Co-Founder: Chief Operating Officer | Systems Engineer

Towards the end of 2019, myself and four other colleagues from my SFU cohort created the company Garrow Space Systems to develop a small electric propulsion system which doubled as our engineering capstone project. For years prior, the entire team was involved with the SFU Satellite Design Team in various positions and came to understand the magnitude of the growing industry which is the exploitation of space via lower-cost launch services. With regard to small satellite technology, there is still a tremendous opportunity for innovation in a variety of areas, particularly in Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) technology. The team decided tackle the GNC field with our first product venture: the Zoran Thruster.

Raising Funds | Gathering Support

During the first few months after the company’s inception, the team worked intensely to gather support in the form funding via private and public grant programs. In August 2020, we were notified that Garrow Space Systems had been awarded the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Technology Development Program (STDP) grant, which helped to accelerate the business and technical development of the company. August also saw the end of the team’s capstone development cycle, meaning the team then moved to work on the company as an extracurricular as the majority were is still enrolled in school or working in internships around the world. However, I applied for the competitive eCo-op program at the SFU Venture Connection Incubator for the fall semester for which I was accepted. Starting from September 2020, I worked in a full-time paid position with the incubator until the end of December, working with top business mentors to build a strong business foundation for Garrow Space Systems moving forward. Garrow had raised a total of $156,000 CAD through financial support from the CSA, Angels and the Venture Connection Incubator program.

Our Mission