Let's Go to Space: BLUE-SKY Learning

Dr. Gregg Cannady is COO and co-founder of One voice for change, a Colorado-based non-profit whose Vision is to bring equal learning opportunities to children around the world. Gregg builds local, national, and even international communities to empower students via simple relationships and collaborations with industry and subject matter experts. Two of their most known international programs are t...

Today we meet with Amber Imai-Hong, an Avionics Engineer and Outreach Specialist. Born and raised on Hawaii Island, Amber developed skills in robotics, astronomy, and tinkering while attending Wa ia kea High School which lead her to join a small satellite team in her freshman year at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she majored in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Electrophysics. She...

Michele Jamrozik received her PhD degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2003 form the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Michele has experience in both academia (research and teaching in speech, image, and video processing) as well as in industry (automotive software and electronics, computer vision systems, biotech/nanotechnology, etc.). More recently, Michele complet...

After this weekend's success at the SmallSat Education Conference, we were excited to catch up with members of the BigRedSat, which was the vision of the late John McClure.  While he did not live to see his dream come to fruition, we are honored to have met him and to continue to see the lives he has touched.  John McClure was the President and CEO of Sicuro Technology, which specialized...

Today we are honored to meet with the esteemed Kate Tobin-- a science journalist with a long track record in television news.  She was a Producer with the CNN Science and Technology Unit from 1991 to 2008.  She then formed her own production company and was Executive Producer of the National Science Foundation’s “ Science Nation” series from 2009 to 2019.  She currently produces, sh...

Today we meet with two very inspirational space enthusiasts. Dr. Sonny White has accumulated 25+ years of experience working in the aerospace industry with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA, and now with the Limit less Space Institute. He currently serves as Director of Advanced Research and Development at LSI.  Among his numerous awards are the NASA Medal for Excellence in  Achievement for...

Today we interview sophomore student, Maxwell L. Friedman, the Lead Engineer of the A3Sat. A3 stands for Acquire, analyze and apply and is a CubeSat emulator meant to teach students how to build and develop space technologies.  Max has worked on the A3Sat project since his Junior year of high school  After graduating first in his class, Max decided to attend the Worcester Polytechnic Ins...

Today we meet with Kaye Ebelt-- an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, pilot, and nationally known educator.  She has multiple Bachelor and Masters degrees from the University of Montana, Montana State University, and Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts and she currently teaches Elementary Science, Aeronautics, and Engineering at the Greene School in West Palm Beach, Fl. &nb...

Amanda Grodman is an 11th-grade student at Florida Atlantic University High School in Jupiter, FL, where she is participating in a dual-enrollment program and striving for a degree in Biology. During her time working with the AIA, Amanda has written several of the "Let's Go to Space" blogs reflecting the weekly podcasts, and has also co-authored/illustrated the "Let's Go to Space" children's book...

Our listeners know that aerospace is not just about being an astronaut or engineer—both of which are fine career options. In fact, almost any field here on Earth will be needed as we becoming space faring nations. Including, yes, you guessed it, lawyers.. Today, we meet with Michelle Hanlon—who IS a  space lawyer.  Ms. Hanlon  is Co-Director of the Air & Space Law Program at the...

Today we meet with 19 year old Leeloo Schindelhauer. As a German student, Leeloo attended a STEM based high school where she participated in many extracurriculars including math club. She currently pursues aerospace engineering studies at Technical University of Munich But her love of space became evident about four years ago as she participated in a student internships at DLR, the German Space Ag...

Today, we meet with Michael Starch--  a flight software engineer working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  In the decade that Michael has worked at JPL, he has contributed to a number of JPL missions including several deep space CubeSats and the Mars Helicopter “Ingenuity”.  Now Michael is the Cognizant Engineer and Community Manager for the OpenSource flight software framework...

