Educational Activities
San Jacinto College Advances IDEAS² Workforce and STEM Outreach
Date:
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Location: Clear Lake and Greater Houston, Texas
Audience: High school students, college students, K–12 learners, aerospace industry professionals, workforce partners, and participants in regional career and job fairs.
Higher Ed Involvement: San Jacinto College (IDEAS² partner institution) promoted aerospace certificate programs, MIRO student pathways, and statewide workforce alignment. Coordinators Dedra White and Laura Sotu led outreach efforts and represented SJC at multiple fairs, webinars, and industry events.
Description: In September, IDEAS² partner San Jacinto College advanced workforce and outreach goals across Greater Houston. The team promoted aerospace certificates and MIRO student pathways at the South Houston High School College Fair for more than 200 students, briefed about 200 participants during a Global Spaceport Alliance webinar on spaceflight workforce needs, and met with the Texas Space Commission to align SJC’s role as a statewide aerospace workforce provider. They engaged industry at the Greater Houston Partnership Future of Space luncheon with about 500 attendees, inspired K–12 learners during Lone Star Flight Museum’s Girls in Aviation Day with another 500 participants, and guided about 150 first-year students at the SJC Career Pathways Fair. The month concluded at the Energy and Technology Job Fair with about 400 attendees, promoting apprenticeship opportunities in aerospace.
NASA JSC Tour for Summer Interns
Date:
Location: NASA JSC, Houston, TX 77003
Audience: 3 high school interns, 4 undergraduate interns, 2 graduate interns
Higher Ed Involvement: A UH graduate student coordinated the tour during their NASA internship. Faculty (Dr. Zheng Chen) provided context and oversight.
Description: IDEAS² organized a tour of NASA Johnson Space Center for interns. Participants explored Mission Control, Astronaut Training, and Space Vehicle Mockup Facilities, connecting classroom knowledge to real missions.
Space City Job Fair
Date:
Location: Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, Houston, TX 77058
Audience: 20 undergraduate students, 200 public participants, 40 industry professionals, 2 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Faculty leadership from San Jacinto College represented IDEAS².
Description: IDEAS² partner San Jacinto College participated in the BAHEP Aerospace Industry Job Fair.
2025 Mars Rover Explorers Summer Camp
Date:
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Location: University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204
Audience: 65 elementary & middle school students, 4 graduate mentors, 4 undergraduate mentors, 2 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Graduate and undergraduate mentors guided student projects. Faculty coordinated demonstrations and led NASA visits.
Description: Directed by Co-I Dr. Heather Domjan, UH hosted 65 students from 16 districts.
Research Experiences for High School Students
Date:
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Location: University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204
Audience: 11 high school students, 8 graduate mentors, 4 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Faculty supervised research projects; graduate students mentored participants in labs, demonstrated experimental methods, and guided project work.
Description: Multiple high school students engaged in summer research at UH, mentored by IDEAS² faculty and graduate students.
STEM Go Pro Day 2025
Date:
Location: Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, TX 77003
Audience: 300 high school students, 2 graduate mentors, 2 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Graduate students ran demonstrations with a soft robotic gripper and robotic arm.
Description: As part of Tech Fest Live, IDEAS² Co-Is Drs. Olga Bannova and Zheng Chen engaged 300+ high school students through rover control and soft robotics demos.
St. Elmo Brady STEM Academy Teacher Training
Date:
Location: University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204
Audience: 3 elementary teachers, 65 elementary students, 2 graduate mentors, 2 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Faculty and graduate students delivered demonstrations, linked research with classroom applications, and introduced NASA MIRO technologies.
Description: IDEAS² faculty trained educators in STEM outreach with demonstrations of robotics and VR space architecture.
International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC)
Date:
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Location: Midland, TX 79706
Audience: 12 undergraduate students, 2 graduate students, 2 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Faculty advisors and Co-Is mentored the team.
Description: UH AIAA SCR team, mentored by IDEAS², earned First Place in the SDL Payload Challenge.
Research Experience for Teachers (RET)
Date:
Location: University of Houston, Houston, TX 77059
Audience: 2 K-12 teachers, 2 graduate mentors, 2 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Faculty led demonstrations and mentoring.
Description: A one-month pilot RET hosted by Co-I Dr. Jerrod Henderson engaged two teachers from Spring ISD and CFISD.
Kinston STEAM Day
Date:
Location: NC State University, Kinston, NC 28501
Audience: 5 elementary teachers, 10 middle school teachers, 50 elementary students, 12 middle school students, 6 high school students, 2 undergraduate mentors, 1 graduate mentor, 2 faculty
Higher Ed Involvement: Dr. Henderson (UH) co-led the event.
Description: Kinston STEAM Day celebrated STEM with competitions, design projects, and talks.