OSCAR (Optical Sensors based on CARbon materials)

The Experiment workshop organized by the ESA Academy was a great three-day training! We gathered with other student teams collaborating with ESA Academy to test their experiments in one of their facilities. ⚙️🧑🔬 We learned a lot about the different platforms and projects, both from each other and from ESA experts. These experts provided in-depth explanations about everything related to our project, especially how to tackle various aspects such as project management, planning tests and development stages. 📋 Additionally, we had the chance to network and meet other teams, sharing ideas and insights. This exchange of knowledge and experiences was very inspiring and valuable. A highlight was the direct contact with an expert from our platform, which provided extra clarity. We also had the opportunity to work physically with our ESA Academy contact person, Jorge Galvan Lobo. This reduced the distance and has made our collaboration much smoother since then. #ESAAcademy #OSCARQUBE #OSCARPINQ #UHasselt #imoimomec #SpaceInnovation #QuantumTechnology #Diamond #Space #Quantum #Engineering #STEM

⭐It finally happened!⭐ Last week the next iteration of our quantum diamond magnetometer, OSCAR-QUBE+ launched into space as part of the ESA YPSAT mission aboard the maiden flight of Ariane 6 - Europe’s biggest rocket yet! 🚀 Our new and improved device is more sensitive, smaller, and lighter than its predecessor. The quantum sensor developed by our interdisciplinary student team was tested as the scientific payload for ESA’s YPSAT. While working closely together with the ESA YP’s over the last two years, we grew a lot as a team allowing more UHasselt students to step into space and quantum research. 🧑🎓 To celebrate this milestone, we organized a watch party at Hasselt University, featuring inspiring talks in line with the OSCAR journey by our rector Bernard Vanheusden, imo-imomec director Marlies Van Bael, and representatives from POM Limburg Maxime Corvilain and YPSAT Melek Tapmaz. 🎤 Two team members had the opportunity to watch the launch from two different ESA sites, providing us with live updates and interviews. Joren Verdyck at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, and Simon Wilmots at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany. 🔭📡 The highlight of the evening was the surreal moment of standing in front of the big screen, surrounded by the team, and watching the roaring rocket ascend with the device we worked hard on together. This culmination of two years of teamwork and dedication resulted in a device that survived the launch and measured scientific data along the Ariane 6 trajectory for us to analyze. 🛰️📉 This achievement was celebrated afterwards at the networking reception where we managed to bring together each OSCAR generation and some of the people who have supported us throughout this ongoing journey, full of challenges and supraises! A special thanks to Julien Krompholtz, Tuur Strobbe and the entire YPSAT team for this incredible ride! It was amazing to witness what young professionals can achieve when working together towards a common goal, and thank you for sharing this unique opportunity with our student team and inspiring the next generations to dream of space! 🌌 The entire team is excited to push this success to new heights with the upcoming OSCAR-PINQ, which will fly onboard the ESA Space Rider. Stay tuned and let’s see what the future of space magnetometry holds! 💫 #OSCARQUBE #OSCARPINQ #YPSAT #IMOMEC #UHASSELT #QUANTUM #ARIANE6 #MAGNETOMETRY #ESA #POMLIMBURG #ESTEC #ESOC

🌌🚀 Join Us for the OSCAR-QUBE+ Launch Event! 🚀🌌 We are excited to announce the launch event for the OSCAR-QUBE+ sensor aboard the Ariane 6 rocket, in collaboration with ESA Young Professionals (YPSAT). This event will showcase our advancements in NV based quantum sensing technology and celebrate this milestone of the OSCAR project. 💫 Witness the monumental launch of Europe's largest rocket with us and learn about future steps of the OSCAR team. We’ll take you with us in captivating presentations and virtually take you to the ESA sites ESTEC and ESOC as we explain their ties to the OSCAR-QUBE+ project. Event Details:  🗓️ Date: 9th July 🕖 Time: 19:00 - 23:00 📍 Venue: UHasselt Diepenbeek Campus, Building D, Aula H6 (for presentations) & “Wintertuin” (for networking) Programme: 18:30 - 19:00: Registration 19:00 - 19:20: Official welcome 19:20 - 19:30: ESA site interviews 19:30 - 20:00: Inspiring presentations  20:00 - 23:00: Launch window and networking For more information visit  https://lnkd.in/e3G58CmK or directly register via https://lnkd.in/eQPmhf8V and join us to be part of this exciting journey and connect with the space community. We look forward to seeing you there! ✨ Places are limited 😉 #OSCARQUBE #OSCARPINQ #Ariana6 #ESA #UHasselt #imoimomec #SpaceHub #SpaceInnovation #QuantumTechnology #Diamond #Space #Quantum #Engineering #STEM

