About Paul
Get to know Paul
Welcome to my personal website and blog
On this page you will find a short overview about my educational and professional work.
- If you are interested in my CV then visit my LinkedIn page.
Professional work
Today I’m working as Head of Space at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication for Estonia, which includes leading the Estonian Delegation to the European Space Agency (ESA) and Estonian participation to the EU Space Programme.
I have created the Estonian Space Policy and Program 2020-2027. Right now I’m working on Estonian national space legislation and many other space policy initiatives with regional and global impact. For example focusing on space cybersecurity and space traffic management.
Previously I have been engaged in various roles in the space sector since 2008, when I joined the first Estonian satellite project ESTCube-1 and lead the development of mechanical systems. After the successful launch of ESTCube-1 in 2013 I continued as an entrepreneur in the space sector until 2016 when I joined the ministry.
More information about my professional work can be found in my portfolio.
"Vision without execution is hallucination." by Thomas Edison
Everyone has ideas and visions, however the question is what do you do with them? Ambitious and a bit crazy ideas and visions have always inspired me. ESTCube-1 was one of the first success stories on a very hard and bumpy road. In 2016 I could not resist the challenge to switch from aerospace engineering to space policy and accelerate the Estonian space domain to new heights. Since then it has been like a roadtrip with new challenges and opportunities every day. Growing from national activities to progammes with global impact.
Education
My academic studies started in 2007 when I applied to Tallinn University of Technology to study mechanical engineering.
I graduated Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) with Masters of Engineering (MEng), Dipl-ing. Product Development in 2015 and during the studies I visited the RWTH Aachen University as an exchange student to study Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering.
Some personal activities
I love to go cycling, cross-country skiing or hiking.
Summary of main thoughts
- good policy making is agile - policymakers should lead with vision and know their field to be able to execute fast without outside studies
- Failures drive innovation and should be tolerated as long as we learn from them