Let's Go to Space: BLUE-SKY Learning

Today, we meet with Karolina Rivera-Osorio,  a young lady with an avid interest in STEM with a particular focus on the psychological effects of living in space. Karolina was an intern at NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate supporting the Mars sample Return Mission. She participated in Human Factors creating the first Lunar Transport Modules for Incapacitated Astronauts for Johnson S...

Today we meet with Kevin Johnson, a Systems Engineer at Jacobs supporting the Artemis Program for NASA based out of the Kennedy Space Center. As a first generation college student born to a single teenage mother and raised under the poverty line, Kevin spent his early years working in the food service industry, honing a hard working and team oriented skillset to succeed. This also led to him plann...

Today, we meet with, Space Florida President and CEO, Frank DiBello. in May 2009 Mr. DiBello was chosen to lead Space Florida, which is the principal state agency for aerospace-related economic development, and the Space Authority for the State of Florida. In his position, he develops and executes programs designed to attract, retain and grow aerospace business across the state. Additionally, Mr....

Dr. Anand “Sunny” Narayanan is currently a Research Professor at Florida A&M AND  - Florida State University (FAMU-FSU). As a first-generation, immigrant, Indian American from a disadvantaged background, Sunny has held a life-long interest in encouraging diversity through educational outreach and interdisciplinary projects. Sunny holds a Ph. D. from Texas A&M University in Medical and...

Dr. Jin S. Kang (Suk Jin Kang) is an Associate Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department at the United States Naval Academy, and serves as the Director of the Naval Academy Small Satellite Program. His main research area is in small satellite technology development and was involved in development of four micro-satellites and numerous CubeSat satellites. He received his B.S. from the Univer...

Today we are excited to get an update on the BigRedSat, a CubeSat we first learned about last year. In fact two early podcast episodes (found linked in the show notes) served as an introduction to this team which included middle- university level students as well as an interview with one of their biggest supporters, John McClure. Sadly, John passed this year but his dream for a CubeSat in Nebraska...

Today, Kevin meets with Nicholas Marshall, a Junior at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach Fl . There, he is studying Aerospace Engineering with an Aeronautics Track. Nicholas is an active member of Design Build Fly at Embry-Riddle, and he recently participated with our group as part of this yea’s American Insitute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Congressional Visit Day. A proud...

Today’s guest, Craig Glover, was raised in a community much like those in the Palm Beach County community he now serves. His experience growing up in an economically challenged area has helped him recognize his many blessing, and to survive several life challenges. Currently, Craig is excited to serve others as the Executive Director of Northend RISE. RISE is a resident-driven, family and systems...

Today Kevin and I meet with Kadija Rahman and Amina Zulfi, founders of The Little Martians. Kadija  is an Information Technology Engineer and certified STEM Educator in Teaching Primary Science and Amina, an electronics engineer turned educator, is a certified STEM activity designer and STEM curriculum planner. The Little Martians was founded with the objective of building a strong maker comm...

Mr. Patrick H. Stakem has been fascinated by the space program since the Vanguard launches in 1957. He received a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, and Masters Degrees in Physics and Computer Science from the Johns Hopkins University. At Carnegie, he worked with a group of undergraduate students to re-assemble, modify, and operate a surplus missile guidanc...

Today Kevin and I meet with Amy Trujillo, a professional educator and author with 20 years experience working with students from elementary school through adults. Currently she is the Instructional Coach at Orlando Science Schools where she oversees STEM, as well as oversees the gifted plans for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Ms. Trujillo is also n innovator and advocate for the nee...

"Let’s Go to Space: BLUESKY Learning" is part of a larger educational initiative called the Aerospace and Innovation Academy, which seeks to provide unique and distinctive stem opportunities for passionate middle and high schoolers.  While we often highlight careers in aerospace, today’s podcast is the third in a series where we have been hearing from  parents of students who have incred...

Let’s Go to Space BLUESKY Learning is part of a larger educational initiative called the Aerospace and Innovation Academy, which seeks to provide unique and distinctive stem opportunities for passionate middle and high schoolers. While we often highlight careers in aerospace, today’s podcast is the third in a series where we have been hearing from  parents of students who have incredible resu...

