STEM Southwest Podcast

Today's guest is a true STEM Rockstar! After being raised in the Southwest, George Gorospe left behind all that he knew and headed east to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The adjustment was tough for George, but with family support, and the support of other Native Americans at Dartmouth College, he made it work. His journey included a stint as a teacher at his alma mater, the Santa Fe Indian School, before he began to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In pursuit of more knowledge, George obtained an internship with NASA that grew into a series of amazing opportunities that would shape his career and open doors to his dreams. George continues to live out his dream of solving problems for NASA at the Ames Research Center, but also has a particular interest in become an astronaut for which he recently submitted an application.

Show Notes

George Gorospe, born and raised in Albuquerque, NM, attended high school at the Santa Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, NM. After graduation, George attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH where he majored in Classical Studies. After Dartmouth, George returned to his community to become a full time high school teacher at the Santa Fe Indian School. While there, he decided to pursue an engineering degree at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. During his second undergraduate education, George completed multiple internships at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. Once George completed his Mechanical Engineering B.S. degree, he participated in NASA’s premier leadership development program, the NASA Academy for Space Exploration. At the end of this program, George was hired to work in the Mission Design Center, where he helped develop conceptual space missions to send robotic explorers to the outer solar system. George is currently a member of the Diagnostics and Prognostics Research Group in the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center. There he manages the Systems Health Analytics, Resilience, and Physics modeling (SHARP) Laboratory. His research interests include: automated test systems, UAV electric propulsion systems, robotics, advanced diagnostics and prognostics, and GPU accelerated computing.

Santa Fe Indian School

UNM Mechanical Engineering Program

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (NASA)

NASA Ames Robotics Academy

NASA Ames Academy for Space Exploration

Indigenous Fly-In Program (Dartmouth College)

Artemis Program (NASA)

Urban Air Mobility (Air Taxis)

Contact:

George Gorospe

[email protected]

This week’s episode of STEM Southwest finds Bob and Shelly in deep conversation with two young engineers from the University of New Mexico. Emily and Delaney, who have been active leaders of the UNM chapter of the Society of Women in Engineering and just returned from the national conference. Conversation covers everything from women in STEM to the power of parents and the future of engineering.  Join us as we explore what Delaney has coined, less pink and more think!

Show Notes

Emily Ganley is a Junior studying Chemical Engineering at the University of New Mexico.  She is the current President of the UNM Society of Women Engineers, which aims to foster the growth, success, and advancement of women in STEM fields, and to create an inclusive environment for all UNM engineering students.  In her free time, she loves to read, hike, and tie-dye!

Delaney Heileman is a 4th year computer engineering major at the University of New Mexico.  She previously served as the President of the UNM Society of Women Engineers and is a strong advocate for diversifying STEM.  Post-graduation, she wants to pursue a career in the renewable energy sector. 

Society of Women Engineers - UNM Chapter

Society of Women Engineers

Book Recommendations:

The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys' Club, by Eileen Pollack

Contact:

Emily Ganley (Linkedin)

Delaney Heileman (Linkedin)

Society of Women Engineers - UNM Chapter (Facebook)

Society of Women Engineers - UNM Chapter (Instagram)

Today’s guest, Sandra K Begay, is the daughter of a Navajo tribal leader and a public health nurse.  Director Begay has had an extensive career as an engineer with several national research laboratories.  She has been awarded for her work on tribal energy projects, and has mentored dozens of Native American interns.  Her experience, commitment, and passion for renewable energy run deep, and are now being harnessed to proliferate sustainable energy solutions for the City of Albuquerque.

Show Notes

Sandra K. Begay was born and raised in New Mexico, and is a member of the Navajo Nation.  Sandra received her Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico and then earned her Masters of Science in Structural Engineering from Stanford University.  Sandra recently became the Director of Environmental Health for the City of Albuquerque after having served for a number of years as an engineer with Sandia National Laboratories. 

