Raihana Shams Islam Antara is on a mission to achieve self-reliance in space technology for her country, Bangladesh, and promote STEAM. She is one of the Engineers of Bangladesh’s first satellite, BRAC Onnesha. She completed her M.Sc in Applied Science for Integrated Systems Engineering from Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan. She graduated as a Space Systems Engineer and has a background in Antenna Technology, Communications, Embedded Systems, and Robotics. She has experience in small satellite AIT activities. She is an engineer of the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds satellite project acronym “Birds Project,” where she has been involved in designing, developing, testing, and operating 5 BIRDS CubeSats and the champion of the AIRBUS GEDC Diversity award 2017. She is a Cansat Leaders Training program graduate and the first female participant from Bangladesh. Currently, she is working as a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Brac University.  She is the co-founder of the Laboratory of Space Systems Engineering & Technology (LASSET) at the School of Engineering at BRAC University. Raihana is a U.S. State Dept. alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) in the field of “Advancing Women in STEAM,” the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. She is the point of contact (POC) for UNISEC Bangladesh, the local chapter of UNISEC-Global, an international nonprofit body to promote practical space development activities, mainly at the university level. She is the advisor of the IEEE Communication Society(ComSoc) Brac University Student Branch Chapter.

Conferences

Kafi, A. H., Antara, R. S. I., & Chowdhury, A. (2022, September 18). Ingenious space-based hands-on learning tools to provide space system engineering knowledge. 73th International Astronautical Congress.

Bhuiyan, M. K. B., Islam, M. S., Sanvi, T. I., Talukder, M. J. H., Antara, R. S. I., & Azad, A. K. M. A. M. (2021). Modeling and simulation of a satellite training kit for providing space systems engineering knowledge and technological development in STEAM. 2021 IEEE Industrial Electronics and Applications Conference (IEACon), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEACon51066.2021.9654632

Toma, S. T. F., Karmaker, D., Iqbal, S., Pantho, M. H. K., & Antara, R. S. I. (2021). Canteen automation system: An approach for “smart City” planning. IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer Science and Data Engineering (CSDE). https://doi.org/10.1109/CSDE53843.2021.9718443

Azmee, A. B. M. A., Alvee, B. I., Tisha, S. N., Choudhury, P. P., Antara, R. S. I., & Kafi, A. H. (2020). Bus management road accident prevention system for smart cities. 23rd International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (ICCIT). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCIT51783.2020.9392747

Kafi, A. H., Antara, R. S. I., Chowdhury, A., & Risul Karim, M. (2020). Satellite education and learning by interactive virtual reality game. Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2020.

Arko, A. R., Khan, S. H., Biswas, M. H., Imran, A., Kafi, A. H., & Antara, R. S. I. (2019). IOT based smart water and environment management system of paddy rice at different growth stages. 2019 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things and Intelligence System (IoTaIS), 154–160. https://doi.org/10.1109/IoTaIS47347.2019.8980424

Chakma, M., Zannat, S., Kafi, A. H., Antara, R. S. I., & Rhaman, M. K. (2019). Determining Land Use and Land Cover Changes and Predicting the Growth of Dhaka, Bangladesh Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques. International Conference on Space Weather and Satellite Application (ICeSSAT 2018) 7–8 August 2018, 1152, 12023. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1152/1/012023

Islam, T., Chisty, T. A., Roy, P., Rafa, I. S., Hil Kafi, A., & Antara, R. S. I. (2019). Sasthyakathan - A health based social robot. 2019 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics, ICCE 2019. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCE.2019.8661981

Antara, R. S. I., Kafi, A. H., & Monowar, M. I. (2018). Mission 2027: Sustainable space program & A technical road map designed for Bangladesh to achieve self-reliance in space technology. 69th International Astronautical Congress: #InvolvingEveryone, IAC 2018, 2018-Octob.

Chakma, M., Zannat, S., Kafi, A. H., & Antara, R. S. I. (2018). Change detection of the Sundarban part of Bangladesh using remote sensing and GIS techniques with machine learning algorithms. 69th International Astronautical Congress: #InvolvingEveryone, IAC 2018, 2018-Octob.

Antara, R. S. I., Maeda, G., Kim, S., Masui, H., & Cho, M. (2017, June 9). Development of internal antenna deployment mechanism for a CubeSat. International Symposium on Space Technology and Science (31st ISTS).

Rhaman, M. K., Monowar, M. I., Shakil, S. R., Kafi, A. H., & Antara, R. S. I. (2015). Exploring modular architecture for Nano satellite and opportunity for developing countries. 2nd International Conference on Geological, Geographical, Aerospace and Earth Sciences 2014, AeroEarth 2014, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/23/1/012017

• Advisor, IEEE Communications Society BRACU Student Branch Chapter, BRAC University. (November 2022- Present)
• Alumni Advisory Panel (AAP), Department of EEE, BRAC University.
• Co-Founder, Laboratory of Space Systems Engineering and Technology (LASSET), BRAC University.
• Point of Contact for Bangladesh Region, UNISEC-Global
• Country Director, Women in Big Data, October 2020- November 2021
• Exchange Alumni, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in Advancing Women in STEAM.
• IEEE Member, IEEE Young Professional, IEEE Communication Society
• BIRDS Network: Member of the International network of 22 countries for research collaboration in space technology.
• Amateur Radio Operator, KG5PHA

• 2022 Research Seed Grant Award from Brac University (As Co-PI)
• Grant 35,000 USD from Bangladesh Air Force for organizing the 4th BIRDS International Workshop,2019, at Brac University (4biw.bracu.ac.bd). (Worked as Workshop Secretariat)
• Youth Excellence Award by ACI Limited in the field of Science & Technology category for BRAC Onnesha
• “GEDC Airbus Diversity Award 2017” for BIRDS Project
• “Best Award” winner for the best paper presentation in M.Sc midterm, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
• First CansSat Leadership Graduate in Bangladesh.
• Champion of the “International Engineering Innovation Summit Bangladesh - 2015” in the category of "International Hover Competition"
• Champion of project Exhibition of 67th Foundation anniversary of the Institution of Engineers (IEB), Bangladesh