Jenni Sidey, Lecturer in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, has been selected as one of two new astronauts for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Out of 3,772 applications inside and outside of Canada, and after a one-year arduous selection process, Dr. Sidey will represent Canada’s new generation of space explorers.
From so many applications, Dr. Sidey made the cut of 100 qualified candidates that were invited for preliminary medical tests. The top 72 candidates were then put through a battery of intense physical, cognitive, memory, problem solving, teamwork, and survival tests. The candidates were evaluated on everything from their ability to fight fires and escape from helicopters underwater, to solving complex problems as teams.
For the fourth time in history, the call went out to find new Canadian astronauts. Recruitment campaigns are few and far between, and just 12 Canadians were recruited during the campaigns of 1983, 1992 and 2009.
In June, 2017, Dr. Sidey was honored with the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Young Engineer of the Year Award for having made a major impact in her field of combustion research early in her career. Dr. Sidey also won the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award in December, 2016. Dr. Sidey developed and managed numerous outreach activities aimed at encouraging women to study engineering. In 2013, she co-founded the outreach group, Robogals Cambridge, through which she designed and delivered robotics workshops to young people in and around the United Kingdom.
Before joining the other active Canadian astronauts, Dr. Sidey will relocate to Houston, Texas. She will complete a two-year astronaut candidate training program starting in August 2017 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
The following short video provided by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) discusses Dr. Sidey’s career and combustion research:
Please join The Combustion Institute in congratulating Dr. Sidey for her accomplishments. Learn more about the astronaut recruitment program in the CSA’s press release. You may also watch CSA videos and read about Dr. Sidey’s recruitment.