The UMaine Student Symposium planning committee is thrilled to announce this year’s Keynote Speaker, Sascha Deri. Mr. Deri will deliver his talk, “Boldly Venturing to Space, the Maine Way,” at 1:30 p.m. in the New Balance Field House and Memorial Gym, during the in-person portion of the 2022 UMaine Student Symposium. Everyone wishing to attend the live in-person event must register here.
Mr. Deri grew up in Maine, earning a degree in Physics from Earlham College and a second degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern Maine. In 1999 Mr. Deri co-founded the altE Store, a national renewable energy product distribution and light manufacturing company, where as CEO he is responsible for setting the company’s market and product development strategy for the $35M/year organization.
In 2014 Mr. Deri founded bluShift Aerospace. The company made history on Jan. 31, 2021 with the first commercial rocket launch powered by bio-derived fuel in the world, using a proprietary modular hybrid rocket engine that is also unique to the aerospace industry. Their series of small rockets will be able to lift 3100-kilogram payloads suborbitally to space and then to low Earth orbit for academic research and commercial customers.
This event forms part of Maine Impact Week.
