Jennifer Anne MacKinnon "Jenni" Sidey-Gibbons (born August 3, 1988) is a

Canadian astronaut The Canadian Astronaut Corps is a unit of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and Russian space missions. The corps has four active members, able to serve on the International Spac ...

, engineer, and academic. She was selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as one of the two members of the 2017 CSA Group alongside Joshua Kutryk.

Early life and education

Sidey was born on August 3, 1988, in Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Sidey graduated from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

with a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Ba ...

with honours degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

. While she was at McGill, she carried out research in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the National Research Council Flight Research Laboratory on flame propagation in microgravity. She subsequently went on to complete a PhD in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

in 2015, where she focused on

combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combus ...

under the supervision of Professor Nondas Mastorakos.

Academic career

Prior to joining the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Sidey was a lecturer in internal combustion engines at the Department of Engineering of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. The focus of her research was turbulent flame physics and pollutant reduction in combustion systems. She also taught undergraduate and graduate students in the Energy,

Fluid Mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...

and Turbomachinery Division on topics ranging from conventional and alternative energy production to introductory thermodynamics and flame physics. In 2016, she was awarded the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871, and ...

Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award The Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards are presented at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, England. Part of the IET Achievement Medals collection, the award was launched in 1978, and was originally known as the Girl Techn ...

, as well as a Royal Academy of Engineering Young Engineer of the Year Award.

CSA career

Sidey was selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to undergo training as an astronaut as part of the 2017 CSA Group, the fourth Canadian astronaut recruitment campaign. Sidey and Joshua Kutryk were selected among a large field of qualified candidates. Sidey was the third female candidate chosen by the Canadian Space Agency after

Roberta Bondar Roberta Lynn Bondar (; born December 4, 1945) is a Canadian astronaut, neurologist and consultant. She is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space. After more than a decade as head of an international space medicine ...

and

Julie Payette Julie Payette (; born October 20, 1963) is a Canadian engineer, scientist and former astronaut who served from 2017 to 2021 as Governor General of Canada, the 29th since Canadian Confederation. Payette holds engineering degrees from McGill U ...

, and when selected at age 28, was the youngest astronaut candidate ever selected by the Canadian Space Agency. In July 2017, Sidey relocated to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, to complete the two-year NASA Astronaut Candidate Training Program at the Johnson Space Center. She is training alongside the 2017 NASA astronaut class.

References

External links

CSA profile
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CSA Video GalleryCSA Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidey, Jennifer 1988 births Living people Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Canadian astronauts Canadian women engineers Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni People from Calgary Women astronauts 21st-century Canadian engineers