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Educators! Register to join NASA for a special virtual event at the ED Games Expo.
About this event
Educators! Register to join NASA for a special virtual event at the ED Games Expo. The lineup includes NASA speakers, interactive Q&A sessions, and a first look at the NASA TechRise Student Challenge for 6th to 12th-grade students. This new NASA competition through the Flight Opportunities Program and administered by Future Engineers, will start accepting applications this fall.
Event registration is required, so be sure to RSVP and save your spot!
Robert D. Cabana is a former NASA astronaut, currently serving the agency's associate administrator, its third highest-ranking executive and highest-ranking civil servant. Before taking that position, Cabana was director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In that role, Cabana managed all NASA facilities and activities at the spaceport, including the team of civil service and contractor employees who operate and support numerous space programs and projects. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cabana graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and completed Naval Flight Officer training in Pensacola in 1972. Cabana then served as an A-6 bombardier/navigator with Marine Air Wings in Cherry Point, North Carolina, and Iwakuni, Japan. Returning to Pensacola in 1975, Cabana began pilot training and was designated a naval aviator in September of 1976, earning the Daughters of the American Revolution award as the top Marine to complete flight training that year. He graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1981 and served in the Flight Systems Branch at the Naval Air Test Center until 1984. During his career, Cabana has logged over 7,000 hours in 50 different kinds of aircraft.Cabana was selected as an astronaut candidate in June 1985 and completed his initial astronaut training in July 1986. He was assigned to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Astronaut Office, serving in a number of leadership positions, including lead astronaut in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory; Mission Control Spacecraft Communicator, famously known as CAPCOM; and chief of NASA's Astronaut Office. A veteran of four spaceflights, Cabana has logged 38 days in space, serving as the pilot on STS-41 and STS-53 and mission commander on STS-65 and STS-88. His fourth flight was the first assembly mission of the International Space Station in December of 1998. Following his retirement as a colonel from the Marine Corps in September 2000, Cabana was appointed a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service. He served in numerous, challenging senior management positions at Johnson Space Center in Houston, ultimately becoming deputy director. In October 2007, Cabana was appointed director of NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. A year later he was reassigned as the tenth director of the John F. Kennedy Space Center.Cabana's many achievements have been recognized with induction into the Astronaut Hall of Fame and being named an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He has received numerous personal awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award, and the National Space Club Florida Committee's Dr. Kurt H. Debus Award.
Jim Reuter
NASA
James L. Reuter was named NASA’s associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters in June 2019, a position in which he served in an acting capacity since February 2017. In this role, he provides executive leadership and management of the technology programs within STMD, with an annual investment value of $1.1 billion. Reuter was the deputy associate administrator of STMD from February 2017-February 2018. Prior to this role, Reuter served as the senior executive for technical integration in the Center Director’s Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center from 2009-2015, providing strategic leadership on critical technology and integration activities. Additionally, Reuter served as the Exploration Systems Division (ESD) Standing Review Board chair, responsible for overseeing development activities of the Space Launch System, Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Ground Systems Development and Operations Programs, and the ESD integration activities.Previously, Reuter served in many managerial roles at Marshall including Ares vehicle integration manager in the Constellation program, the deputy manager of Space Shuttle Propulsion Office, and the deputy manager of Space Shuttle External Tank Project Office during the shuttle return-to-flight activities. In 2002, he was assigned to a detail at NASA Headquarters as the deputy associate director in the Space Transportation Technology Division in the Office of Aerospace Technology. From 1994 to 2001, he was the Environmental Control and Life Support System manager for the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Reuter began his NASA career in 1983 as an aerospace engineer in the Structures and Propulsion Laboratory in Marshall’s Science and Engineering Directorate.Reuter has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He has received numerous NASA awards and honors, including a 2019 Distinguished Service Medal, 2016 Outstanding Leadership Medal, 2013 NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, a 2008 NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, a 2002 NASA Exceptional Service Medal, a 1998 Silver Snoopy Award and a 1993 Space Station Award of Merit.
