Introduction

The Director of Space Systems holds an exciting and pivotal role, serving as the cornerstone for team cohesion, shaping the team’s growth trajectory, and ensuring seamless operations. This role has the potential to influence an entire generation of space engineers, driving innovation and advancing the boundaries of space technology.

This position offers a truly rewarding experience, providing the opportunity to connect with every team member and build lasting, invaluable relationships. You’ll have the freedom to bring your ideas to life, contributing creatively to the team’s success. By collaborating with both university peers and industry professionals, you’ll gain a deep understanding of the space sector, giving you insights that will be beneficial to your career in your career after graduation.

I hope you will take this opportunity to build your skills and connections. It’s a challenging position, but I believe you have what it takes to be successful. The people around you are your friends and comrades, they are here to help you in the journey. I hope Space Systems can be as successful and always have a place in your heart

"To the stars, with friends" 🛰️✨

Semesterly Timeline

Here’s a general timeline that @khang nguyen started and @Ksenya finished. Please note that this is a very ideal timeline and will vary depending on task requirements or the urgency of ongoing projects. This approach worked well for previous directors—feel free to adapt it in whatever way best suits you and your team’s needs.

Fall Recruitment

Fall recruitment is similar to that in magnitude to Winter; however, you can expect less commitment in this semester, as many students are new to university and sign up for more than they end up contributing to. Nevertheless, you should create a welcoming and informative atmosphere, encouraging members to join and learn from the team.

EngSoc Club Fair
- This will be organized by the UTAT Outreach team. If you are able, you are a good person to volunteer for the booth, but be sure to encourage leads and members to attend too.
UTAT Kickoff
- This should be the first UTAT event held in the semester. You will be responsible for presenting slides about Space Systems to a few hundred potential UTAT members.
- Previous slides (to reference/adjust) can be found in the UTAT Multimedia Drive:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s9vC6QpqqHSEYqo0pWvhdUlEiQVBuFgL
- Advertisement for this event should be done by the UTAT Executive Team, but current Space Systems members should encourage friends to attend this event if they are interested in joining the team.
Space Systems Demo Day
- This is organized by the Director of Space Systems.
- Scheduling
  - Demo Day can be held before regular Saturday worksessions (i.e. 12-1:30pm). You need to schedule this weeks, if not a month, in advance to ensure a good room is available.
  - Fall 2025 Demo Day was held in the Hart House Debates Room. This, or the Music Room, are excellent options as both include a projector screen and ample room for tables with engineering artifacts. Hart House is booked through their website and this should be done by you.
- Work with Head of Brand and Media to create a post on Instagram (+ others if applicable) advertising this event prior, and additionally, create fun content throughout the day on stories.
- You may choose to present slides at the beginning of the event, or throughout. Avoid having each subteam present in order to encourage potential members to speak to the leads directly, but you may provide a brief introduction to the team and the current mission. This event is best held in-person only (i.e. no hybrid option).
- All leads should show up one hour early and set up their demonstrations. Ensure that any lead that is not able to come has spoken to someone of a related subsystem to cover for them.

Every Semester

Signup
- Historically, the sign-up form has opened a few hours after Demo Day, and remained open for only a few days. See past examples of the form and adjust as necessary.
  - You will get dozens of emails after the form deadline asking to join the team late. While some leeway can be acceptable, you should give yourself a hard deadline after which to not make exceptions.
- This form should be advertised on social media and in the form of QR codes during Demo Day (if applicable that semester).
- Before assigning new members their subteams, request all leads to provide a number of desired new recruits. Note that about 50% will not show up after the first meeting. This will help gauge whether anyone needs to be given their second team choice, although this should be avoided as much as possible.
- After the form closes, all signups will need to be sent a Slack invite link, information on first day logistics, and confirmation of the subteam they have been assigned to. Automating this would be smart but @Ksenya would do it manually.
Space Systems Kickoff
- This is your first meeting of the semester with new members. It is up to you how you want to tackle onboarding, but generally, you should give the members an overview of Slack, Notion, some of the critical , etc. The Systems Design Lead will do their own introduction so coordinate in order to cover all necessary information.

Budgeting

START EARLY. The Executive Team will provide deadlines and, ideally, a template, but you will need to push the leads to complete their budgets. At the time of writing, budgets are done on a semesterly basis, making higher accuracy easier. Budgeting work should really begin in August, but it has historically stretched far into the semester.

Lead Transitions