The Final Frontier

Priya Manavalan

With the shift from childhood to adulthood, some passions fall away, others evolve. For Priya Manavalan, the youthful dream of becoming an astronaut gave way to a more focused goal of working in the aerospace industry. The strategy for achieving this goal was clear: earn a degree in mechanical engineering.

In the first year of her program, she further refined her goals after joining AlbertaSat, a U of A student group funded, in part, by the Engineering the Next Generation Endowment Fund, or ENG Fund, that is dedicated to designing, building, testing and operating high-impact, small-satellite missions. That experience marked a turning point for Manavalan: from that point on, not only did satellites become her passion, they also served as a direct route into the aerospace industry. 

“AlbertaSat provided me with incredibly invaluable experience from a practical standpoint, and it's definitely complemented and contextualized everything that I've learned in class,” says Manavalan, who following a series of successively responsible roles within the group, is now project manager for AlbertaSat’s current cube satellite (or CubeSat) development mission —  Ex-Alta 3— a role she has held for more than two years.

“The unique thing about AlbertaSat is that it’s structured like a mini-company, with a huge, multidisciplinary team and sub-teams who are working on multi-year missions,” she says. “As an undergraduate student, being involved in a complex project like that has definitely given me a lot of insight into what a real world space project would look like.” 

Scheduled for a 2027 launch on a SpaceX rocket (in coordination with the Canadian Space Agency), Ex-Alta 3’s mission will be to monitor the impact of climate change on Canadian ice and snow coverage, and furthering Ex-Alta 2 ’s objective of imaging the devastating impacts of wildfires.

As project manager, Manavalan is also involved in fundraising for the group, emphasizing the importance of the ENG Fund in supporting these life-changing, experiential opportunities.

“Student groups have limited resources, which can be a barrier,” says Manavalan. “I'm so happy that the Faculty of Engineering is investing more in student groups over the last few years, especially those that simulate actual work environments, because student groups like AlbertaSat are training the next generation of Canadian engineers.” 

Once she completes her degree at the end of 2025, Manavalan has already secured a position at the University of Victoria in their aerospace research lab, a role she attributes to the connections she made through AlbertaSat. Ultimately, she hopes to return to Alberta.  

“I'm invested in building the space industry within Alberta,” she says, noting that the aerospace company Wyvern, which was launched by previous AlbertaSat members, serves as a prime example of this growing sector. “Space is really the final frontier, and I would love to see more opportunities in aerospace in Alberta and in the long-term, work in the satellite industry in my hometown.”