Retrospect - About myself

My name is Sebastian M. Ernst. I was born in Leipzig in 1985. I am a free scientist. Against the present-day trend, I have never specialized. Therefore, I am occasionally referred to as a "generalist".

For the past one and a half decades, at Leipzig University, at the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, at the Dresden University of Technology, at Rostock University and at the Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Kühlungsborn (IAP) as well as in the State Hydrological Service of Saxony and together with the international start-up Deep Space Industries I have concerned myself with the following disciplines:

  • geophysics, in particular geomagnetics
  • geomathematics
  • geoinformatics
  • remote sensing
  • hydrology
  • mining engineering
  • mathematics
  • microscopy & microphotography
  • atmospheric physics
  • experimental physics
  • the design and development of scientific instruments, in particular for the absolute calibration of light sources
  • electrical engineering
  • materials science and engineering, in particular chemical vapour deposition as a means of 3D printin
  • vacuum technology
  • planetary sciences, in particular with respect to asteroids as well as the planet Mars, space resources, the commercial exploration of space and planetary defence
  • sounding rockets
  • the development of satellites, in particular nano-satellites along the lines of the CubeSat standard as well as corresponding GNC systems (guidance, navigation, control)‎
  • data sciences, in particular with respect to processing huge volatile data sets
  • software development for various platforms and applications from embedded systems to large computer clusters

In this context, I have started, developed and coordinated a number of projects, organized international workshops (for instance here) as well as sessions within larger scientific conferences (for instance here or here), spoken at many scientific gatherings, several times on invitation, published various texts about different topics and edited a book about Mathematical Geosciences, which can now be found in a multitude of scientific libraries around the globe.

I was significantly involved in the development of the "first Saxonian satellite" SOMP (Student's Oxygen Measurement Project for the measurement of atomic oxygen), launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 19th 2013 (watch the video here), which transmitted telemetry until 2018 (call sign DP0TUD) from space (COSPAR ID 2013-015F). Last but not least starting with this project, I am deeply connected with my probably most significant interest, space - one of the most fierce and interdisciplinary challenges of our time. In this context, I coordinated an experiment for geomagnetic measurements, which was launched on a sounding rocket from Esrange, Sweden, on March 12th 2009 (watch videos here and here) and, following American standards, reached space for a few seconds. I was involved in the development of the ground penetrating radar instrument for the European Mars-rover ExoMars, which is most likely going to end up in a museum (as of May 2022). I am one of the core developers of the commercial "Mothership"-concept, which was widely recognized in the space community. Furthermore, I campaign for planetary defence against asteroids and push for the commercial exploration of space and the subsequent use of space resources, which has recently been picked up as a serious topic on European soil in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

You can find more about myself, my project and my experiences in my blog.