Last Sunday, team OSCAR had the honor of presenting at "The Cube" during the Nerdland festival, where we shared our journey and the innovative technology of our diamond quantum sensors in space. 🚀🌌 We were thrilled with the turnout and the enthusiasm from the audience as we discussed the results of our sensor’s past stay on the ISS and our upcoming missions on the Ariane6 and Space Rider. We could not believe the size of the crowd that showed up to see us: after all the seats were filled, people started crowding the entrances and the back of the tent. After the presentation, people were excited to come talk to us, and we loved spreading little details about our journey and technology and seeing our motivation become contagious. It was a remarkable opportunity to showcase our work and, most importantly, to inspire the next generation to dream big and collaborate towards ambitious goals. A heartfelt thank you to both the Nerdland festival organizers and crew for providing this fantastic platform! Thank you to the audience for your support and interest. It was truly inspiring. So let's continue to aim high and reach for the stars together!🚀⭐ Lastly, congratulations to our presenters for the great performance! Simon Wilmots Luca Briers E. Aylin Melan Boo Carmans Joren Verdyck Yarne Beerden UHasselt imo-imomec ESA Academy #OSCARQUBE #OSCARPINQ #Nerdland #QuantumSensors #ISS #Ariane6 #ESASpaceRider #Inspiration #ESAAcademy

Thank you Young Science Conference for giving our members the opportunity to present their work within OSCAR ! 🧑🚀 On May the fourth, nine members of our team presented their research at OSCAR in the form of a presentation or poster. For most of them, it was their first conference where they could present. And this, while they are only bachelor and master students. It was a great learning opportunity for all! From writing an abstract to presenting their work. Skills that are best learned in practice and will surely come in use later on in their careers. Finally, a big congratulations to our team members for their amazing contributions! Brent Quanten, Tom Cornille Simon Wilmots, Ebbe Wertz, Teoman Köseoglu, Yves Janssen Verlaak, Siemen Achten, Luca Briers, Michaël Bessemans YSC organizing team: Allyson Robert Marieke Vereycken Ilse Engelen Ömer Sercik 📸Group photo: Marieke Vereycken #UHasseltYoungScienceConference #OSCARQUBE #OSCARPINQ UHasselt imo-imomec

We're thrilled to share the incredible experience one of our team members had at ESA Academy's "Concurrent Engineering Challenge." Participating in this challenge offered a deep dive into the concurrent engineering methodology, coupled with hands-on experience at the ESA ESEC-Galaxia training facility. This immersive experience allowed our team member to conduct a complete CDF study alongside 29 other talented students. A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in making this experience possible! UHasselt imo-imomec European Space Agency - ESA #ConcurrentEngineeringChallenge #OSCARQUBE #OSCARPINQ 

Are you attending Nerdland? 📣 We strongly recommend the focus talk on 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, hosted by our very own team OSCAR-QUBE! 🚀 OSCAR-QUBE is a group of students with a passion for #space and science. Let them take you through the story of the quantum #magnetometer they developed with European Space Agency - ESA and sent to the International Space Station ISS! 📆 Sunday May 26 📍 Domein Puyenbroeck, Wachtebeke 👁️🗨️ Check out the video below and get your tickets via https://lnkd.in/d2Us9qGb UHasselt imec Jaroslav Hruby Boo Carmans Yarne Beerden Lieven Scheire #imomec #oscarqube #quantumtechnology #nerdland

