President of Women in Aerospace Europe (WIA-Europe)
Luisella Giulicchi is System Manager at the European Space Agency (ESA), Netherlands, for the Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission: measuring sea level change. Project of the European Commission in cooperation with ESA, EUMETSAT, NASA, French Space Agency CNES, and NOAA. Copernicus is the largest operational Earth observation programme from Space to date in the world, funded by ESA and the European Commission.
After being a researcher at CERN (European Particle Physics Laboratory), Geneva, Switzerland, she joined ESA twenty-five years ago covering technical and programmatic management positions for Bepi Colombo, the scientific mission for the study of Mercury; SMART-1, the first European lunar mission; LISA Pathfinder, measuring gravitational waves; Copernicus Sentinel-1, Earth observation and environmental monitoring by radar images.
Luisella has authored many scientific and technical papers and has been associate editor for several publications and scientific journals. In addition, throughout her career Luisella has actively participated in several professional organisations: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), International Federation of Automatic Controls (IFAC), American Astronautical Society (AAS); Council of European Aerospace Societies (CEAS) and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).
Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow; AIAA Associate Fellow. Former AIAA Board of Trustees and Board of Directors; vice chair of the IAF Space Societies Committee. Recognised leader in a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the advances of the aerospace community and its achievements (2023 AIAA Sustained Service Award “For over two decades of service to the Institute’s governance, regional organisation, and technical activities, and for being the advocate of international cooperation and AIAA engagement worldwide”). Her leadership competencies, being an active promoter of diversity and inclusion, and of STEM among the younger generations, have led to her role as President of Women in Aerospace Europe.