In Memoriam
Dr. Penshu yeh
(January 15, 1952 - January 21, 2022)
In early 2022, the OBPDC community was deeply saddened by the loss of our esteemed colleague, mentor, and friend, Dr. Pen Shu Yeh.
Penshu was not only a brilliant engineer and scientist, but also a guiding figure whose dedication, intellectual generosity, and vision profoundly shaped the field of on board data compression and processing. Her contributions left a lasting imprint on our community and on space missions around the world.
While her passing is a great loss, we continue to celebrate her legacy and the impact of her work. In her memory, OBPDC established the Dr. Penshu Yeh Best Contribution Award, presented at each edition of the workshop to recognise the most outstanding scientific contribution. This award honours Penshu’s lifelong commitment to technical excellence, innovation, and collaboration.
Penshu was not only a brilliant engineer and scientist, but also a guiding figure whose dedication, intellectual generosity, and vision profoundly shaped the field of on board data compression and processing. Her contributions left a lasting imprint on our community and on space missions around the world.
While her passing is a great loss, we continue to celebrate her legacy and the impact of her work. In her memory, OBPDC established the Dr. Penshu Yeh Best Contribution Award, presented at each edition of the workshop to recognise the most outstanding scientific contribution. This award honours Penshu’s lifelong commitment to technical excellence, innovation, and collaboration.
Biography
Dr. Pen Shu Yeh received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1981, following a BSEE from National Taiwan University and an MSEE from the University of Washington, Seattle. Her research interests spanned signal processing, pattern recognition, computer vision, and the implementation of advanced algorithms on radiation hardened space electronics.
She spent more than two decades at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she led the development of data compression and on board processing technologies in support of numerous space missions. She was the inventor of three U.S. patents and was recognised with the NASA Inventor of the Year Award in 1996 and the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal in 1997.
Penshu was a cornerstone of the CCSDS Data Compression Working Group, where she was an active member from the late 1990s and served as Chair for more than ten years. She contributed directly to the development of all CCSDS data compression standards currently in publication, shaping practices still used by missions worldwide.
Throughout her career, Dr. Yeh directly supported more than twenty flight projects and influenced many more missions in the United States, Europe, Japan, and beyond. The technologies she helped create continue to enable scientific discovery today and will do so for years to come.
She is remembered with deep respect and affection, and her legacy remains an integral part of OBPDC and the wider space data compression community.
She spent more than two decades at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she led the development of data compression and on board processing technologies in support of numerous space missions. She was the inventor of three U.S. patents and was recognised with the NASA Inventor of the Year Award in 1996 and the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal in 1997.
Penshu was a cornerstone of the CCSDS Data Compression Working Group, where she was an active member from the late 1990s and served as Chair for more than ten years. She contributed directly to the development of all CCSDS data compression standards currently in publication, shaping practices still used by missions worldwide.
Throughout her career, Dr. Yeh directly supported more than twenty flight projects and influenced many more missions in the United States, Europe, Japan, and beyond. The technologies she helped create continue to enable scientific discovery today and will do so for years to come.
She is remembered with deep respect and affection, and her legacy remains an integral part of OBPDC and the wider space data compression community.
ESA Conference Bureau / ATPI Corporate Events
ESA-ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1
2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Privacy Notice