Kris Brown
NASA
Kris Brown serves as deputy associate administrator for the Office of STEM Engagement, providing leadership of NASA’s STEM Engagement function and its programs, devoted to creating unique opportunities for students and the public to contribute to NASA’s work in exploration and discovery, and to building a diverse future STEM workforce by engaging students in authentic learning experiences with NASA’s people, content and facilities. Brown began her career at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center over 25 years ago as an engineer, devoting most of her career to working on flight programs and as a leader in engineering. As a result, she brings unique perspectives as a STEM practitioner to her role, coupled with a strong commitment and passion for inspiring and engaging young people to pursue STEM education and careers.Throughout her career in engineering, Brown led endeavors devoted to advancing the state-of-the-art in practice and capabilities. She served as Head of Systems Engineering Services and Advanced Concepts. Kris led the creation of the organization, charged with delivering systems engineering services and leadership in the conceptualization of future NASA missions, and developing and infusing enabling processes, tools and capabilities. As Project Manager for NASA’s Integrated Mission Design Center, Brown led a team in creating a new collaborative design capability for spaceflight mission design, from its inception through development and operations. At the request of NASA’s Chief Engineer, Brown led the Advanced Engineering Environment program, dedicated to building NASA’s next generation of engineering capabilities and infrastructure. Earlier, she served as mission systems engineer and mechanical systems manager for several spaceflight missions. Prior to government service, Brown spent 7 years in the private sector. Brown earned a B.S. in engineering from Virginia Tech. She is a graduate of NASA’s Project Management Development Emprise program. Brown was a Fellow in the Council for Excellence in Government, where her team was honored for creating the Kids In Science and Technology (KIST) initiative, dedicated to providing hands-on learning opportunities to kids.
Dr. Swati Mohan
NASA
Dr. Swati Mohan joined NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) first in 2004, after completing her B.S. from Cornell University in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. After working as a systems engineer on Cassini during Saturn Orbit Insertion and Huygens Probe release, she returned to graduate school in 2005 to MIT. Dr. Mohan received her M.S. and Ph.D in Aeronautics/Astronautics from the MIT Space Systems Laboratory. Since her return to JPL in 2010, Dr. Mohan has worked on multiple missions such as GRAIL and OCO-3. Swati also co-founded and manages the Small Satellite Dynamics Testbed. For the past 8 years, she has been the Lead Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Systems Engineer for Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, focusing on Cruise and Entry, Decent and Landing. For the last year, her role was the Mars 2020 Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Operations Lead. Dr. Mohan was the mission commentator for the landing of the Perseverance rover on February 18, 2021. She is currently the supervisor for the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Systems Engineering group at NASA JPL.
Niki Werkheiser
NASA
Niki Werkheiser brings a wealth of expertise and a proven approach to managing complex projects across NASA centers, industry partners, and academia. Werkheiser has built and managed the Agency’s In-Space Manufacturing (ISM) efforts, including the development and implementation of novel, on-demand manufacturing, repair, and recycling capabilities on the International Space Station (ISS). Werkheiser spent the majority of her career in NASA’s Space Shuttle and ISS Payload Offices where she designed, developed, integrated, and operated multiple NASA payloads. Werkheiser’s academic background includes a M.S. from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with an emphasis in Gravitational and Space Biology, as well as a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Russian Studies.
Christopher Baker
NASA
Christopher Baker currently serves as the program executive for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology programs. He previously held various positions in atmospheric and suborbital flight testing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center and managed an agency-wide early-stage research and development program from NASA Headquarters. Christopher is a graduate of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he received a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
Alejandro Mundo
NASA
Inspiring and engaging, Alejandro Mundo positively impacts students, colleagues and the Kingsbridge International High School, a public school in the Bronx, New York. Mundo knows his students can do anything—and he helps them believe it too. Ever since becoming an educator, he has opened a new world of opportunities in science, technology and engineering for his students, who engage in hands-on learning opportunities in all his classes. In Earth Science, students learn scientific concepts not from lectures, textbooks or memorization, but through manipulatives and lab experiences that illustrate the concepts. Mundo earned a B.S. in geological sciences and a minor in science, technology and society from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2015, and a master’s in Earth science from the Gilder Graduate School from the American Museum of Natural History in 2017. His professional goal is to build strong relationships with other educators, make meaningful discoveries through scientific research and inspire future generations of students to get a STEM career.
Rodney Grubbs
NASA
Rodney Grubbs began his career as a co-op motion picture photographer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center while a student at the University of Alabama. He is currently the NASA Imagery Experts Program Manager and Chairs an International Space Agency Imagery Standards Group. He is responsible for the NASA video distribution architecture including NASA TV and internet video distribution. He has been a Principal Investigator for flights of High Definition Television (HDTV) and Digital Cinema cameras and related experiments on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS), including the first ever live HDTV program from a spacecraft and the first ever Ultra High Definition program from a spacecraft. He is currently a Principal Investigator for the National Lab’s Red Digital Cinema camera on the ISS and is working on the imagery architecture for NASA’s Artemis program to land the next man and first woman on the Moon.
