Rudolf Charles Meiner: born 5 June 1935 in St. Gall, Switzerland.

Graduation from ETH Zürich in 1958 with diploma Civil Engineering and specialization Aeronautics.

Post graduate Engineer's Degree in Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University in 1961.

After one year of training at NASA - GSFC from 1962 - 1994 successively in COPERS - ESRO - ESA for a number of different activities: technical coordinator for sounding rockets, environmental testing, Chief Engineer for ESLAB, official ESA astronaut candidate (1977), Head System Interfaces SPACELAB/SHUTTLE, Service Vehicle Manager in COLUMBUS project and finally Head "Long Term Planning" in COLUMBUS project.

After retirement from ESA in 1994 Meiner founded the PUSH Foundation in Switzerland. He is writing popular science articles, giving lectures on space matters and advising hi-tech industries on technology transfer. He is adviser to the Space Expo in Noordwijk, Netherlands, and member of various professional organisations.

He is married, has two daughters and works and lives in Switzerland and the Netherlands.