The Descubre Foundation, in collaboration with Sevilla TechPark, has organised two \u201cCoffee with Science\u201d events as part of the programme of activities for Seville World Space Week 2026 (WSW). During these sessions, experts spoke with a small group of students to explain the ins and outs of their day-to-day work, discuss their scientific vocation and research careers, and share insights into their hobbies and life stories. All this took place over breakfast, allowing the conversation with participants to unfold in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, far removed from the traditional speaker-audience format.<\/p>\n
In this case, researchers Sergio Esteban Roncero, Ana S\u00e1nchez Rivero and Guillermo Pacheco Ramos from the University of Seville, and Luis Merino Caba\u00f1as from Pablo de Olavide University, took part in this science outreach event, held once again this year as part of World Space Week.<\/p>\n
Specifically, during his talk entitled \u2018How to become an aerospace engineering researcher by following the advice of great thinkers\u2026 and pursuing your dreams\u2019, researcher Sergio Esteban explained to the students what his work involves in the design of unconventional aircraft \u2013 that is, aeroplanes and drones that use clean technologies such as hydrogen or electric batteries.<\/p>\n
For his part, researcher Guillermo Pacheco spoke to the students about UCAnFly, a satellite built by more than 50 Andalusian students and researchers from various scientific disciplines to conduct scientific research in space, which is scheduled for launch in 2027. Pacheco also discussed with those attending the Caf\u00e9 the growing concern over space sustainability and how science is advancing to reduce the pollution generated by the thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth.<\/p>\n
Another group of students also discussed space debris with researcher Ana S\u00e1nchez Rivero, focusing on satellites, under the title \u2018Can satellites collide? How do we prevent collisions in space?\u2019. During this session, S\u00e1nchez explained how collision analysis is carried out \u2013 in other words, what techniques are used to prevent the many satellites that are now obsolete and no longer functioning, but which continue to orbit the planet, from colliding with one another and generating more contaminating particles and more space debris.<\/p>\n
At the same time, robotics expert Luis Merino explained to the students at his session, \u2018Flying and space robots: what they can do today and where we\u2019re heading\u2019, the importance and necessity of transferring scientific knowledge to industry. In this regard, he explained in detail how they designed a prototype robot to detect fires. Furthermore, Merino emphasised that these machines are becoming increasingly autonomous and that scientists are working to enable them to repair themselves. \u201cWe have been working to track the lava tubes that simulate the Martian landscape, which we can use to map a cave. Bases for Martian exploration could be set up there. This is an example of how advances developed in a cave are sometimes taken into space,\u201d added the UPO researcher.<\/p>\n
Source: Descubre Foundation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"