Today in this special episode I talk with Kevin about the first annual SmallSat Conference coming to the Kennedy Space Center Oct 29-30. We discuss why there was a need for such a conference on the East coast as well as talk about what attendees can expect. Remember students and teachers may attend for free! Head to SmallSat Education. Org to register before it’s too late. And of course you can ch...

Today we meet with Zachary Clarke—a masters student at Utah State University who works as a Systems Engineer for the F-16 Fighting Falcon. As such,Zach is pursuing his degree in systems engineering with an emphasis in the space environment. Zach has worked as the head system engineer for the student developed satellite mission: ACMES, where he managed twenty undergraduates in their efforts to desi...

Today we meet with two more extraordinary middle school students who are doing real world aerospace. Argyrios Deanie Vaitsos is entering 8th grade while Dylan Kiesling is entering the seventh. Both boys are finishing up at the same private school in Palm Beach Gardens and are looking at promising high schools in the future. Deanie shares about his team’s work on building a paraglider with the inte...

Today we meet with Brandon Pearson, the director for NearSpace Education, the newest non-profit entity associated with NearSpace Launch. We have met with many NSL professionals in the past, but today, we learn more about how HABS can be used in the classroom. Brandon has a unique understanding of the classroom having been a high school science teacher for seven years where he focused primarily on...

Our series highlighting Wolfpack Students and their research has covered, up to this point, some of our high school and university students. Today, we hear from two S. Florida middle school students, both of whom will be starting the 8th grade this coming school year but who are doing incredible research related to space and their individual passions. Arnav Joseph is the lead on two biological pap...

Today we meet with two South Florida members of the Wolfpack, both of whom are rising juniors in their respective high schools. Theodore Ouyang, a student at Suncoast High School, has been working for several years on his CubeSat proposal, the FlipSat, which seeks to address the mitigation of bit flips in space. When his proposal was not selected by NASA’s CSLI for funding, teammate William Mayvil...

Today we meet with recent UF grad, Haley Boles. Haley earned her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Cell Science.  Before transferring to UF, she attended her local community college where she earned my Associate of Arts with Honors as well as her Certificate of International Studies.  Haley loves the fields of both space biology and astrobiology which is reflected in her research e...

Tarek A. Elgohary,  an assistant professor in the  UCF’s mechanical and aerospace engineering department. He is the director of the Astrodynamics and Space Robotics Laboratory. Before joining UCF, he was a postdoctoral research associate at Texas A&M and a visiting scholar in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He received h...

Today, Kevin and I meet with Andres Permuy, a third-year Physics Major and Math minor at Georgetown University. He aspires to receive a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering/Robotics to pursue a career in Advanced Robotics and Automation.  Andres’ current goal is to work with automation that can be utilized in the space industry for extraterrestrial exploration and excavation.  Curre...

Today Kevin and I meet with Sara Alvarado who is a current  economics and industrial engineering undergrad working towards her masters in Industrial Engineering at The University of Central Florida. In addition to her school load, Sara works at Universal Orlando Resort as an Industrial Engineer, Hailing from Colombia, she always dreamed big but knew her options were limited in her home countr...

For those who follow our social media or are part of the Aerospace and Innovation Academy family, you know our students do real-world experiential aerospace on a regular basis. Students find a place in the industry to capitalize on their passions and interests. Today’s two featured students have taken these opportunities to a whole new level. Paul Kiesling, a freshman at Exeter Academy, returns to...

Today Kevin and I meet with Megan Wnek who is entering her 4th year as an Aerospace Engineering student with an Electrical Engineering minor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.  She has interned as a structural engineer for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics on the F-35 program and most recently, Northrop Grumman Space Systems as a systems engineering intern. During her time at UF, she...

In an ongoing effort to prepare our students for their futures, today Kevin and I meet with Joseph Blassberg.  Joe began his counseling career at American University in Washington, D.C. then went on to serve as the Director of College Counseling at Milken Community Schools in Los Angeles.. There,  he implemented a college counseling curriculum and provided students and families with grad...