Tahir Merali attended the SSP08 in Barcelona and holds a Masters of Science in Space Management from ISU (MSM09). He has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Tahir's professional experience includes internships in the automotive and petroleum industries and most recently in the space industry with ISIS – Innovative Solutions In Space BV on nanosatellite subsystem developments and services. Tahir seeks to work in launch and mission operations and mission planning and design in the space and aerospace sectors.
Tahir is heavily involved with the ISU/Canadian Space Agency Image Reversal In Space (IRIS) educational life science experiment conducted by Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk during Expedition 20/21 on the International Space Station. Tahir was also a participant during parabolic flight testing of IRIS in May 2009 with the European Space Agency. Past space-related investigations include space marketing and the perceptions of space in television advertising (2009), the commercial viability of spaceports (2008) and a sun-synchronous lunar vehicle design (2007). He is the Founder of the International Space School Alumni Association (Canada), ex-officio board director of the Foundation for International Space Education (USA), and is an active member of the Canadian space community in awareness and advocacy capacities.
Tahir enjoys weightlessness, traveling, squash and is always up for a game of ball hockey.