Dr. Yaofu Zhou, recent SPI alumni, was interviewed by Liam Lobl for a local cable TV program in New York. Liam is a young space enthusiast, and his show focuses on space policy and space sector advancements in partnership with Mayor Paul Feiner.

Their discussion focuses on space as a global commons, and explores pertinent issues and potential policies within this context.

Liam Lobl is a high school junior in the greater New York City area that is fascinated with space law and policy. He works to educate others about the space sector, and is seeking to make future impacts as a member of the space community. He was first drawn into the field through a series of Lincoln Douglas Debate competitions, focusing on the role of private entities in outer space. Ever since, he has become fascinated by the way we can use policy and philosophical concepts to create change for a better, more sustainable future.

Dr. Zhou earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Illinois Institute of Technology, where he participated in particle physics experiments at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 2019 with his focus on the numerical simulations for the Large Hadron Collider experiments at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Prior to the graduate program at GWU, Yaofu was a visiting scholar at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, researching international collaboration of big-science projects. Yaofu is a space and aviation enthusiast. He holds a certificate of airplane private pilot and is under active training for instrument rating and commercial certificate. At GWU, Yaofu joined the research group of Prof. Peng Wei from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, which works on autonomy in Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and Traffic Management for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UTM) with government and industrial partners.