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The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Canada announced a new partnership today with the Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation with the goal of providing more opportunities to early career professionals.
The Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation is a not-for-profit organization which was founded earlier this year with the express purpose of developing and retaining highly qualified personnel in Canada’s aerospace industry.
The Foundation has created the Zenith Fellowship as its first program with the aim of connecting students and young professionals with work-integrated learning opportunities and a community of industry mentors and advisors.
In an interview with SpaceQ earlier this year, Tahir Merali, a co-founder of the Foundation said “The Fellowship is the flagship program of the Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation and is a national merit-based professional development program. It includes a bespoke mentoring program for students and early career professionals seeking work experience, providing them a solid foundation to springboard their career. All the founding members of the Zenith Foundation had to leave Canada to chase a career in space and build expertise – many of us came back to Canada and a lot of us have not. This is a critical issue for talent development and the future of the aerospace sector in Canada.”
The new partnership announced today is meant to “allow students and early-career professionals to benefit from programming offered to help them establish and pursue careers in the industry in Canada.”
SEDS Canada president Chimira Andres said “SEDS-Canada is a national proponent for the Canadian student body involved with the space industry. We are committed to empowering students and early career professionals in order to provide them with the appropriate resources and experience to better transition into the Canadian space sector. With our newfound partnership with Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation, we are excited to co-build this system of support and infrastructure between industry and highly-qualified students.”
Tahir Merali and Hira Nadeem, co-founders and directors of Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation said “Early-career aerospace professionals in Canada struggle to find opportunities to either discover new skills or kick start their career. SEDS-Canada and Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation are both committed to supporting and sustaining highly-qualified students and young professionals in Canada’s aerospace industry.”