Today: we bring you Episode 55: Parent Perspectives:  Supporting Student Success in the AIA with Eran Levy and Stephanie Welch. Mr. Eran Levy has a bachelors in business and computer science. He is an expert in sales and marketing strategy and is the lead for customer success at Cisco along with being a dad of two, including son Daniel who recently spoke at the Hawaiian International Conferen...

We are fortunate to have interviewed several amazing educators during our time producing this podcast. Today, we add another rock star to that list: Frederick Hermann has been teaching at the MakuaLani Christian Academy on the big island of Hawaii for twelve years. While his passion is aerospace, Frederick holds a BA in English with a minor in mathematics and a Masters in Special Education. Before...

Today, we meet with seventh and eighth grade members of the Aerospace and Innovation Academy, our parent company, to discuss one aspect of the unique opportunities our students are eligible to undertake to help separate them from their peers. Argyrios Deanie Vaitsos, Michael Mikati, and Finley Strauss are middle schoolers who have written several technical papers and have even presented at interna...

Today we meet with Dr. Pradeep Shinde . Dr. Shinde  received his PhD from Florida International University in Mechanical Engineering and is the CEO of SpaceLoon™, a company being built at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's MicaPlex. He has expertise in High-Altitude Balloons and CubeSat instrumentation and has received four awards from NASA-FSGC (NASA-Florida Space Grant Consortium) over...

Today we meet with Matt Voss, the Chief Operations Officer for NearSpace Launch, Inc. Matt has an extensive professional entrepreneurial background including an MBA in Management and Marketing with 15+ years’ experience in fast-paced dynamic environments. He has managed and directed million-dollar budgets and held a key role in their aerospace startup in 2006. He has a passion for developing an ef...

Jim Plaxco is a digital artist, creative coder, public speaker, and web consultant. Prior to entering the field of digital art, Jim was an information technology professional and software engineer working for Fortune 100 companies, included AT&T and IBM. In March 2019 Jim became the National Space Society’s Director of Information Systems and in October 2019 became the NSS Data Protection Offi...

Doc Chaves is director of corporate communications for LI-COR Biosciences, a world leader in technology for measuring global climate change and cutting-edge instrumentation for molecular biology research. His main job is translating English to English…helping engineers and scientists share knowledge with a broader audience. He is a volunteer leader for the Big Red Satellite Team, Nebraska’s first...

Today we meet with Eric Harkleroad— a systems engineer for APeX Systems in New Jersey.  He holds a Master of Engineering in Mechanical & Aerospace and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics both from Princeton University and he previously served as a crew member for a two-week rotation at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). A long time Space Ambassador for the National Space S...

Today we meet with Julia Brodsky, a STEM education researcher at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, and a Forbes Education contributing author. Ms. Brodsky was not only an NASA astronaut instructor, but she worked as an independent school teacher, an informal math education book author, and an educational consultant for gifted students. Additionally, she is the homeschooling mom of a spec...

Today we meet with ,Matt Orvis who graduated with a Bachelors degree in Physics in 2013, with an Masters in 2015. Since then he's been working with NearSpace Launch building satellites and other space subsystems as a project engineer. Working in a small business, Matt has the privilege of operating in a variety of tasks, including proposal writing, mission design, system layout, assembly/integrati...

Today Kevin and In meet with Rayon Harris, an Aeronautical Design Engineer at Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks residing in Southern California.  Prior to his experience at the Skunkworks, Rayon was an avid member of  AIAA’s UCF student branch and obtained his Aerospace Engineering degree in 2019.  As an active member of AIAA national since 2015, Rayon has engaged  in various AIAA a...

Today we meet with Chris Kapp. Chris is Vice President of Compression in the energy group AF Global. He has 25+ years experience with nearly all aspects of turbo machinery in nearly every area of Oil & gas as well as industrial applications. Starting out abroad, Chris started up a joint venture company, Demag Kirloskar Compressors. He then Immigrated to the US and he worked for Cooper Energy S...