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Lewis Heap, 28, of Bury St Edmunds, chosen from hundreds of applicants for place on European Space Agency cyber security programme




A Bury St Edmunds man is one of the elite few chosen from applicants across 22 countries to attend a European space agency cyber security training programme.

Lewis Heap, a University of Brighton student, was chosen by the European Space Agency from hundreds of applicants.

The final year BSc computer science with cyber security student will be part of a programme designed to train the next generation of cyber security professionals on how to identify and deal with threats and risks, specifically within the space sector.

Lewis Heap, of Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Submitted
Lewis Heap, of Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Submitted

Lewis will gain hands-on experience in securing space communication systems and develop an understanding of overall cybersecurity monitoring and mitigation against threats.

The training will include an introduction to security engineering for space systems that prioritise cyber protection, alongside operational risk management for cybersecurity.

Lewis said: “This will be a major boost to my computing and cyber security journey.

“Throughout my degree programme, I have gained useful experience with some of the technology to be used in this training. Their application within space is rather new to me, but that’s what makes the course so exciting. It’s such an interesting area of study and I cannot wait to get started.”

The 28-year-old will join 29 other university students at the European Space Agency (ESA) education, training and learning facility, in Belgium, for five days.

The former West Suffolk Council IT technician said: “Cyber security has a huge role to play in all aspects of our daily lives as technologies grow and progress.

“Having the opportunity to be involved in the field will always be exciting”.

Participants in the ESA cyber security programme will work in groups throughout the week before making a final presentation at the end of the training.