2nd Adigun Ade Abiodun Public Lecture
Join us for the 2nd Adigun Ade Abiodun Public Lecture, a special event in honour of Dr. Adigun Ade Abiodun (former UN Expert on Space Applications, and former Chair of UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space).
The Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Peter Martinez (Executive Director, Secure World Foundation).
About the honouree
Adigun Ade ABIODUN was educated in Nigeria, the USA and Canada. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1971, in civil engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA, and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing in Ottawa, Canada, from December 1974 – February, 1976.
His professional experiences included his services as a hydraulic engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers, in Seattle, as a system engineer at the Boeing Company, in Seattle; Snr. Lecturer at the University of Ife, (since renamed Obafemi Awolowo University), and as United Nations Expert on Space Applications from 1981 November to 1999 September, when he retired from the services of the United Nations. Thereafter, he was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as a Member of the College of Commissioners of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission on Iraq (UNMOVIC), (2000-2007). He also served concurrently as the Senior Special Assistant (to the President of Nigeria) on Space Science and Technology (March 2000 – May 2003). He was elected and served as the Chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of outer Space - COPUOS (June 2004 – June 2006). He also served as one of the 20 global panelists that explored, in June 2006, "Humans and Space: The Next Thousand Years," at the Foundation for the Future, Bellevue, State of Washington.
Among other things, Ade ABIODUN initiated and co-founded the African Association of Remote Sensing of Environment (AARSE) and the African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development (ALC). He was Board Member of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) and a Trustee of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS). He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Space Week International Association (SWIA) and also served as a member of the African Union Space Working Group (AUSWG).
Ade ABIODUN has lectured and published extensively on different aspects of space science and technology. He is the Founder of the African Space Foundation (ASF), a co-founder of the African Space Leadership Institute (ASLI) and the author of "Nigeria’s Space Journey – Understanding its Past, Reshaping its Future."
About the Guest Speaker
Dr Peter MARTINEZ is the Executive Director of the Secure World Foundation (SWF). He has extensive experience in multilateral space diplomacy, space policy formulation and space regulation. He also has extensive experience in capacity building in space science and technology and in workforce development.
Prior to joining SWF, from 2011 - 2018 he chaired the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) Working Group on the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities, that negotiated a set of international consensus guidelines to promote the safety and sustainability of space operations. In 2012 and 2013 he was South Africa’s representative on the United Nations Group of Government Experts on transparency and confidence-building measures for space activities. From 2010 – 2015 he was the Chairman of the South African Council for Space Affairs (SACSA), the national regulatory authority for space activities in South Africa. From 2014 - 2018 he was Professor of Space Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. Before this he acquired fifteen years of executive level management experience and associated general management skills gained in the research and development environment of the South African Astronomical Observatory, a National Facility under the South African National Research Foundation.
He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, the International Institute of Space Law, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and an Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town. He has authored or co-authored over 200 publications on topics in space policy, space sustainability, astronomy, space research, space law and space policy.
He holds a BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics, a BSc(Hons) in Materials Engineering, a masters in astronomy with distinction, and a PhD in astronomy, all from the University of Cape Town. He has also attended several executive management courses and the International Space University’s Summer Studies Program, where he developed his interest in space policy and law.