The NIFRO award 2025

Erik Galler from NTNU received the Norwegian NIFRO award 2025 for his master thesis on the use of artificial intelligence and maritime surveillance. Galler was honored at Space Dinner 2025.

The NIFRO award is a prize for the best master’s thesis in space activities and space technology and has been presented annually by Andøya Space Education and the Norwegian Industrial Forum for Space Activities (NIFRO) since 2013.

This year, the NIFRO award was granted to Erik Galler from NTNU for his thesis on maritime surveillance using data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) with satellite images and advanced machine learning techniques. Galler was awarded the prize during Space Dinner 2025.

Cutting-edge technology

So, what exactly does it mean to carry out maritime surveillance using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data with satellite imagery using advanced machine learning techniques?

“Simply explained, it is an improvement in the way we can be able to track vessels at sea,” says Galler. “All vessels must use something called AIS, where they state their position, but it is also something that can easily be turned off if, for example, they do not want anyone to know where they are.”

Galler’s thesis has resulted in a new and improved methodology, by using artificial intelligence (AI) to see which ships are in an area. The data is then matched with satellite images, which can give an indication of which vessels may not be reporting their position through AIS.

Extra interest in artificial intelligence

The idea for the thesis came as a result of many subjects that dealt with artificial intelligence throughout his studies, and an extra interest in what artificial intelligence can be used for.

The thesis was written in collaboration with the company Vake, which specializes in using satellite images for maritime surveillance. During his work with the thesis, Galler created an AI from scratch, and the technology is actually so groundbreaking that the thesis won’t be published publicly for two to three years for competitive reasons.

“Vake’s strategy is to collaborate closely with master’s students and invests a lot of time in supervising assignments towards having direct benefit to Norwegian space industry. We see this creates increased motivation and innovation and gives the users of Vake’s services access to modern technology,” says Adrian Tofting, Chief Product Officer at Vake.

Theses with a high degree of quality and innovation

“This year, we have registered great interest in the NIFRO award, and we received a total of eight nominations. The master’s thesis from all the nominees were of very high quality and innovation with different fields of study and themes,” says Jøran Grande, President of Andøya Space Education and leader of the jury.

The assignments submitted were evaluated on whether they had demonstrated understanding, reflection, maturity and analytical ability, the ability to see the assignment in overall system contexts, and whether it is of benefit to the Norwegian space industry.

“Choosing a winner this year was very demanding,” says Grande. “But it was also a very rewarding to present a unanimous winner of this year’s NIFRO award.”

In addition to the honor of winning the NIFRO award, the prize is NOK 20,000. The winner also has the opportunity to present the thesis during the annual Space Dinner.

The jury has consisted of:

• R&D Project Manager, Grunde Joheim, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
• Senior Project Manager Vendela Paxal, WideNorth
• Managing Director Jøran Grande, Andøya Space Education

The jury’s statement:

The thesis is linked to NTNU and the company Vake, where the candidate has developed a method that improves maritime surveillance by using data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) with satellite images using advanced machine learning techniques.

This is a service that is of great benefit to society in the form of ship surveillance. The candidate proposes a model that demonstrates a high degree of accuracy. In addition, the thesis introduces a framework for creating virtually unlimited synthetic training data, which is used to train this model effectively.

The candidate has worked on a complex assignment, with theoretical mathematical formulation of problems. The solution presented in the thesis utilizes the latest AI technology in understanding ship monitoring and proposes a significant improvement of an existing concept. The winner of this year’s NIFRO award 2025 for best master’s thesis in 2024 is Erik Galler from NTNU for his thesis.