Margot Winters

• 7 month full-time master thesis internship in Cologne, Germany • System engineer in ESA-EAC for the development of the FLARE space radiation shielding vest for astronauts. • Managed the work of a small multidisciplinary team to advance the system's design, development, and testing. • Responsible engineer for the high-energy particle accelerator campaign in HollandPTC (the Netherlands), the stratospheric balloon flight experiments at the Royal Meteorological Institute (Belgium), and during the design discussions with astronauts at the European Astronaut Centre (Germany).

• 2-month full-time internship in Mol, Belgium. • Supervised by Prof. Sarah Baatout, performed cardiac cell culture tests in the laboratory to study cryopreservation of the heart. Within the AstroCardia project, which will send a 3D printed heart into space to study health and ageing of the human heart. • Extracurricular Honours Programme (+20 additional credits) at TU Delft to grow familiar with biological space payloads as a systems engineer.

• 6-month part-time remote assistant position in Delft, the Netherlands. • Supervised by Prof. Eberhard Gill, assisted the course ‘Space Systems Engineering’ within the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, an early major requirement with over a hundred students.

• 6-month part-time research project in Kraków, Poland and Delft, The Netherlands. • Organized two stratospheric balloon experiments and led a multidisciplinary student team during its preparation, execution and analysis. The first experiment assessed the resilience of TU Delft’s 3D-printed organ-on-chip devices to mixed-field energetic radiation and environmental stressors. The second experiment, in collaboration with an industry partner, studied seed genetic mutation breeding capabilities for application in space agriculture. • Led communication with external industry partners for the experiments. • Responsible for the acquisition and assembly of payload components. • Participated in field activities, including balloon setup and payload retrieval. • Published findings and presented a poster at the 42nd International Society for Gravitational Physiology conference. Received a conference scholarship from ESA as sole European master student.

• Full-time short work placement in Toulouse, France (French working language). • Supervised by Dr. Angélique Verrecchia, designed the integration of biomarker sensors into the ISS waste system. Presented viable engineering options to the team at MEDES, CNES and Usense.

• 4-month full-time internship in Toulouse, France (French working language). • Supervised by Prof. Rob Vingerhoeds, developed needs and requirements engineering guide for human-system integration and design in the Lunar Gateway (ECSS, NTSS standards).

• 10-day isolation experiment in Kraków, Poland. • Worked as crew engineer inside Lunar analogue habitat.

• 6-months part-time remote internship in Ghent, Belgium. • Within ESERO, initiated and developed an outreach project teaching youth about Earth’s climate concerns using Sentinel satellite imagery.

• 6-week full-time summer internship in Leuven, Belgium. • Supervised by Prof. Conny Aerts, summarised the scientific results from papers at the Institute of Astronomy for the European Research Council.

• Master degree with specialization in Space Systems Engineering. • Graduated cum laude (highest distinction TU Delft, top 10%). • Teaching assistant of AE4S12 Space Systems Engineering. • Thesis: 'The FLARE Suit: Development of a Space Radiation Shielding Vest for Astronauts'. Awarded the André Kuipers Award 2025 by Dutch astronaut André Kuipers and the Heinz Stoewer Award 2025 by TU Delft for the highest-rated (aero)space graduation work in terms of quality and social impact. • Honours Programme Student (+20 additional credits): conducted laboratory research at the Belgian Nuclear Institute SCK CEN to study cryopreservation of the heart. • Chosen by TU Delft and IAWA for the 2023 IAWA Award, given yearly to a student from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering for "connecting, inspiring, and leading".

• Double bachelor degree at KU Leuven, completing two 3-year bachelor programs in 3 years. • Thesis: ‘Spectroscopy of AGB star S Pav using ATOMIUM data from the ALMA telescope’.

• Thesis: ‘The Kármán Vortex Street'.