Anu Ojha

Anupam Ojha OBE (born 1968) is one of the Directors of the National Space Centre. He serves on the Council of the STFC and as a member of the European Space Agency Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee (HESAC).

Anu Ojha
Born
Anupam Ojha
AwardsSir Arthur Clarke Award
Scientific career
InstitutionsGreat Barr School
National Space Centre
European Space Agency
STFC

Career

Ojha taught physics, mathematics and sciences at a range of UK all-ability secondary schools culminating in becoming Assistant Headteacher at Great Barr School.[1] In 2003 he was awarded Advanced Skills Teacher status by the Secretary of State for Education.[2] He was made a National Lead Practitioner for physics by the UK Specialist Schools and Academies Trust in 2010, and continues to teach physics at Loughborough College.[3]

Ojha started working on teacher training programmes for BNSC (the forerunner organisation to the UK Space Agency) and European Space Agency in 2007. In this capacity he leads teacher and student (school and undergraduate level) training programmes.[3] His work helped demonstrate that space related education has a profound impact on student achievement, resulting in better than predicted grades at GCSE and A-level.[4] He has led the National Space Academy since it launched in 2008.[5] He was awarded the 2010 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Inspiration.[6] Since 2016 he has been the lead for Skills/Education/Human spaceflight and robotic exploration in the UK Government’s programmes of strategic collaboration in Space Science and Technology with China

In 2014 Ojha was appointed OBE for services to science education in the Queen's Birthday Honours.[7] He led the Astro Academy Principia Education Programme involving experiments conducted by European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake during his time on the International Space Station. He served as a consultant for the ESA SOHO orbiting solar observatory.[8]

In 2016 Ojha was appointed as an Honorary Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester. He is co-investigator for the planetary sampling tool SPLIT, which is being developed for future Mars exploration missions. He has served as the President of the Astronautics Records Commission of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.[9][10][11]

Ojha was appointed to the STFC Council in 2018, and the Global Space Congress Advisory Board of the UAE Space Agency. He has a long-standing interest in why people believe conspiracy theories and misinformation and the societal ramifications of this.[12]

Personal life

Ojha is a skydiver who has completed nearly 1,500 jumps.[1] He acted as an independent analyst for the Red Bull Stratos stratospheric jump of Felix Baumgartner and has made many technical and general presentations on stratospheric skydiving and human survival in extreme environments including as a keynote presentation at the 2019 Skydive Expo of the British Parachute Association. He is supporting the neutral buoyancy facility the Blue Abyss project.[13]

References
  1. Ojha, Anu (2018-10-01). "Q&A Anu OjhaProfile". Astronomy & Geophysics. 59 (5): 5.43. doi:10.1093/astrogeo/aty236. ISSN 1366-8781.
  2. lh198. "Speaker Biographies — University of Leicester". www2.le.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  3. "Professor Anu Ojha OBE - Science and Technology Facilities Council". stfc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  4. Committee, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology (2007-07-17). 2007: a space policy, seventh report of session 2006-07, Vol. 2: Oral and written evidence. The Stationery Office. ISBN 9780215035097.
  5. "National Space Academy - Professor Anu Ojha OBE". nationalspaceacademy.org. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  6. "In the news - Anu Ojha". Tes. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  7. Guardian Staff (2014-06-13). "Queen's birthday honours list 2014: OBE". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  8. esa. "Space science gives European teachers a boost". European Space Agency. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  9. "National Space Academy - Professor Anu Ojha OBE". www.nsccdev.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  10. "Anu Ojha,Director of Education and Space Communications - News - Space Studio West London". spacestudiowestlondon.org. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  11. "Vice-Presidents". www.fai.org. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  12. "Anu Ojha". New Scientist Live 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  13. "Blue Abyss | Anu Ojha Education Consultant | Blue Abyss". blueabyss.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
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