Helmut Spitzl

Helmut Spitzl

Assistant to the Galileo Programme Manager at the European Commission

Location
Brussels Area, Belgium
Industry
Defense & Space

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Helmut Spitzl's Overview

Current
Past

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Education
  • Technische Universität Wien
  • International Space University
  • Ecole centrale de Paris
  • Mahawithayalai Technology Suranaree
  • Universität Wien
  • Technische Universität Wien
  • Workshops/Symposia

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Connections

270 connections

Websites

Helmut Spitzl's Summary

Helmut Spitzl is currently seconded to the European Commission as national expert where he is working on the development and implementation of the future operations and exploitation strategy for the European Satellite Navigation Systems EGNOS and Galileo. Prior to that, Helmut worked at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology where he was responsible for the conception, planning and coordination of national and international space activities, as well as for bilateral activities with China.

Helmut was born and raised in Austria and has lived in France, the US, Thailand, Japan, Germany, and Belgium. He holds Masters of Applied Physics, Industrial Engineering, and Space Studies and a Bachelor of Astronomy. During his studies, Helmut had the opportunity to contribute to international space exploration missions in the US, Japan, and Europe. He participated in ESA's Student Parabolic Flight Campaign with an experiment studying combustion in micro-gravity.

Helmut speaks fluently German, English, French, and Spanish and is currently improving his Chinese. He enjoys travelling, playing the piano and ballroom/competition dancing.

Specialties

Helmut has a strong experience in international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary teamwork combined with excellent presentation and communication skills. He can easily adapt to new situations and enjoys challenging tasks that demand analytical thinking and complex problem solving skills.

His specialties include space exploration, system engineering, satellite navigation, public policy, international relations, education, and graphics design.

Helmut Spitzl's Experience

Assistant to the Galileo Programme Manager

European Commission (DG ENTR), Brussels

Government Agency; 10,001+ employees; International Affairs industry

May 2010 – Present (2 years 1 month) Brussels Area, Belgium

• Assisting in the coordination of the work of the EGNSS units
• Definition, coordination and tracking of objectives for the current and the upcoming year, used as basis for the annual EGNSS work programme
• Contribution to EGNSS risk assessment, identification, implementation and follow-up of mitigation actions
• High-level definition of the Galileo commercial service, preparation of implementation options
• Coordination of and contribution to follow-up on audit recommendations on governance, risk and project management by Internal Audit Service and by European Court of Auditors, definition of an action plan
• Definition of EGNSS work breakdown structure, analysis of responsibilities and resources
• Optimization of internal organisation workflow and harmonization of management documents (objectives dashboard, EGNSS work programme, key decision points, quarterly report to Member States, action plans)

Policy Analyst

European Commission (DG TREN), Brussels

Government Agency; 10,001+ employees; International Affairs industry

October 2008 – April 2010 (1 year 7 months) Brussels Area, Belgium

• Development of the future operations and exploitation strategy for the European Satellite Navigation Programmes EGNOS and Galileo, delivery of a 1-year exploitation study in cooperation with Roland Berger consultants covering market assessment, competitive positioning, strategic analysis and exploitation plan
• Assessment of operations concepts, cost assessment of elements constituting the Galileo and EGNOS projects
• Analysis of EGNSS governance options, contribution to overall EGNSS cost analysis through costing of various elements of the programmes, development of budget scenarios for the current financial frame and the next financial perspective
• Contribution to supervision of work delivered by Roland Berger consultants on GNSS programmes assessment and project control
• Interviews with EADS Astrium, EUMETSAT, DGAC, TollCollect, SES-ASTRA in the frame of the Exploitation study
• Representing European Commission in workshops and conferences, lecturing at workshops on various aspects of EGNSS

Assistant to deputy director general for innovation

Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT)

Government Agency; 201-500 employees; Government Administration industry

July 2005 – October 2008 (3 years 4 months) Vienna, Austria

• Conception, planning and coordination of national space activities, especially in the fields of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Galileo public regulated service (PRS) and security; coordination of interface with Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG); representation in national working groups and committees
• GNSS activities within the EU: preparation and support of political decision making processes, direct support to the chairman of the Administrative Board of the GNSS Supervisory Authority, Austrian representation in international working groups and committees
• Participation in international space workshops and conferences
• Bilateral activities with China, in particular relating to technology transfer and the creation of a China-Austria Technology Park (CATP)

Systems & test engineer

Siemens, Program and Systems Engineering, Space Business Division, Vienna, Austria

Privately Held; 10,001+ employees; si; Industrial Automation industry

November 2004 – June 2005 (8 months) Vienna, Austria

Integration of special check-out equipment (SCOE) for ESA’s Herschel/Planck space observatories mission (2009). Elaboration of test plans and scripts (Tcl/Tk, LINUX) for use on individual modules, units and racks.

