Member Spotlight – Ryan Bererton

Ryan Bererton is a fifth year nano-engineering Physics student at the University of Alberta. He has been an active member of the AlbertaSat club on campus since the September of 2021. Ryan started his AlbertaSat journey in the DEBORA high-altitude balloon mission. After gaining some experience in the club, he became the technical leader of the Attitude Determination Control System (ADCS) subsystem for the latest Ex-Alta 3 CUBICS Cubesat. More recently, Ryan has been working hard doing a trade study to choose the best ADCS for the mission. In the future, he is excited about the many applications of nano-engineering physics as engineers work in the miniaturization of future technology.

Before university, Ryan was an adamant fan of badminton. He played throughout high school and junior high and made it to a provincial level. In university, he chose a degree in nano-engineering physics. He stated that it was appealing because of the numerous applications of miniaturization and nano-technology in the near future. He also believed it looked the most fun compared to other disciplines. Ryan joined AlbertaSat in his third year of university because of his great interest in space, as well as to expand his skillset as an engineering student, and to have a break from the monotony of school. 

Ryan said the biggest inspiration for him and his hard work is his dad. Coming from a non-technical background, Ryan’s dad exposed him to hard work and he’s grateful that his dad has created opportunities for him to become who he is today. Another inspiration for Ryan are the other team leads in the club who have allowed Ryan to become a great leader among them.

Ryan space fact: It is possible to use a few dozen pulsars to measure the gravitational wave background in space by measuring the ticks of such pulsars!