Nicola Winter

The sky is no limit for this year’s inspirational speaker, Nicola Winter – pilot, reserve astronaut and aerospace engineer. Winter’s journey began in the German Armed Forces in 2004, where she was a Tornado pilot and flight instructor, before retraining to become one of only three women in the German Air Force to fly the Eurofighter. By the time she left the German Armed Forces as a Major she had trained young pilots in the USA for several years.

After her time in the German Armed Forces, Winter advised large companies for McKinsey & Co. and experienced several emergencies as a paramedic. Via the aviation industry, she then moved into aerospace project management.

In 2017, Winter was a finalist in the ‘The Astronaut’ initiative, beating more than 22,500 other applicants in the ESA selection process and is now part of the astronaut reserve, where she could become the first German woman in space. Today, Winter is a renowned speaker, a consultant for crisis teams and companies, active in space research and a lecturer in emergency and crisis management. She is pursuing a PhD in space science and training to become a rescue helicopter pilot. Her credo is “with courage, empathy, discipline, passion and a bit of luck we can make it anywhere – even to the moon.”