Gianni Gallaccio

It was cool to see a group of young adults who are all passionate about pushing Canadian space flight forward.

What made you want to get involved in the Starsailor project?

I’ve always been interested in aerospace. I earned a DEC in Electrical Engineering Technology from Dawson College and started working in the aerospace defense sector for about two years. During that time, I realized I was more interested in the management side of things, particularly operations.

That’s when I decided to go back to school so I applied to the Certificate in Foundations for Business at John Molson. I’d heard about Space Concordia from friends and various open house events. I reached out to them and they accepted me into the business development team. I worked on securing sponsors and eventually moved into outreach and became the outreach lead.

For the recent rocket launch, I took on more of an operations management role. I was in charge of making sure we had adequate power, water, proper sanitation, and waste management at the site. I had the chance to really get to know everyone involved and how passionate they are about the project. It was cool to see a group of young adults who are all passionate about pushing Canadian space flight forward.

What has been the most rewarding part of the experience?

The most rewarding part of the experience for me was definitely seeing the rocket lift off from the launch pad. I’ve also really enjoyed the ability to make friends from around the university. The group is pretty welcoming in general but really when you’re all striving for something as grand as a rocket launch, there’s a lot of different factors that go into it in order to make it successful.We have a lot of respect for each other because we all know that we’re trying our best to reach a common goal.

So that, coupled with the long hours, means you do spend a lot of time with people and get to know them quite well. Because rocketry as a whole is so interdisciplinary, you really learn how to socialize and cultivate that large group cohesion.  

How has Starsailor shaped your studies or future goals?

Originally, I had intended to stay within the electronics, communications sector but being part of Starsailor and just getting to know industry professionals and other people within the aerospace sphere has reinforced my passion for aerospace and aviation.

It’s pushed me towards the two industries. I would love to be Director of Operations for a fairly large aerospace aviation company one day.