Software trainer

IBM, Vienna, Austria

Public Company; 10,001+ employees; IBM; Information Technology and Services industry

November 2002 – October 2004 (2 years) Vienna, Austria

Multiple-day software trainings, in particular for Austrian public administration in preparation of the transition to a paperless, internet-based document management system (Elektronischer Akt - ELAK)

Systems engineer

DLR Berlin-Adlershof, Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany

Government Agency; 5001-10,000 employees; Aviation & Aerospace industry

May 2003 – November 2003 (7 months) Berlin Area, Germany

Investigation of Phobos Flybys during ESA’s Mars Express Mission. Mars Express was launched in mid-2003. In August 2004, during an extremely close flyby of the Martian Moon Phobos, high-resolution color images in 3D were recorded based on the work described above. Another spectacular set of images was recorded during the fly-by campaign in 2010 from a record distance of only 67km.

Systems engineer

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Tsukuba Space Center, Japan

Government Agency; 1001-5000 employees; Aviation & Aerospace industry

February 2001 – May 2001 (4 months) Tsukuba, Japan

Research study on "Quality Assessment of Digital Elevation Models" in association with the KAGUYA/SELENE-Mission (successfully launched end of 2007). Analysis of possible sources of influence on digital elevation data from the SELENE Terrain Camera. Assessment of quality of the resulting Digital Elevation Model (DEM).

Systems engineer

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, USA

Government Agency; 5001-10,000 employees; Defense & Space industry

June 1998 – August 1998 (3 months) Greater Los Angeles Area

Research study on “Calibration of the Mars Meteorological Network Station” which was flown on the Mars Polar Lander (1999) and the Phoenix Lander (2007). Recalibration of the Mars Pathfinder (1997) flight-spare wind-sensor.

Helmut Spitzl's Languages

  • English

    (Native or bilingual proficiency)

  • French

    (Native or bilingual proficiency)

  • German

    (Native or bilingual proficiency)

  • Spanish

    (Professional working proficiency)

  • Chinese

    (Elementary proficiency)

  • Japanese

    (Elementary proficiency)

Helmut Spitzl's Education

Technische Universität Wien

MSc (with honors), Applied Physics

2001 – 2003

Diploma thesis on “Investigation of Phobos Flybys during ESA’s Mars Express Mission”

International Space University

MSc, Space Studies (MSS '01)

2000 – 2001

Diploma thesis on “Study of a scientific mission to Mars, using a network of small spacecraft”

Ecole centrale de Paris

MSc, Ingénieur diplômé de l'École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Industrial Engineering

1997 – 2000

Activities and Societies: Campus Spirituals, Choer et Orchestre des Grandes Ecoles (COGE), TIME (Top Industrial Managers for Europe)

Mahawithayalai Technology Suranaree

International Space University (ISU 1999), 10-week Summer Session Program

1999 – 1999

Activities and Societies: "Out of the Cradle - An International Strategy for Human Exploration Away from Earth", 6-week team project on human space exploration

Universität Wien

BSc equivalent (1. Diplomprüfung), Astronomy

1996 – 1997

Technische Universität Wien

BSc equivalent (1. Diplomprüfung), Applied Physics

1994 – 1997

Workshops/Symposia

2011: 3-week language course at Mandarin House, Shanghai, China
2010: Taiwan Studies Seminar, Taipei, Taiwan
2009: UN/Azerbaijan/ESA/USA Workshop on GNSS, Baku, Azerbaijan
2007: 1st International Summer School on GNSS, Berchtesgaden, Germany
2006: UN/China/ESA Training Course on GNSS, Beijing, China
2002: 2-week Lunar Base Design Workshop, ESA/ESTEC
2000: Participant in 3rd ESA Student Parabolic Flight Campaign, Bordeaux
2000: 51st IAF Congress, presentation of a paper, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2000: ESA Summer School in Alpbach on extragalactic astronomy, Austria
1994: 4th International Space Camp, U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama

Helmut Spitzl's Additional Information

Websites:
Interests:

ballroom dancing, competition dancing, latin dances, salsa, space exploration, human space exploration, international relations, Galileo, GNSS, satellite navigation, piano, guitar, photography

Groups and Associations:

Austrian ISU Alumni Association (president)

Honors and Awards:

- Leonardo Da Vinci Quality in Mobility Award, 2005
- International Space University, 11-month Master of Space Studies Programme 2001 (EUMETSAT scholarship)
- International Space University, 10-week Summer Session Programme 1999 (EUMETSAT scholarship)

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