Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management in Romania

Mihnea Costoiu – Rector of the National University of Science and Technology
Politehnica Bucharest

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Rodrigo da Costa – Executive Director, European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)

On 16 October 2020, Rodrigo da Costa took up his duties as Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), formerly the European GNSS Agency (GSA). Prior to this, he was the Galileo Services Programme Manager from March 2017. Before joining the GSA, Rodrigo da Costa held several senior project management, business development, and institutional key account management positions in the space industry, in the areas of human space flight, exploration, launchers and R&D. Rodrigo da Costa holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the “Instituto Superior Tecnico” in Lisbon, a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Delft, and an MBA from the EuroMBA consortium of Business Schools.

Dominique Tilmans – Eurisy

Dominique holds the title of Honorary Senator in Belgium. During her electing mandates in the Belgian parliament, which spanned 27 years, she invested a lot of energy in space matters. She held the position of Chair of the « Belgian Senate Space Group» and she also presided over the «European Interparliamentary Space conference». In 2016, she was elected Chair of Eurisy, a non- profit Association which aims to bridge space and Society. She is also a Member of the Advisory Council of ESPI (European Space Policy Institute) in Vienna and, a Member of the Board of Vitrociset Belgium. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Europlanet 2024 RI. Concerned by the difficulties of the space industry to recruit young graduates, she launched YouSpace in 2014 and in 2018 she launched in 2018 “Switch to Space” an event with 50 speaker’s representing experts in space and more than 500 students. Between 2019 and 2022, Dominique served as Vice-President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). Currently, she is a Special Advisor to the IAF President on Parliamentarian and Ministerial Relations.

Adelin Lazar, XX , Urban2020

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Ana Maria Neculaescu, Space Programme Manager, INCAS – National Institute for Aerospace Research “Elie Carafoli“

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Mari-Anais Sachian, BEIA, CHRISS project

Mari-Anais Sachian, a graduate of the University of Politehnica Bucharest, is a seasoned research and development engineer at BEIA Consult International. With over 7 years of experience in cybersecurity, embedded systems, and electronics, she has been a key contributor to numerous R&D and Innovation projects.

As the lead of the CHRISS project, Mari-Anais has recently gained expertise in GNSS/OSNMA satellite services, particularly in time synchronization techniques. Her work on CHRISS and other projects, such as SafeCare, ODSI, ToR-SIM, SealedGRID, Flexi-Cross, Isolde and various ITEA, HORIZON, and Celtic initiatives, has involved extensive research in cyber-physical security, digital twin technologies, blockchain, Industry 4.0, and time synchronization.

Her technical expertise extends to working with a variety of sensor systems, including acoustic, radio frequency (RF), and imaging sensors. Additionally, she has in-depth knowledge of state-of-the-art secure platforms and architectures. Mari-Anais has demonstrated her skills through the development of testbeds for cyber-physical systems, including toolkits for Border Management Systems, Healthcare Security Systems, and Smart Grid Systems.

She has co-authored over 20 articles in BDI journals, showcasing her commitment to sharing knowledge and advancing the field of cybersecurity.

Ileana Spiroiu, Director, Centrul National de Cartografie (CNC)

I am a geospatial specialist with over 30 years of experience at the management and executive level. I advocate for continuous professional development, believing that investing in people through education and by example strengthens teams.

I served as Director and Head of Geodesy and Topography at the Gorj County Office for Cadastre and Land Registration for 13 years, focusing on land law application and engineering topography. Later, I worked at the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration (ANCPI), where I was involved in legal and compliance matters and submitted appeals to amend cadastral law to the Romanian Parliament. I have coordinated CNC’s activities since 2008 and, in 2012, undertook a law degree to support my work.

As a respected speaker, I regularly present at conferences and workshops. In April 2022, I helped organize the International Advisory Group of the annual Cambridge Conference at the University of Oxford, where I moderated two panels on geospatial technology and government participation. In August 2023, I delivered a lecture on the CNC cartographic database for water and landscape management at a training event in Italy.

I’ve enhanced institutional capacity through staff exchanges and professional training in ArcMap and GeoMedia for CNC employees. I expanded CNC’s scope by developing ROMPOS, the Romanian Positioning System, which now includes 83 permanent satellite stations, 50 of them newly installed in 2024.

