European Space Agency (ESA) engineer Dr Sarah Wittig has been named a 2026 QUT Outstanding Alumnus for her contributions to space science and co-ordinating the selection and qualification of advanced laser and photonics components for major international space missions.
The honour was announced at the annual QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards last night (October 29) at the university's Gardens Point campus in Brisbane.
Dr Wittig graduated from QUT in 2004 with a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in physics, and was then awarded the QUT University Medal in 2005 for her honours year.
She went on to become a Fulbright Scholar in 2008, using the prestigious international scholarship to do research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the USA.
After completing her PhD at the Australian National University in 2012, she was appointed as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
Dr Wittig joined the European Space Agency in 2014 as a Research Fellow and has been a photonic components engineer with the agency for the past eight years, based in the Netherlands.
At ESA she helps qualify and assess technologies used in missions ranging from Earth observation and telecommunications to cutting-edge space science projects.
One of the missions she currently supports is the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), which will use laser technology to detect gravitational waves from space and provide a new way of observing the universe.
"It will be our ears on the universe and it will be able to detect these gravitational waves in a frequency range that we cannot do on Earth," Dr Wittig said.
"So it's really pushing our fundamental knowledge of our universe as humankind. That I can even be any kind of part of this, I feel really lucky."
Dr Wittig said she was grateful to receiving an Outstanding Alumni Award from QUT.
"It is quite an honour and has made me reflect on my journey,” she said.
“It’s a journey that's taken me from growing up in central Queensland, studying at QUT, having this great foundation in science and physics and has landed me here today, working at an international space agency doing something very amazing and inspiring.”
Dr Wittig said the relationships she built had the greatest influence on her career.
"I think the key element for me through my university life was really all about the interactions with the people," she said.
"I was fortunate enough to just have really good supervisors."
She said the skills she developed at QUT continued to serve her well at ESA today.
"I would say the one thing that's really the important skill that applies now, whether I'm talking about something that I've learned at university or looking at something completely new, is critical thinking," she said.
Dr Wittig said she would encourage current students to focus on pursuing subjects and careers they genuinely enjoy.
"The message that I give is to do something that you enjoy rather than worry about what you want to be," she said.
"In the end, you are going to be much more happy if you can do something that you enjoy."
Media contact: QUT Media, media@qut.edu.au