STC.UNM Board Member - Sandra Begay (bio)

Explora

City of Albuquerque - Environmental Health Department

Mary Ross

Henrietta Mann

Book Recommendations:

An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming, by Al Gore

Contact:

[email protected]

This week’s episode highlights a STEM Rockstar who knows New Mexico well.  As a registered architect and planner, he’s been building foundations his entire life as a New Mexico native with a strong interest in economic development and job creation.  Today, Dale Dekker will share his extensive knowledge about the History of Space in New Mexico.  We’ll talk about the New Mexican visionaries who made a difference in space including Dr. Robert Goddard and his advances in Rocketry, the White Sands Missile Range, the Trinity site, populating the Moon, and of course Spaceport America and its newest residents, Virgin Galactic.  We’ll also find out what Dale thinks is next on the horizon and how New Mexico is poised to make a real difference in the future of space travel!

Show Notes

Dale Dekker is a registered architect and planner.  He was the founding partner of Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, a 200-person architecture, planning, interiors, engineering design firm with offices in Albuquerque, Amarillo, Las Cruces, and Phoenix.  Dale grew up in Albuquerque and serves on numerous community boards, and is particularly interested in economic development and job creation to help our community grow and thrive.

Dekker Perich Sabatini

Dr. Robert Goddard

White Sands Missile Range

Spaceport America

Air Force Research Laboratory

New Mexico State University raised the potential for New Mexico to create a Spaceport – one of the very first private ventures outside of the domain of government.  Governor Bill Richardson supported this idea and helped to direct the funding of the space along with helping to find and identify Virgin Galactic.  This is allowing New Mexico to be at the forefront of the private space travel industry.

Space Debris

Space Ambassadors Program

The future of architecture includes smart buildings and smart cities, driverless cars, sensors, data sharing, apps, and satellites.

RS21

Descartes Lab

Meow Wolf

Electric Playhouse

Book Recommendations:

The Art of War, by Sun Tzu

Homo Deus, a Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari

Contact:

[email protected]

Have you ever entered a science fair? Today's guests are going to share their experiences as well as the best tips and resources on how to participate in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held each spring.  Karen Kinsman is a STEM professional working to champion STEM programs throughout New Mexico, and she introduces us to a brother and sister team who both participated in ISEF as a part of their STEM journey.

Karen Kinsman is the Director of the UNM STEMH Center has worked to grow the program to “make it bigger” with the goal of championing STEM education. 

STEM-H Center

Research Challenge Bootcamp

International Science and Engineering Fair

Karen also works closely with ISEF for which 1,800 student researchers compete from 80 countries; about 20% of these students have patents or in the process of getting patents.

Karen has a lot of favorite projects from all of her years with the ISEF, including those of Taylor and Devin Roach, a brother and sister team who were actively involved with the Fair and to whom Karen introduces us.

Taylor is pursuing her Master’s in Family Counseling.  Taylor started science fair in 6th grade and loved working on behavioral studies.  “The Effects of Productivity and Performance on Interruptions” was her first project.  It was really fun for her because she would invite friends over to be her “human subjects” and participate in her research.

Taylor also knows our past guest, Dr. Vincent Clark, and his positive psychology laboratory.

Ep025 Brain Matters and Healing Science, with Dr. Vincent P. Clark

Devin is pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering.  Devin pursued research in nondestructive inspection to identify ways to determine the strength of a structure.  This project took him to ISEF which helped prepare him to be ready to pursue his PhD.

Devin has also co-authored Advances in 4D Printing: Materials and Applications

Book Recommendations:

Taylor:  Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, by Michael White

Devin:   Love and War: Find Your Way to Something Beautiful in Your Marriage, by John & Stasi Eldridge

Contact:

Karen Kinsman, [email protected]

Taylor Roach, [email protected]

Devin Roach, [email protected]

Show Notes

In today’s episode, Bob and Shelly share their experiences about two recent events, FinCon19 and ExperienceIT.

