Outreach and education programs I’m involved in: public outreach in the community, and research experiences for undergraduates. Press coverage of my research is listed with each project on Current Research and Past Research.
Outreach · Undergraduate research
Outreach
RISE – Rockets for Inclusive Science Education
The Space Instrumentation Group’s outreach program for middle- and high-school students from groups underrepresented in STEM. Working with State College Area High School, students build model rockets that carry a single-board computer, sensors and a camera, launch them near State College, and analyze the flight data. Since its first year in 2020–21, RISE has expanded to students in Baltimore through Morgan State University and to the Al Madina School of Richmond, Virginia.
My role: Lead and instructor.
More: RISE program page
In the news
- Eberly College of Science, Science Journal: Rockets for Inclusive Science Education (March 2024)
- Battelle: Battelle and Penn State fund program, partner with Morgan State to expand sounding rocket STEM program
- State College Magazine: Lift Off (July 2021)
AstroFest
The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics’ four-night public festival of astronomy talks, hands-on activities and rooftop stargazing, held each July during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.
My role: Rocket lab tours.
Video: AstroFest promotional video
News: Penn State News
More: Department public outreach
MASC – Manufacturing and Sterilization for COVID-19
A Penn State initiative launched in March 2020 that brought together hundreds of researchers, staff and students to design, 3D print, test and sterilize personal protective equipment for health-care workers early in the pandemic.
News: Penn State News · WTAJ
More: MASC website
Undergraduate research
Undergraduate research in the Space Instrumentation Group
Undergraduates are part of the team that builds our sounding rocket payloads and X-ray diffraction gratings, flight-testing technology for the next generation of high-energy astronomy missions. Students work on NASA flight hardware alongside graduate students, engineers and staff, and gain skills in SolidWorks, software development, electronics, and clean room and device fabrication.
My role: One of the group leads and the lab manager.
What students do
- Design flight components in CAD
- Work on electronics and test cameras for X-rays
- Write flight software and GUIs for in-flight data
- Fabricate reflection gratings at the Materials Research Institute
- Align detectors, grating modules and an X-ray telescope into a spectrometer
- Integrate rocket components into a flight payload, and help launch it
Where our undergraduate alumni have gone
- Graduate school at R1 universities
- Engineering roles at Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Ball Aerospace
- Engineering roles at NASA facilities
- Engineering at a semiconductor company
- Co-founding a start-up
Penn State undergraduates interested in joining can apply through STAR or get in touch with me directly.
STAR – Students Together for Astronomy Research
An undergraduate research program in Penn State’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. STAR matches undergraduates with graduate students, postdocs and faculty on real research projects, so they earn course credit while building research skills. It has run every semester since spring 2022.
My role: Founder and program co-director, with Jennifer Marsh.
Undergraduate research at the University of Iowa
A recruitment video on undergraduate research in the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy, from my time in the rocket lab there (January 2015).