Diaspora Diplomacy: Personal Journey of NASA’s Dr. Swati Mohan

BIOS

Dr. Swati Mohan, Guidance, Navigation, and Control Systems Engineering Group Supervisor, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Dr. Swati Mohan joined NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory first in 2004, after completing her B.S from Cornell University in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. After working as a systems engineer on Cassini during Saturn Orbit Insertion and Huygens Probe release, she returned to graduate school in 2005 to MIT. Dr. Mohan received her M.S. and Ph.D in Aeronautics/Astronautics from the MIT Space Systems Laboratory. Since her return to JPL in 2010, Dr. Mohan has worked on multiple missions such as GRAIL and OCO-3. Swati also co-founded and manages the Small Satellite Dynamics Testbed. For the past 8 years, she has been the Lead Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Systems Engineer for Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, focusing on Cruise and EDL. For the last year, her role was the Mars 2020 Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Operations Lead. Dr. Mohan was the mission commentator for the landing of the Perseverance rover on February 18, 2021. She is currently the supervisor for the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Systems Engineering group at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Alakananda, News Editor, Asianet News

Alakananda is the News Editor at Asianet News, a leading Malayalam-language news channel based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. As the person in charge of the International desk, Alakananda scrips, presents, and produces a weekly analytical round up on world affairs. She anchors special shows on international events such as the U.S. Presidential Elections. She anchors news bulletins and writes on international affairs. She is a participant of the 2014 U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program. She also participated in the annual conference of India Press Club of North America in Chicago in 2017. She has served as a Master of Ceremony for various special official regional and national events. She has interviewed celebrities for Asianet News and been interviewed by the digital media “Behind Woods.” A classical dancer, Alakananda has performed at the International Trade Centre, Delhi and at other events.

Deepana Gandhi, U.N. Space4Women Mentor 2021

Deepana is Asia's 2021 U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Space4Women Mentor. A space enthusiast, Deepana participated in the Google Lunar XPrize (GLXP) competition as a key member of TeamIndus serving as its Guidance, Navigation, and Controls engineer involved with the design, architecture, testing, and rehearsals of lunar landing of spacecrafts. A math lover, Deepana’s contributions to the team have been with creating algorithms (the DNA of spacecrafts), design and architecture, testing and in-house rehearsals. While being involved in these technical processes, Deepana articulates her belief that women are equally equipped to handle high-profile scientific projects such as space missions, a view she espouses in “Moonshot” a Google-produced documentary. She has delivered TED talks on Women in STEM addressing students in India’s major technology institutions.

Anne Seshadri, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate General, Chennai

Anne Lee Seshadri is the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai, India.  She previously held public diplomacy assignments in Bangkok, Thailand, Toronto, Canada and New Delhi, India as well as in Washington, DC. She has lived and worked across Southeast Asia and was a Boren Scholar in Hanoi, Vietnam. Anne holds an M.A. in Development Communications and a B.A. in Political Science and has recently completed coursework at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii. Anne is a native of New Hampshire. She and her husband Srikanth, a native of Bengaluru, have three children.

Judith Ravin, U.S. Consul General, Chennai

Judith Ravin assumed the post of Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai, India, on September 6, 2020. She previously served as the Public Affairs Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, 2017-2020. From 2015-2017 she worked in Washington, D.C., as the International Relations Officer General in the Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator. Prior to that, from 2013-2015, she served as the Deputy Cultural Affairs Officer and then country Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, where she handled oversight of the largest U.S. government exchange program worldwide. Her work in the field of public diplomacy also includes U.S. embassies in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Khartoum, Sudan; and Yaoundé, Cameroon. She began her diplomatic career as a Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, from 2003-2005. Judith Ravin joined the U.S. Department of State in 2003 following many years working in Asia, Africa, and Latin America as an editor, translator, and journalist. She is a co-author of Beyond Our Degrees of Separation: Washington Monsoons and Islamabad Blues (2017) and the author of Ballet in the Cane Fields: Vignettes from a Dominican Wanderlogue (2014). Ms. Ravin did her undergraduate work at universities in France and Spain in addition to the United States. She holds a master’s degree in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard University. She speaks fluent Spanish and French. As the Consul General in Chennai, she is responsible for advancing U.S.-India relations in the consular jurisdiction covering Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the three Union Territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.