Abdul Halim Abd Aziz, assistant manager for Satellite and Launch Procurement at Measat Satellite Systems.

This article is part of a new series, in which Via Satellite interviews people in the industry at different points of their careers, with a focus on career decisions-making, and what they are looking for in terms of developing a career in the satellite and space industry.

Abdul Halim Abd Aziz, assistant manager for Satellite and Launch Procurement at Measat Satellite Systems is a rising star in the space industry in Malaysia.

Halim, 35, has now been at Measat around nine years. He is motivated by a healthy company culture and Measat’s work to connect people in the rural areas of the country, particularly in the Eastern part of Malaysia.

“I haven’t been there myself. But, looking at the videos, we see the faces of villagers, and the difference it makes. As a Measat person, it makes me want to go further and see what impact we can make in the future. The mission is super important,” he says.

Halim has ambitious goals, prioritizing growth and development opportunities that a company offers.

“There are two things when looking at a career path [that] I tend to focus on. I always choose the next step by ensuring the company will enhance me personally and professionally. You want a path that in five to 10 years’ time will see you in a top-level management position. Priority No. 1 is the long-term growth and development and opportunities. If I don’t see that in the company, I might not be joining them. I need to see the long-term growth and development is there,” he says.

Recently, Halim is moving into a business development team at Measat. Previously, he was in a more technical team looking at satellite and launch procurement. It is now a change to work on the commercial side of the business. He is moving to a new role this December, now that the MEASAT-3d satellite has been launched.

With gaining business expertise alongside his technical expertise, Halim is setting himself up for future executive roles. “My dream job is to be the CEO of a top satellite operator in the industry. Realistically, I want to be one of the top people at Measat,” he says.

Like many before him, Halim says that working in the space industry was a childhood dream for him. Whenever a teacher asked him what his dream job was, he always said it was to work in space. He studied at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia and Master of Science (MSc) in University of Leeds in the UK.

“Dreams aside, the space sector in Malaysia is not as a big as Europe or the US. In Malaysia, it is a small industry. But, that doesn’t mean it cannot present a viable career. I did a telecoms degree. It gave me the opportunity to go into other areas of communications,” Halim says.

In order to bring the next generation to the space industry in Malaysia, Halim believes the industry needs to reach an even younger audience.  “I think we need to target kids in primary schools more, rather than at middle schools. But the main point is the way we reach them. We need to use things like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. My eldest son who is 12 years old uses these more than other media platforms. It is a great way to reach young people. At Measat, we focus on future technologies and host students from young to university. The way we do it, we need to attract them by using these other platforms.”

He believes the space industry needs to continue to use social media to highlight how cool it is for young people.  “I know we have been doing that recently, but we need to do more. We can’t limit content. We need to be more engaged and provide more involvement in the launch process, the manufacturing process, for example. We can use it differently to attract young people,” he adds.

In terms of what he sees as the most exciting opportunities for young people to develop careers in space in Malaysia, Halim sees space applications like the Internet of Things as the largest opportunity.

He gives a fun example of on-ground connections following the launch of MEASAT-3d. While grocery shopping in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur while wearing a t-shirt commemorating the launch campaign, a child recognized the shirt and started calling him ‘Measat.’

“We are a big company representing space in Malaysia. We need to be more engaging to promote ourselves on social media. Measat can change the lives of people in Malaysia. This is a huge part of what we do, and what we will do in the future,” he says.

 [More Faces in Satellite: Rania Toukebri Looks to Democratize Space]