Project Kuiper. This project uses satellites in space to bring faster internet to people all over the world. Previously, she worked as lead engineer on the Mars Ingenuity mission, the first extraterrestrial aircraft that landed on the red planet in 2021. She also worked on Deep Space Network and other spaceflight projects.
Tonima Tasnim Ananna
Dr. Tonima Tasnim Ananna is an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Wayne State University. Her research interests focus on the activity of supermassive black holes, and the doughnut-shaped cloud of gas around them, known as the torus. She uses machine learning to determine where these supermassive black holes exist, how they grow, and how the environments around them are affected. She has used X-ray data from the Chandra Space Telescope mission in her research. She was one of the top 10 scientists to watch in 2020 by Science News, an independent news source for all aspects of Science.
Read about more space professionals at www.IndusSpace.ca/Blog.
Dr. Bhairavi Shankar is a Planetary Scientist, a Canadian Space Ambassador, and a social entrepreneur. She founded Indus Space, a social enterprise, to raise public awareness around Space Science and Exploration and its links to STEM. She loves to promote space science, Canada’s role, and multicultural professionals in the space sector.
