Callie Lissinna is a 2nd year Mechanical Engineering student that joined AlbertaSat in September of her first year of engineering when she saw their booth at the ENGG Expo. Her decision to join came from the interest that she’s had since she was young and she was reminded of that interest when she saw AlbertaSat’s booth. Callie started off working with public relations, running the Instagram account. She also worked the educational outreach and she still goes to schools quite often. She was also the mastermind behind the design of the Ex-Alta 1 mission patches and stickers and also distributing them. She then transitioned to working on the 3D model of the satellite which will be going on display in CCIS, that is her big project right now. As a result of all her hard work and commitment she then became the Mechanical team lead for Ex-Alta 2 after only a year of being a part of AlbertaSat.
Callie is the most proud of the mission patch and once the 3D model is done and on display that will most likely become her proudest accomplishment. Callie was Valedictorian of her class and has managed to train enough in Ballet to be able to reach a level where she can teach at her dance studio, Marr-Mac Dance Center. She’s very proud and excited to be able to teach because the competition to become a teacher is tough and requires a lot of dedication and talent. Callie also used to play violin and piano for a long time and worked retail for a year and a half at Anthropology and actually really enjoyed it. She’s also taken dance classes from ‘tWitch’, Ellen Degeneres’ DJ.
Callie’s situation is impressive and unique, as she became a team lead quite early in her AlbertaSat career even though her technical experience was limited. She attributes her success to her ability of choosing a task and getting it done quickly, independently and of good quality. Callie is really good at showing initiative, doing things independently and she knows how to take ownership right away. Through this she was able to prove she can get stuff done and is a really reliable team member. All of these roles are what brought her to her current role as Mechanical Team Lead.
Among Callie’s many talents and impressive qualities, another thing to add to the list is her participation as a dancing Santa, where she dances along with 50 others, dressed as Santa with a beard, wig, and her shirt stuffed with pillows (to achieve the mandatory Santa belly of course) in the Edmonton Singing Christmas Tree at the Jubilee for the past three years. If the professional dancing Santa gig doesn’t work out for her, Callie hopes to pursue a career in Aerospace after completing her degree. She would like to start small and work some different jobs in the industry to try to find what she likes best and to get some experience.
Callie’s favorite thing about AlbertaSat is the people and their willingness to share all their knowledge. She also loves the positive environment they create, and the way that the team makes space more understandable and a lot less daunting. Overall the mentorship is what she enjoys the most about the group. Another one of Callie’s many responsibilities at AlbertaSat is taking meeting minutes at the faculty meetings which she really enjoys as it challenges and forces her to expand her vocabulary and understand some of the bigger concepts and ideas that the professors discuss.
If faced with the problem of launching either 1000 1U CubeSats or one 1000U CubeSats, Callie would chose 1000 1U CubeSats as it would put a lot less pressure on her to make each one work and they would be a lot more expendable and also a lot cheaper.
As Ex-Alta 2 approaches Callie is getting super excited to make the next mission patch. Although it’s a long ways away, she feels there is a lot of stuff that she could do better with the design and looks forward to improving on her last patch and making the next one. Her favorite part about Ex-Alta 1 is obviously the mission patch, but more seriously, the educational outreach program. Callie really enjoys getting the young students excited and engaged about the first satellite of Alberta and just about space science and technology in general.
Callie’s success at school, dance, and in AlbertaSat has been a result of her time management skills and awesome attitude. Growing up doing competitive dance and school at the same time brought her to a point where she had a system doing homework in the car while her dad drove her to and from dance. She’s mastered crazy time management as a result of always being on the go and having every hour of the day scheduled. It’s become second nature for her and is a part of the way she is. Her number one tip on how to come across as a super efficient person is to always answer your emails right away. Callie’s shining personality is evident as soon as you meet her and she really brings something special and unique to AlbertaSat, with not only her dedicated hard work but also with her kind nature.
Author: Casia McLeod