FinCon19, Where Money and Media Meet, was held in Washington, DC.  Attendees learned about new financial technologies as well as personal finances, and connected with others in order to plan future collaborations.  We’ll be sharing about some of those technologies in upcoming episodes. 

At Experience IT, Shelly connected with STEM leaders and learned more about Virgin Galactic’s recent move to Spaceport America in New Mexico.  Guest, Paige Prescott, and Shelly gave a presentation entitled, “The Future of Education,” about which they share with STEM Southwest listeners.

Many people in STEM are actively pursuing side hustles or gigs - they may be consulting, writing, speaking, YouTubing, or a variety of others.  STEM professionals have an opportunity to leverage their knowledge to benefit the world and make an impact.  

Personal Finance Conference - Financial Freedom Summit

Chris Browning, host of Popcorn Finance, and Plutus Podcast.

Documentary “Playing with FIRE”

Bob shares his passion for writing, as well as his tips on financial technology.  Two of his favorite financial apps that he recommends are: 

Bumped

Acorns

We understand that many times people need help in navigating their life and make career plans.  Check out Shelly’s curriculum at Life Launch Academy.

P.T or Philip Taylor, founder of a personal finance website PT Money which helps people build a second income, shares tips with listeners on getting started on their side hustles, including not trying to do it all alone.  Rather, P.T. recommends collaborating and studying with others, and staying focused on a growth mindset. 

STEM Southwest listeners can support P.T. by checking out the digital marketing conference, FinCon20, and the upcoming Financial Freedom Summit, schedule May 1-3, 2020 in St Louis, MO. 

P.T. also shares one of his favorite tech tools, LOOM, which is a Chrome extension with a free version that records screencast videos to aid in communication with team members.

Our next guest, Auri Vigil, is a returning STEM Southwest guest.  Auri works for New Mexico Tech Council, a local connector for technology that works hard to build collaboration.  Auri speaks about Experience IT and the Women in Technology Celebration. 

Experience IT was a one-day annual conference that attracted over 420 attendees and was packed full of great workshops!  Keynote speakers included three representatives from Virgin Galactic who shared with attendees the growing space technology taking place in New Mexico which includes commercial space flight that is expected to take place in the near future.

The Women In Technology Celebration is scheduled March 26, 2020, and is a celebration to honor women in STEM.  One can nominate a nominate a woman in technology here.

Our last guest for today’s episode is Paige Prescott, who was a Women In Technology Award Winner this year.  Paige has been working in Computer Science Education since 2007, and is currently the President of Computer Science Teacher’s Association.  In 2018, she also started a non-profit, Computer Science Alliance.  Paige shares information on important trends in Computer Science, including how we can make positive changes. 

Paige and Shelly speak about current data and the growing demand for the STEM career pipeline and how we might be able to address this in the workforce.  Paige shares about many policy issues that states need to consider in growing the workforce and preparing teachers to help their students in K-12 so that more students have access to computer programming.  She explains her Teacher Professional Development program that was designed to provide resources and knowledge to impact teachers and their students. This program is designed to build community, share resources, and collaborate in order to have a great impact on STEM throughout the region. 

Contact:

Philip Taylor

Linkedin

Auri Vigil

[email protected]

Paige Prescott

Linkedin

This week's guest is a highly-trained robotics bomb technician with a four-legged partner.  Michelle Tye has been protecting her community, first as a police officer, and then as a bomb technician at a major metropolitan airport.  Chances are if you've ever flown anywhere, she and her colleagues have been watching your back.  This important work challenges her physically and mentally while stretching her to stay on the cutting edge of technology, all which she absolutely loves.  Michelle made the decision to take on the challenging bomb squad training because, although she was afraid that she would fail, she didn’t want to not do it and not know if she could.

