Bryan Ho
After completing his commercial flight training and in 2015, Bryan Ho recognized the potential in the rapidly growing Canadian unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry and joined PrecisionHawk, a fixed-wing drone manufacturing company, where he supported flight operations and testing. He continued working in the UAS industry, completing his Master’s specializing in UAS aerodynamics, all while supporting the startup of a civilian drone training company based in Toronto. In 2018, he started working at NAVBLUE, an Airbus company, where he specialized in aircraft performance engineering with a focus on flight operations and navigational technologies. From NAVBLUE, he moved on to Loon, a former Google subsidiary, where he worked on flight operations engineering aimed a providing internet access to remote areas via high-altitude stratospheric balloons. Bryan joined MDA Space in 2022 as a member of the satellite operations systems engineering team in the company’s Geointelligence business area, where he develops satellite operations capabilities for future Earth observation space missions. He is a key member of the team developing MDA CHORUS, the company’s next-generation Earth observation constellation, and serves as the lead for flight procedure development and testing for the MDA CHORUS C-band satellite. Bryan’s responsibilities include collaborating across all MDA CHORUS mission teams to develop comprehensive, functional and safe operations procedures. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Aviation from the University of Waterloo and a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from Toronto Metropolitan University.
While working at MDA Space, Bryan created a large-scale trade space optimization tool, which has allowed the company to more rapidly complete mission concept studies and has set new standards for both speed of analysis and for visualizations. This tool makes complex concepts easy to understand for customers, business executives, and other stakeholders, enabling them to make accurate and timely decisions. Bryan also led the development of the Space Debris Mitigation Plan for the MDA CHORUS C-band constellation, which required completing complex analyses, interfacing with many different mission subject matter experts and delivering a comprehensive document that culminated in the approval of the RF spectrum license for the MDA CHORUS C-band spacecraft.
After departing Loon and before joining MDA Space, Bryan put his degrees and experience in aerospace companies to work as an educator, serving as an adjunct professor of aerodynamics and aircraft performance at Conestoga College. He continues to teach and mentor others while working at MDA Space, including junior staff members on his team. Outside of work hours, Bryan is an active mentor for the Space Generation Advisory Council and was nominated for Best Mentor in Spring of 2023. He also serves as a mentor and a member of the Board of Advisors for Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS-Canada). Bryan has been a mentor, advisor and judge for a variety of industry events, including Science Rendezvous’ Youth Hackathon, the Canadian Space Society and the NASA International Space Apps Challenge. He is also a reserve officer and pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces Cadet Instructor Cadre, where he flies tow planes for cadet glider training and is the training officer for over 150 cadets.
