Interview with Intern Naomi Wiren by Chloe Mcclellan 11/02/22

Last year at the South Coast Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications, we were successful in our application to the SPIN scheme. We offered a placement working alongside us and the University of Portsmouth, which focused on using Virtual Reality immersive capabilities applied to CubeSat prototyping. Our intern, Naomi Wiren undertook extensive space sector research, garnering vital industrial perspectives from stakeholders like In-Space Missions and Rocket Breaks, covering diverse space-related topics like lunar habitation, space tourism and CubeSat missions. She identified CubeSat manufacture as an area most likely to benefit from immersive tools, providing real commercial benefit from speeding up prototype development, cost reductions to improved product performance and skills development and went on to develop early-stage software for the virtual reality headset, Oculus Quest 2. We were delighted to host Naomi and to see how far she came in developing what is a very exciting project and we met with her last week to discuss her work on the programme. 

Who are you? What do you do?

My name is Naomi Wiren. I am a student at the University of Portsmouth, studying Computer Games Technology and I’m currently focusing on becoming an engine programmer in the games industry.

This means, I develop custom engines and create the digital framework that a game is made out of. It is not one size fits all, and my job is to tailor the engine to the game we are creating

What does gaming mean to you? What can a game be?

I find that games can be a lot of things. Primarily, it’s a form of entertainment. But I like to see them more as a narrative thing. I’m a huge fan of narrative games, for example, I have just finished re-playing Mass Effects, which is a great story-based game, but it doesn’t identify as one thing, it’s both a journey and a process. If you consider films, some are made to be entertaining, but not all in the same way, for example, they could recall historical events, or provide a specific type of emotional impact, and it is exactly the same approach with games. 

What was the aim of that SPIN placement? What did you want to achieve?

For me, there were two opportunities here, the first is the obvious one, using my skills in VR development on a programme with links to the UK Space Agency and Satellite Applications Catapult, I knew this would look great on my CV. And the second is that working in the space sector in this way, I really didn’t think was an option for me, and it was something I simply couldn’t pass up, I might learn something about myself, and I might find that the space industry is the place for me.  

What did you manage to create during this programme? 

As I was totally new to space, I took the first 4 weeks (of the 8-week internship) just as an opportunity for research. Before this programme, I had no prior technical insight into the space sector, more or less just knowing that satellites orbit Earth and that we haven’t been to the moon since 1972. So I took the chance to connect with companies across the industry, I gathered sector-specific data and learnt all about their ambitious plans e.g space tourism and more! 

After speaking with companies, and learning what they needed, I realised that VR could fill a gap in services in the space sector. CubeSats and Micro Satellites are the most cost-effective satellite you can make, but in real terms, this is still a very costly endeavour for lots of space companies. I realised that VR could connect an engineer and a client, that they could design and work on a virtual CubeSat together, reducing costs, and getting all the clients criteria – which the engineer could then use to create a CubeSat in real life. 

Where do you think this project could go next? 

That’s a really interesting point because although I’m not working on this project anymore, some of the students at the University of Portsmouth are taking up where I left off and working on this project as part of their course.

As I only had eight weeks, I left things in a simple place, where you could pick up pieces and add them to the CubeSat. But now these students have a full team and a year to get their teeth into it, so I am really excited to see what they come up with. 

Why is this work important? 

This is a great way of prototyping a satellite before it goes into production, saving clients and engineers, time and money and avoiding costly mistakes. Ultimately lowering risk is always a good thing! 

Are you going to continue working in the space sector? 

This was a fantastic opportunity and a really fun internship. And I have really enjoyed learning more about this sector, which before I had little insight into. I think at the moment my goal is to get experience in the gaming industry, I have after all been studying it for a long time. That being said, I’m not counting out the space sector, it’s very much something that I can see myself coming back into in the future and if there is a spot where they are looking for a game developer slash lecturer with a background in satellite VR development, then go for it. I will be there! 

What are you looking forward to seeing happen in the space sector in the next 10 years? 

One of the things that I really like about the space sector is its possibility and speed of it. In my research, it was clear that they are huge advancements on their way,  in 2022 we’re going back to the moon. Oh, and in 2024 there’s going to be a habitable moon base, and then we are aiming to go further, all the way to Mars. At this point, it sounds impossible, but according to the experts, it’s happening. And I have heard about Moon bases before, but only in video games, and the idea that the technology and advancements can make that happen in my life is so cool. 

What’s next for Naomi? 

It’s my final year of this course at university, so it is jam-packed. I’m currently in conversations with some companies regarding where I’m going to end up next year. But if I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t really know just yet. I’m toying with the idea of joining a Masters programme straight out of the gate and then toying with the idea of going straight into the games industry. But there are so many different paths I want to take and none of them I’ve set in stone just yet. If you come back again in 5 months time, perhaps then I will have a better answer for you. 

It was our pleasure to meet and work with you Naomi, thank you so much for your time and good luck in all you do next! 

The deadline for applications to host your very own Space Placements in Industry (SPIN) is on 1 April 2022.