Meet the Expert: Dr. Jermey Matthews, chemical engineer and MIT Press book editor Jermey N. A. Matthews, PhD joined the MIT Press in 2016 after working for nine years as industry reporter and book reviews editor for Physics Today magazine. He holds a PhD degree in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland. In 2021,… Continue Reading Episode 91: How Do Scientists Get Kids Excited about STEM?
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Meet the Expert: Lou Ramon, former NASA Engineer Lou Ramon has been a “space cadet” his entire life. As a young boy, he had his own model plane “air force” hanging from his bedroom ceiling and he grew up reading and watching science fiction TV shows and movies. So it’s no wonder he ended up… Continue Reading Episode 90: How Do You Design a Space Station?
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Meet the Expert: Lisa Leinbaugh, Electrical Engineer As a kid, I loved collecting rocks. I still go rockhounding when I can. Rocks are made of minerals. Minerals have amazing crystal structures. I decided to study electrical engineering in college because semiconductors are made from crystals that conduct electricity. After over six years of college, I… Continue Reading Episode 89: How Do You Make a Brain for a Computer?
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Meet the Expert: Nils Larson, NASA Test Pilot David Nils Larson is a research test pilot at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. He is NASA’s lead pilot for the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft, and is assigned to Armstrong’s F/A-18, F-15, T-34 research and mission support aircraft and DC-8 airborne science aircraft. Larson also serves as senior advisor… Continue Reading Episode 87: Why Do Planes Make a Sonic Boom?
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Happy New Year! Jennifer and Jeff are on vacation, but don’t miss our BEST of Deep Space compilation with snippets of episodes with some of our favorite engineers and scientists! Engineer and author Suzanne Slade How Do You Have a Snowball Fight on Mars? Dr. Eric Thrane, LIGO astrophysicist How… Continue Reading Episode 86: The BEST of Deep Space
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Meet the Expert: Madison Matson, Chemical Engineer Madison is a 2020 graduate with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona. Madison had an internship at a Tucson firm and then went to work as an engineer at Proctor and Gamble in Pennsylvania where she helps with the production of paper products such… Continue Reading Episode 82: How Do You Make Toilet Paper Soft?
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Meet the Expert: Dr. Cory Hixon, Assistant Professor of Engineering After earning his B.S. in Engineering Science at Penn State University, Dr. Cory Hixson began working as an audio-video engineer/designer. He then made a career transition to teach high school physics. Having sparked his love for education, Dr. Hixson went back to school to earn… Continue Reading Episode 77: How Do Engineers Think?
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Meet the Expert: Kirsten W. Larson, Former NASA Public Affairs Officer, now Children’s Author Kirsten used to work with rocket scientists at NASA. Now she writes books for curious kids. Kirsten is the author of WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: EMMA LILIAN TODD INVENTS AN AIRPLANE, illustrated by Tracy Subisak (Calkins Creek, 2020), A TRUE WONDER: The Comic Book Hero Who… Continue Reading Episode 75: How Does NASA Help People on the Ground?
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Slender Tower Challenge: You need 10 sheets of paper, scissors, and a roll of tape. Your challenge is to build the tallest tower you can with the smallest base (or footprint). Share your observations– or your picture– with us by LEAVING A COMMENT BELOW about your experience of designing an exhibit or share with us… Continue Reading Episode 74: How Do Structures Stand Up?
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Meet the Expert: Danielle Schroeder, Civil Engineer Danielle Schroeder is a Bridge Engineer in Pennsylvania. She graduated from Drexel University in 2017 with both her bachelor’s and master’s in Civil Engineering and is the first engineer in her family. As an advocate for STEM outreach, she frequently leads and volunteers at outreach events focused on… Continue Reading Episode 74: How Do Structures Stand Up?
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Challenge: Get and apple and a pencil. Give the apple 2 or 3 stabs with the pencil. Let the apple sit on the counter for a couple of days. Watch and see what happens. (Hint: the apple decaying is like your teeth decaying.) Explore this by making holes of different sizes and maybe even having… Continue Reading Episode 71: Why Do Teeth Decay?
Read MoreChallenge: Understand the structure of the Earth’s Atmosphere Use a series of boxes and stack them on top of each other. Each box represents a layer of the atmosphere. Ask yourself what takes place in these layers? (Hint: check out this link from UCAR Center for Science Education for help) Send us a picture or… Continue Reading Episode 70: Why Do Science Experiments Travel by Balloon instead of by Jet?
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