Purvaja Karthikeyan

Purvaja Karthikeyan

Western Skylark: Space-Enhanced Wildlife Tracking with Optical Payload

The Western Skylark is a small satellite, known as a 3U CubeSat, designed to enhance the tracking of migratory birds such as songbirds. Currently, researchers must travel to remote ground stations across Canada to collect data—a process that is both slow and labor-intensive. Skylark will orbit Earth in a sun-synchronous path, automatically collecting data from these stations and transmitting it to Western University. Alongside its main mission, Skylark will carry an experimental payload called the Photonic Test Bench (PTB). This platform will test photonic integrated circuits (PICs) in space for the first time. These miniature chips, which have revolutionized communication on Earth, could support future space applications like sensing, filtering, and high-speed data transmission. The PTB will evaluate the performance of PICs and explore ways to improve their resistance to the space environment, helping lay the groundwork for advanced, radiation-hardened PICs for future space missions.

Purvaja Karthikeyan
PhD candidate, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Collaborative Specialization in Planetary Science and Exploration
Faculty of Engineering - Western University

Supervisor
Dr. Jayshri Sabarinathan

Purvaja is a space enthusiast pursuing her PhD in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. With a strong background in Physics, she is working on developing Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) for space applications. PIC are tiny chips consisting of optical circuits through which light can propagate. She is currently working on a CubeSat project called the Western Skylark, to be able to track migratory birds, funded by Canadian Space Agency. This CubeSat will carry two other payloads called the filter wheel and photonic test bench (PTB). Her role in this project is to understand the effect of space environment on the PTB which will pave the foundation to her PhD journey at Western. In addition to space and physics, Purvaja is a music lover and enjoys playing Keyboard and Guitar. She also loves to grow plants in her upcycled pots, follow her Instagram handle for more information.

Purvaja's research is highlighted in episode 542 of GradCast, the official podcast of the Society of Graduate Students at Western University.

You can connect with Purvaja on LinkedIn, on Instagram, or via The Western Skylark CubeSat Project's website.

View Purvaja's work as it appears in the Inspiring Minds Digital Collection.