George Pantalos
University of Louisville
George Pantalos has been a cardiovascular explorer for over 48 years. Much of that effort has included the development of surgical devices and procedures to make the research projects possible. He has been a Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Louisville, in partnership with Jewish Hospital and Norton Children’s Hospital, since July 2000, after holding similar appointments at the University of Utah for 17 years. His efforts to investigate cardiovascular function have focused on understanding and treating heart failure with mechanical devices including artificial hearts, ventricular assist devices, and cardiopulmonary support systems which he has helped develop, test, and implement clinically. Pantalos has also collaborated with NASA for many years helping to understand cardiovascular adaptation to the weightlessness of space flight and the return to Earth. Pantalos as flown 51 research missions on NASA-sponsored parabolic flight aircraft and led the development of a cardiovascular diastolic function experiment - that included an instrumented artificial heart beating on a circulation simulator - that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Discovery and a surgical technology experiment that has flown a suborbital spaceflight on the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo. Other reduced gravity research projects have included delivery of effective chest compressions for CPR in 0-G, organ perfusion in 0-G, and the development of surgical capabilities for exploration space missions. With his fellow students, staff, faculty, and patients, his motto has always been, "Share the adventure!"
Elizabeth Kennick joined Teachers in Space (TIS) as program director in 2011 and became President in 2014. Formerly Vice President of Client Technology at Morgan Stanley, she now splits her time between developing exciting ways to bring Space into the classroom, and funding spaceflights for classroom experiments and for teachers. Kennick and TIS teachers and students have built and flown cubesat experiments on balloons, gliders, and Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft. Now she wants teachers and students across the world to interact with Teachers in Space’s first orbital cubesat, “Serenity”, launching soon with Firefly Aerospace.Kennick holds an MS in Information Systems / Operations Analysis, is a certified Project Management Professional, and is leading Teachers in Space's deployment of their first orbital satellite, launching with Firefly later this year. She is co-founder of NYC’s Software Process Improvement Network and teaches systems engineering, Arduino and Python programming, data management, critical thinking, decision process, and test design and management. Kennick placed 175th of 1621 women in her worldwide age group in the 2021 Crossfit Open.
David Lockett
NASA
David Lockett is a middle school STEM and computer science teacher at Bok Academy in Lake Wales, Florida. He is serving his fellowship at the NASA in the Office of STEM Engagement. For the past three years, he has implemented a variety of astronomy-based projects including the Bok Small Radio Telescope (BSRT). The project focused on naturally occurring radio light from stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects. As an Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (ACEAP) Ambassador, he accesses and uses data collected and other resources from observatories to build an understanding for future growth and continuing scientific discovery. He is a recipient of the International Society of Technology in Education STEM Professional Learning Network Award, which is awarded to STEM teachers that have displayed leadership and advocacy in understanding and advancing the authentic use of STEM in education. David is currently a collaborator on the Innovators Developing Accessible Tools in Astronomy (IDATA), a NSF STEM+C project, working to advance knowledge and understanding of best practices in teaching and learning related to computation and computational thinking in astronomy. He earned his B.A. in Biological Sciences from Fisk University, and M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Lipscomb University, and is currently pursuing his M.S. in Instructional Design from Full Sail University. He has endeavored to impact local, state, and national initiatives in a variety of project-based learning opportunities at numerous national and state conferences, such as the National Science Teachers Association, International Society for Technology in Education, and Future of Educational Technology Conference, showcasing computer science and STEM initiatives. David believes that as a STEM teacher, accessible instruction and technologies that promote student equity and engagement, collaboration, and problem-solving is key. He is increasingly active with national efforts to provide more STEM role models for students and builder stronger connections to the professional scientific community.
Steven Collicott
Purdue University
Steven Collicott is the Associate Head for Engagement and Professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. His research interests include low-gravity fluid dynamics, experimental fluid mechanics, and optical diagnostics. Dr. Collicott has substantial experiences with microgravity physics experimentation including a variety of interactions with players in the commercial flight services field. His experiments have flown on ISS, commercial sub-orbital vendors, and commercial parabolic flight plus he has launch agreements and experiments nearing completion to fly with most commercial sub-orbital companies. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dr. Collicott received a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University.
Tanya Silva
Future Engineers
Tanya Silva is an expert in Future Engineers K12 challenge administration. Prior to Future Engineers, Tanya had 14 years of experience as a Curriculum Developer and Science Director for STAR Education. Tanya has written over 500 National Standard based lessons that continue to serve over 20,000 students annually. She has a B.S. in Biology with a specialization in Ecology and Evolution from UCLA. In her free time, she volunteers as a STEM Consultant and Master Gardener.
Arnold Martin
ArtCenter College of Design
Arnold Martin is a designer, educator, and artist. He is an Assistant Professor of Product Design at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA. As a designer Arnie specializes in making, prototyping, 3D modeling and printing, and electronics. As an educator he teaches courses in design, making, professional development, digital electronics and coding.
Deanne Bell is an engineer, television host, and the founder and CEO of Future Engineers, an education technology company that engages students in online contests and challenges. Future Engineers challenges have helped produce historic achievements — from manufacturing the first student-designed 3D print in space to naming NASA’s Perseverance Rover. Deanne’s television hosting credits include PBS, ESPN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, DIY Network, and CNBC’s Make Me a Millionaire Inventor.