This edition's guest, Matt Fetrow, is the Director of the Tech Engagement Office at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in New Mexico.  Matt is always looking for innovative ways to solve Air Force problems working in collaboration with entrepreneurs and businesses. He hopes that these relationships will become the norm rather than the exception, and has invested resources to ensure this is happening.  He is a great example of someone who has paired both science and business to create a rewarding career in STEM! Join us in welcoming Matt to the microphone!

Show Notes

Matt Fetrow is the Director of the Tech Engagement Office at the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico.  He leads the laboratory’s technology transfer, STEM outreach, commercialization, innovation, and community engagement activities in the state.   In addition, Matt has led numerous technology programs for the Air Force with a focus on space remote sensing, laser remote sensing, and advanced photonics.  Prior to his years of federal service, he worked in optical systems research and development at industry startups and in academia.  Matt received his B.S. in Physics from Utah State University and his M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts. 

Air Force Research Lab

Enterprize Challenge

Hyperspace Challenge

Mission to Mars

New Mexico STEM Signing Day

AFRL Scholars Program

Book Recommendations:

Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman

Contact:

 [email protected]

This week’s guest is Steve Goodgame who is the Executive Director of the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics.  He is passionate about teaching students to code at a young age and uses the Botball competition as a tool to do just that.  Like us, Steve’s desire is to help teachers meet the challenges of implementing STEM in the classroom so that there can be sustainability.  Most weeks you will find Steve and his wife, Carol, traveling throughout the country in support of the Botball program that can be found at almost 1300 schools in 39 states and 7 countries.  Luckily for us, we were able to find him sitting still for an hour to talk about how his program is impacting STEM enrichment in the Southwest!

Show Notes

Steve Goodgame is the Executive Director for the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics (Institute), a not-for-profit educational organization that uses hands-on robotics programs in order to communicate the excitement, knowledge, and practical understanding of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Prior to joining the Institute, Steve served as an educator in several schools where he organized and coached a number of teams in various robotic-related programs and competitions such as BEST, FIRST, and Botball. 

KISS Institute for Practical Robotics

Botball

Junior Botball Challenge

PATHFINDERS Summer Institute

Book Recommendations:

A Framework for Understanding Poverty - A Cognitive Approach, by Ruby K. Payne

Contact:

Steve Goodgame, [email protected]

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

Flickr

There are STEM rockstars all over the Southwest and today's guest is one of them.  He is also a STEM evangelist and striving to make our programs more inclusive.  While we just recently met Shawn Hardina, our perspectives and experiences in STEM enrichment are parallel; us in New Mexico and him in Arizona.  He has a lot of great ideas on how we can radically change STEM education and make a difference in our future workforce so listen in here!

Show Notes

Shawn Hardina has been asking hard questions, solving problems, and challenging the status quo his entire life.  Having been successful in school, but not particularly fond of the traditional education process, Shawn decided to become a science teacher to transform education and make it something that he wished he had growing up.  Shawn has been on this journey ever since. 

Shawn has been in education for 27 years as a science and CTE teacher and a FIRST and VEX robotics coach and mentor.  He has a wide range of experiences having been a K – 6 Science and Literacy instructional coach, a certified Kagan Cooperative learning instructor, keynote speaker, a community college and university education instructor, National Board Certified in Chemistry, a Project Lead The Way Biomedical Sciences Master Teacher, and entrepreneur.

In 2014, while still teaching, Shawn founded the East Valley Robotics Academy to provide robotics experiences for families in Arizona, which was bought out by STAX3D in 2016.  Using his personal experiences and struggles as a catalyst, in January 2019, Shawn created Innovation Tech LLC to utilize his robotics experiences to bring together education, career exploration, workforce development, and economic development; and to specifically help create opportunity and bring more inclusion, socially and economically, to individuals with disabilities.

FIRST

STAX3D

Empowerment Through Sports

Book Recommendations:

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, by Adam Grant

Boston Consulting Group

Stanford Social Innovation Review

IBM iX (Brand Belonging)

Contact:

Shawn Hardina,

[email protected]

(928) 279-2018

LinkedIn

Twitter