My research, starting with my Ph.D. dissertation in 2005, focuses on high-resolution measurement methods and the rehabilitation of Romania’s National Geodetic Network. The project to generate a national quasi-geoid is ongoing.

Since 2019, I have managed the POR program, “Increasing the Coverage and Inclusion of the Property Registration System in Rural Areas in Romania,” which has a European budget of over 325 million Euros.

Vasile Craciunescu, Meteo Romania

Vasile Craciunescu is a researcher with more than 23 years experience, working for the Romanian National Meteorological Administration, being in charge with the scientific and operational activities related to GIS database design and implementation, deployment of standardized web services, spatial enabled web interfaces, ETL, EO data processing, project management. He received his diploma in cartography and physical geography in 2001. He has a good experience in working and leading national, EU and ESA research projects. In 2006 Vasile started geo-spatial.org, a collaborative effort by and for the Romanian community to facilitate the sharing of geospatial knowledge and the discovery and publishing of free geographic datasets and maps. Since 2011 he is the Romanian delegate in the Copernicus User Forum at the European Commission and the technical representative of Meteo Romania at Open Geospatial Consortium. In August 2014 he was elected to the Open Source Geospatial Foundation board of directors. For the last 12 years he has been teaching FOSS4G-based techniques at the Faculty of Geography – University of Bucharest in the first Romanian ICA-OSGeo Lab. Vasile was the chair of the 2019 FOSS4G international conference. From February 2021 he is the Romanian delegate in the Destination Earth Coordination Group and recently was appointed as national expert in the EEA EIONET Copernicus Technical Group.

Codrina Ilie, Technical Coordinator, TerraSigna

Codrina Ilie is the technical coordinator of the initiative to build and provide geospatial intelligence for the (re)insurance sector in Romania and in the European space, at Terrasigna. As a background, Codrina is a technical geographer, an open source GIS/RS power user, actively working as a project officer to support geospatial data services development at Terrasigna. In her 14 years of activity, Codrina has essentially focused on using open source GIS and RS solutions for data management, processing and visualization.  As a FOSS user and advocate, Codrina is part of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation board of the elected directors, serving in her third term.

Cosmin Nistor,Role of ROSA in the EU Space Programme components, ROSA

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Vasile Craciunescu, Meteo Romania

Vasile Craciunescu is a researcher with more than 23 years experience, working for the Romanian National Meteorological Administration, being in charge with the scientific and operational activities related to GIS database design and implementation, deployment of standardized web services, spatial enabled web interfaces, ETL, EO data processing, project management. He received his diploma in cartography and physical geography in 2001. He has a good experience in working and leading national, EU and ESA research projects. In 2006 Vasile started geo-spatial.org, a collaborative effort by and for the Romanian community to facilitate the sharing of geospatial knowledge and the discovery and publishing of free geographic datasets and maps. Since 2011 he is the Romanian delegate in the Copernicus User Forum at the European Commission and the technical representative of Meteo Romania at Open Geospatial Consortium. In August 2014 he was elected to the Open Source Geospatial Foundation board of directors. For the last 12 years he has been teaching FOSS4G-based techniques at the Faculty of Geography – University of Bucharest in the first Romanian ICA-OSGeo Lab. Vasile was the chair of the 2019 FOSS4G international conference. From February 2021 he is the Romanian delegate in the Destination Earth Coordination Group and recently was appointed as national expert in the EEA EIONET Copernicus Technical Group.

 

Christina Giannopapa, Head of the Office of the Executive Director, EUSPA

Dr. Christina Giannopapa is the Head of the Office of the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). Prior, she was advisor to the Secretary General of Telecommunications and Post of the Ministry of Digital Governance in Greece, seconded from the European Space Agency (ESA). In ESA, she held various posts including the Head of Political Affairs Office of the Director General. She has received 14 academic scholarships and awards and has more than 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals, books and conferences. She has co‐edited the Springer “Handbook on space security”. She is the Vice Chair of the Committee on Space Security of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and prior was the Chair of the Committee for Liaison with International Organisations and Developing Nations (CLIODN). She is also the Chair of the Board of Women in Aerospace Europe (WIA-E).  Dr. Giannopapa holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Mathematics; an MEng in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Mechatronics; and an MBA in International Management from the University of London.

 

Vincent Chatelée, Galileo EWS and SAR Service Manager, EUSPA

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Marie Menard, Senior Communication Officer, EUSPA

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