NASA competition - UK project team

The high-altitude bio-prospecting project (HAB) team includes:

Dr Oliver de Peyer

Oliver is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research and is an expert in lab robotics. He also specialises in astrobiology and has worked at NASA in the past. He has planned and built the robot that we'll fly.

Dr Melissa Grant

Melissa is a biochemist who knows how to detect microbes. She is a post doctoral fellow at the University of Birmingham and works on finding new preventative treatments for gum disease. She has figured out what chemistry needs to happen while the robot is up in the stratosphere.

Dr Paul Shepherd

Originally a mathematician, and then a structural engineer, Paul is now a Research Fellow in the Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering at the University of Bath. He is more used to working out how to design huge structures like sports stadiums so that they can withstand earthquakes and tornados. He has used the same techniques to make sure our experiment can survive being launched into the stratosphere.

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