In November 2025, I wrote about my first meeting with the ESA Pyxel team, a moment filled with excitement, anxiety, and cautious hope.
Two months later, Iām writing this as a follow-up, with more clarity and a deeper sense of connection. What began as a single meeting has grown into an ongoing collaboration rooted in trust, kindness, and shared care for meaningful work.
After the Meeting
After our initial conversation, something important happened: the dialogue didnāt end.
We stayed in touch. Questions turned into discussions. Ideas turned into plans.
I now have regular contact via email with a senior mission payload engineer from the team, and each interaction has been thoughtful, open, and genuinely encouraging. Thereās a calm professionalism in how they communicate paired with warmth and curiosity, that makes collaboration feel safe and energizing. At every point, Iāve felt listened to.
The Work Continues
My project, Pyxel Config Lab, continued to evolve alongside these conversations. What once felt like a personal experiment has slowly taken on a wider shape ā something that could support researchers and contributors beyond myself.
One moment still feels surreal to write down:
my work will be presented and promoted by the ESA Pyxel team in July 2026 at the SPIE conference in Copenhagen.
That realization didnāt arrive with fireworks. It arrived quietly with emails, planning, and steady trust. And in many ways, that makes it even more meaningful.
My Reflections, Revisited
I still experience moments of doubt. That hasnāt magically disappeared.
But it has changed shape.
I now understand that my earlier anxiety wasnāt a sign that I didnāt belong, it was a natural response to being in a space that mattered deeply to me. The kindness and openness I continue to experience have made that clear.
This has become one of the healthiest work relationships Iāve ever had. Not through employment, not through hierarchy, but through open source. Through mutual respect. Through shared purpose.
And that feels quietly revolutionary.
Closing Thoughts
Open source has shown me that contribution isnāt measured by titles or degrees. Itās measured by care, consistency, and the willingness to learn together.
Iām deeply grateful to the ESA Pyxel team for their trust, their openness, and the space theyāve made for me to grow ā not by changing who I am, but by welcoming it.
Iāll keep building.
Iāll keep learning.
Iāll keep sharing.
Because this is where my curiosity lives.
And this is work I believe in. āØš¦