✨ YPSat Shipment to Kourou, Centre Spatial Guyanais ✨ 🚀 The journey of YPSAT to Kourou has officially begun from ESA/ESTEC! 🌴🛰️ Join us as we count down to the thrilling launch while providing you with weekly updates. 🛸 YPSat has officially started its journey to Kourou. Soon, it will arrive in Evry, France with ARIANESPACE. Here it will board the plane to Kourou, together with other payloads. Within three to four weeks the YPSat is planned to arrive at the Centre Spatial Guyanais where the integration on top of the Ariane 6 can begin. To make its travel as smooth as possible, this week, the team was busy in packing the YPSat for maximum safety. 🎆 💥 The YPSat was securely packed with multiple layers of ESD-plastic to reduce the risk of contamination. Furthermore, the structure was mounted on a support structure and placed within the shipment container, with foam added around and on top of the structure to dampen any shocks. 🚀 This shipment marks a critical milestone, which was celebrated yesterday with a special dinner among the YPSat members and OSCAR-QUBE+. 🎉 We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed to this success. Thank you to all our YPSat members, alumni, experts, and partners! 🙏 Stay connected with YPSAT and join us in the exhilarating countdown to launch! 🌌 ✨

✨ YPSat Shipment to Kourou, Centre Spatial Guyanais ✨ 🚀 The journey of YPSat to Kourou has officially begun from ESA/ESTEC! 🌴🛰️ Join us as we count down to the thrilling launch while providing you with weekly updates. 🛸 Today, the YPSat has officially started its journey to Kourou. Soon, it will arrive in Evry, France with ARIANESPACE. Here it will board the plane to Kourou, together with other payloads. Within three to four weeks the YPSat is planned to arrive at the Centre Spatial Guyanais where the integration on top of the Ariane 6 can begin. To make its travel as smooth as possible, this week, the team was busy in packing the YPSat for maximum safety. 🎆 💥 The YPSat was securely packed with multiple layers of ESD-plastic to reduce the risk of contamination. Furthermore, the structure was mounted on a support structure and placed within the shipment container, with foam added around and on top of the structure to dampen any shocks. 🚀 This shipment marks a critical milestone, which was celebrated yesterday with a special dinner among the YPSat members and OSCAR-QUBE+. 🎉 We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed to this success. Thank you to all our YPSat members, alumni, experts, and partners! 🙏 Remember to stay connected with our page and join us in the exhilarating countdown to launch! 🌌 ✨ 

✨ YPSat End-to-End Test Campaign – Completed ✨   🚀 Our entire YPSat team is busy these days tackling the last challenges to make every single part ready to fly on board the Ariane 6! 🛰️ While we count down to the launch, we wanted to give you a general update on the final test phase of the YPSat.   🛸 The whole YPSat team is busy finalizing the last test campaigns. This past week, the End-to-End test has been completed. The results shows that everything works as expected. 🎆   🌠 The End-to-End test simulates the mission from beginning to finish, using the actual timeline of the Ariane 6 inaugural flight after the YPSat wakes up. It starts with the capture of two videos, using the two Scanway cameras on top of the YPSat. It then takes multiple pictures, as you can see in the accompanying pictures, before transferring them to the on-board computer (OBC). The OBC then transfer them to the transmitter, which then downlinks it via an antenna. During the End-to-End test, the antenna signal was directly fed into a decoder to retrieve the videos and images taken during the test to ensure everything was working as intended. We also ensured that the OSCAR and AMSAT-EA payloads were working as well. The test lasted for a total of 8200 seconds (2 hours, 16 minutes and 40 seconds), which reflects the actual duration of the mission. 🌍   The final test was done by our members Martin Nenkov and Tim Sagaster in OBC, Philémon Jongen in Telecommunications, and project manager Tuur Strobbe. We would like to thank Javier Roldán helping us set up everything for the test 🙏   🚀 With this final end-to-end test the YPSAT is ready to fly! 📈   As we prepare for the #YPSat to be shipped off from #ESTEC to ARIANESPACE in the coming weeks, remember to stay connected with our page and join us in the exhilarating countdown to launch! 🌌