About

About

Mission

Illinois Space Tech Academy’s mission is to encourage and engage students in NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate and familiarize the students with NASA’s plan to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Vision

Provide a highly accessible online course in space technology to inspire students to seek careers with NASA or in space-related STEM industries.

Background

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement awarded funding to advance Artemis student challenges. Illinois was awarded the Foundation Enablers theme with the objective of creating a Massive Open Online Course relevant to Artemis. The development of the Illinois Space Tech Academy started in 2020 as a result of this NASA Grant (# 80NSSC20K099).

The material contained in this course is based upon work supported by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) grant or cooperative agreement. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NASA. This work was supported through a NASA grant awarded to the Illinois/NASA Space Grant Consortium.


Our Team

Dr. Joshua Rovey
Lead PI
Associate Professor and Director of ISGC
website
Heidi Bjerke
STEM Coordinator (Project Manager)
Ariella Abarbanel
Assessment Writer/Education Expert
Angelina Boynton
Video Editor
Daniel Chamoun
Web Developer
Clark Young
Video Editor
Pintao Zou
Web Developer

Special thanks to our Subject Matter Experts. You can find out more about all of them here.


Josh Adamson
Sr. Principal Thermal Engineer at Northrop Grumman Corporation
website

Chris Baker
Program Executive
at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
website
Ray Beach
Principal Technologist at NASA Glenn Research Center
website
Jim Broyan
Systems Capability Leadership Team Lead
at NASA Johnson Space Center
website
Dr. Dean Campbell
Professor at Bradley University
website
David Carroll
President of CU Aerospace
website
Dr. Noshir Contractor Professor at
Northwestern University
website
Haley Cummings
Principal Investigator at NASA Ames Research Center
John Dankanich
Center Chief Technologist of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
website
Dr. Andrew Dombard
Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago
website
Terry Fong
Director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center
website
Cynthia Garcia-Eidell
Ph.D. Candidate at University of Illinois at Chicago
website
Dr. Leslie Gertsch
Associate Professor
Missouri University of Science & Technology Center
website
Chris Hansen
Manager for the Extravehicular Activity Office at NASA Johnson Space Center
Mark Hilburger
Principal Technologist at NASA Headquarters
website
Dr. Michael Lembeck
Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
website
Dr. YJ Lin
Professor and Director at Northern Illinois University
website
Ronald Litchford
Principal Technologist at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Dr. Darron Luesse
Associate Professor, Assistant Chair at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
website
Samantha McCue
System Engineering Manager, XQ-58A Flight Test Lead at 5-D Systems, Inc.
website
Mark McDonald
Chief Architect, Space Technology Mission Directorate
website

Kristopher Miller
ARTEMIS developer at NASA
Michelle Munk
Principal Investigator at NASA Langley Research Center
website
Bo Naasz
Rendezvous & Capture System Capability Lead at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
website
Dr. Francesco Panerai
Associate Professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
website
Wesley Powell
Assistant Chief for Technology of the Electrical Engineering Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Dr. Zachary Putnam
Associate Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
website
Gerald Sanders
ISRU System Capability Lead at NASA Johnson Space Center
website
Dr. William Schonberg
Professor at Missouri University of Science & Technology
website
Dr. John Shelton
Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University
website
Dr. Wesley Swingley
Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University
website
Dr. Mel Ulmer
Professor at Northwestern University
website

Dr. Laura Villafane
Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
website
Niki Werkheiser
Director of Technology Maturation at NASA
website
Dr. Sonny White
Director of Advanced Research & Development at Limitless Space Institute website
Shannah Withrow
Mars Science Helicopter Vehicle Systems Lead at NASA Ames Research Center
website

We would also like to recognize the Northern Illinois University students who were involved in the project initially.

Kaylen Platt
Mechanical Engineering Senior
Courtney Bradley
Mechanical Engineering Senior
Danielle Ho
Mechanical Engineering Junior
Teresa Gomez
Electrical Engineering Junior