On Tuesday (February 20), after a relatively long hiatus from the public eye, Brigitte Mendler announced the launch of her new satellite data startup, Northwood. In addition to presenting an interesting company – a company that aims to Satellite Technology more accessible by large-scale data-retrieval ground stations Earth — another major reason for the launch making headlines.
The 31-year-old space CEO is probably best known for her role as Teddy Duncan, the beautiful older sister of Charlie Duncan, in the Disney TV series “Good Luck Charlie,” which ran from 2010 to 2014. However, his acting performance endures much more than that, as does the road that led him there space Field of business.
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I, for one thing, associate Mendler most with her role as Juliet Van Heusen, the teenage vampire who dates Justin Russo, a boy-next-door magician, in the Disney TV series “Wizards of Waverly Place.” That show ran between 2007 and 2012. He also played some non-Disney roles, such as a role in two episodes of Season 5 of the TV series “Nashville” in 2017, and the 2018 comedy film “father of the year .” According to Imdb Her most recent acting experience came in 2019 with eight episodes of the TV series “Merry Happy Whatever.” Also, in the midst of all this, Mendler had a brief, but notable thing to say, singing career ,
However, in the meantime And behind the scenes, Mendler was also pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Southern California, which she graduated in 2016. After this he completed his master’s degree and then did his PhD. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2020 and 2024, respectively, the latter of which was associated with MIT’s renowned Media Lab. Additionally, with her PhD, she went to Harvard Law School and graduated with a JD in 2024. At Harvard, she was also co-president of the Harvard Space Law Society.
Which brings us to today.
“expect the unexpected!” Mendler wrote Post on LinkedIn , “I’m so excited to finally be able to share what we’ve been working on with two of my favorite ground nerds – Griffin Cleverly and Shaurya Luthra. At Northwood, we’re rethinking the infrastructure for satellite backhaul from the ground up. Are.”
Cleverly is Mendler’s husband and Northwood’s CTO, while Luthra is the company’s head of software; According to the Northwood website, they want to do this together create a type “The data highway between Earth and space.”
Basically, after a satellite in Earth orbit collects a bunch of data – whether it’s climate data, deep space data, or even data about how its own systems are working – That information must eventually be “downlinked” to scientists waiting on Earth. Such downlinking occurs through what is called ground station ,
The Northwood trio say they have identified a problem with these ground station systems; That is, the fact that “many key aspects of ground architecture have not changed much since the 1960s. The industry standard requires specialized manufacturing processes, lengthy construction, and fins to provide a system with only limited capacity and frequent failures.” -Tuning.”
So, to tackle this problem, the team is looking to mass-produce those ground stations and, in turn, make satellite technology more efficient and accessible. “For me, grassroots matters because it’s really about bringing the impacts of space to people,” Mendler. told cnbc ,
Although it’s still in the early stages, Mendler says, Northwood has attracted some high-profile investors and has raised about $6.3 million in seed funding.
“We’re already building a killer team,” Mendler wrote in his LinkedIn post, citing members from companies like . spacex , Northrop Grumman and Palantir Technologies. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, but that’s the fun part. If you want to build fast and love to see your work have real impact in places around the world, we want you at Northwood.”
And perhaps because she’s now in the spotlight again, Mendler also took to the Internet to announce a beautiful personal life update.
“I am a mother to a beautiful 4-year-old boy,” she wrote. An ex post on Monday (February 19)
