Let's Go to Space: BLUE-SKY Learning

Taylor Peterson is a third year PhD student studying aerospace engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Her current research looks at 1) osteoporosis in astronauts and 2) simulating cryogenic propellant boiling in microgravity. She is the recipient of a 2023 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, in which she proposed the idea of simulating and tracking cryogenic...

Chet Knoer has been a lifelong space enthusiast and it all started with a visit to Space Academy at the age of 12. Now understand that As a child, Chet thought that to work in space meant you must be an inventor. They found out later that meant being an engineer. Over the last 8 years, Chet has been a part of the University at Buffalo Nanosatellite Lab (UBNL), starting with integration and testing...

Holly Pascal is a driven Aerospace Software Engineer at L3Harris, a distinguished Fortune 500 company. She will be featured in WomLead Magazine and stands out as a member of the highly selective Engineering Leadership Development Program at L3Harris, showcasing her mission to create a positive impact through transparency, consistency, and paying it forward. Beyond her engineering prowess, Holly is...

Today we meet with Catie Spivey, a Mechanical Engineer and graduate of Portland State University. Catie was the lead on PSU's first CubeSat which launched in 2022. During her senior capstone project, she worked on a prototype liquid fueled rocket airframe and found she really enjoyed that subject area. She then finished a Masters of Engineering at Portland State in a single year and was select...

Today we meet with a group of amazing ed tech innovators who help make teachers and student lives easier/ Evelyn McCulloch is the Director of Educational Technology at i-Tech Support, Inc. She supports schools throughout Florida helping them to build a positive digital culture through professional development. She is a Google Workspace for Education Certified Trainer and an Apple Teacher. Joining...

Today we meet withChristine Shayim, a Junior at the University at Buffalo studying computer engineering, with a minor in mathematics. Outside of the classroom, she dedicates her time to working at the UB Nanosatellite Laboratory, as the Project Manager and the Flight Software Lead for POLAR. She is also the vice president of UB STEMinism, a club that serves as a professional development community...

Today we meet with Jillian Russell, a junior and Computer Science major at the University of Georgia. Now, Jilliam has always loved space, and she currently works at the UGA Small Satellite Research Lab with their beloved satellite, MEMESat- or the Mission for Education and Multimedia Engagement Satellite, The satellites mission is as a repeater in space that allows people to uplink and downlink m...

This episode, we interview student Natasha Waldorf—she’s a senior majoring in physics and applied computer science at Whittier College, a small liberal arts college near Los Angeles. Due to the challenges of COVID lockdowns during her late high school and early college years, Natasha found online education made applying to internships and gaining research experience difficult; but Natasha made the...

Today we meet with educator and engineer, Claudia Cortez. Claudia has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management Technology from the University of Arkansas Grantham, a Master of Business Administration from University of Texas at Brownsville, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas at Brownsville. She currently teaches CTE Engineering classes at Po...

Today we meet with  Urooj Seemeen, CEO and Founder of E-Services & Technologies, a global organization with a mission to drive change through education in our world. As an engineer by profession and an educationalist by passion, Urooj has dedicated hr career to empowering individuals through learning and innovation. Along with a degree in computer engineering, Urooj is  Certified as a Six Sigm...

Today Kevin and I meet with Prof. Hava Turkakin has always been fascinated by the secret works of the universe. Possessing a bachelor’s degree from the Black Sea Technical University in Turkey, and after teaching high school for several year, her desire to learn more about physics spurned her to continue her education further, earning her M.S. and Ph. D. in Space Physics from the University of Alb...

Today, we meet with Frank Soboczenski --an Assistant Professor in Artificial Intelligence at the University of York, an affiliate computer scientist at King's College London with links to Northeastern University. He is also the lead scientist for the NASA TechLeap Quantum Earth Observation high altitude balloon mission, a member of the NASA GeneLab Artificial Intelligence working group, a STEM...

In this final installment lesson, Kevin teaches me about the steps to go from CubeSat idea to space using the CubeSat 101 handbook. Check out the lesson on Youtube Aerospace and Innovation Academy vodcast playlist!

In this lesson, Kevin talks about the various kinds of subsystems that make up a CubeSat! If you are going to build one, you have to know the parts. Our students learn real-world aerospace in teams that meet as after school clubs. Your student can stand out today on resumes and college applications while getting experience in aerospace. Join Aerospace and Innovation Academy today. www. aerospacehi...

In this second in our series, Kevin tells us more about the history of CubeSats by addressing early and interesting missions and helps explains their payloads!

In this first of our minisode series, Kevin gives us a brief overview of the history of a CubeSat!

Today, we meet with Kristine Poptanich, the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Launchpad23, an online education opportunity for families seeking to build the future-ready skills so often missed in traditional curricula. She previously served as vice president at an ed-tech startup, on the Maryland State Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education, and in the national security sphere in b...

Todd Harrison is Managing Director of Metrea Strategic Insights. Prior to joining Metrea in May 2022, Mr. Harrison was a senior fellow and the director of Defense Budget Analysis and the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He has served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S....

Today we meet with veritable force to be reckoned with. Dr. Pandya’s experience is vast, which explains in part why many believe she is inline to be a future astronaut. She is a physician, aquanaut, scientist-astronaut candidate with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS). But she is also a skydiver a pilot-in-training, a VP of Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies,...

Dr. Don Platt is an Associate Professor at Florida Tech University and Director of Florida Tech's Spaceport Education Center. He has extensive experience in developing, testing and flying different types of avionics, communications, and rocket propulsion systems and. His areas of current focus are human space exploration and the adaptation to deep space, high performance small satellite system...

Kevin and I look forward to talking with a great role model in aerospace: Rachel Garza. After receiving her degree in aerospace engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Rachel started her engineering career at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, where she worked as an astronaut instructor for the International Space Station program and served as a flight controller in the Missi...

Today we meet with avid space enthusiast Emily Carney. In 2010, Emily Carney started a spaceflight blog called This Space Available via https://space.nss.org/category/this- space-available/). She loves to tell the story that, one time, the late astronaut Gene Cernan (Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, and Apollo 17 astronaut, also known as “The Last Man on the Moon”) once asked her, “what the hell is a space b...

Today, we are rejoined by Andres Permuy, now a third-year Physics Major and Math minor at Georgetown University. Currently Andres is studying abroad at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He aspires to receive a master's degree in Space Robotics to pursue a career in Orbital Robotics and Automation. Andres’ current goal is to work with automation that can be utilized in the space industry for e...

Caius Reza is the Lead Business Executive at Alba Orbital, a Scottish company that builds and launches PocketQubes – PocketQubes, like what their name would suggest are tiny satellites small enough to fit in your pocket! After graduating from the University of Strathclyde in 2019, he joined the company and. handles the company’s marketing and business operations, as well as organizing launch campa...

Today we are joined by two new Wolfpack members from Buffalo, NY. Brian Bartelo is 13 years old and brother Sean is almost 11. While they have many interests, one of their main passions is space. Brian has an impressive resume already. He has presented topics such as mitigating space debris at AIAA Regional in Buffalo and, most recently, at Explore Mars' Humans to Mars Summit. He was part of t...