Transcripts For CSPAN2 Hearing On NASA Workforce STEM Education 20240713

This hearing was called to order. Pleased to see a hearing on stem thats an auspicious way to the discussion on one of the hottest nights of the summer all the people that crowded onto the National Mall they were not there for protest or to celebrate a National Holiday were to watch a firework show instead now they went drenched in sweat to watch the story of the apollo 11 mission projected on the Washington Monument ra monument commemorating the moment 50 years ago when Neil Armstrong and buzz aldrin took the giant leap for mankind. Was everyone in dc knows if there are people on the mall and its not a protest then Something Big is goingnd on. Landing the first humans on the moon and returning them safely to earth marks one of the ethical moments in the history of mankind. Looking over our landscape today its very different of 1969. And to succeed going back again but putting robotic rovers on celestial observatories that can liddy one literally peering into the beginning of the universe to have the enduring human presence. In the span of a single lifetime we have seen space fundamentally transform from ivscientific novelty. To be part of the daily lives and world economy. Space is referred to as the last frontier and rightfully so. Much like the first frontier of exploration. It takes meticulous planning and extraordinary determination and even then nothing is g guaranteed. Its dangerous, but the last frontier shares a critical aspect with the first frontiers. Through the power now and tomorrow to inspire us. Inspiring americans to aim and dream bigger than ever before to literally shoot for the moon. And i believe that versioning space sector of today can do the same for an even bigger and broader swath of the United States and the world. A few weeks ago we witness the historic allfemale space walk on the International Space station. The e first ever. And when the United States returned to the moon which is the twin sister of apollo. The nasa is committed we will land the first woman ever on the surface of the moon it will be an american astronaut that steps forth. As a father of two young daughters that makes me very proud to hear. R. Ce returning to bold Space Exploration we do so not only with the much more diverse Astronaut Corps but a much diverse set of governmental partners. Its worth remembering success of apollo 11 was due in no small part to the contribution of the Diverse Workforce including countless women working behind the scenes and the stories of only recently becoming household names. One of those women testified before the subcommittee earlier this year. One of the famed Human Computers at nasa and without her work and without the socalled computers that were africanamerican women and never could have sent astronauts into space. Unfortunately for far too long the contributions were headed relegated to the background for a time. Said that that serves as a reminder of the lessons we need to learn to cultivate the talent not based on race or gender but merit and skill and hard work and passion. So its about building the workforce that ensures nasa and partners returned to Space Exploration and for what it needs to be successful now and in the future to ensure the space economy can continue tour grow and we will be successful to establish the United States of america. As the leader of a true spacefaring nation. To accomplish this, we can and should leverage the inspiration of space to get kids of all ages and backgrounds engaged about science and technology and engineering and math. But that alone is not enough. Creating a space workforce for the future to require us to take a serious look at the road aheadad and the roles of responsibility and take action as needed to maintain us leadership in space. Getting it right is a complex and challenging undertaking. After all, space is hard. But i am reminded and encouraged the apollo 11 flight director said to testify before the subcommittee. What america will dare, america will do but look forward to hearing our witnesses of their work Stem Education what suggestions they might have how we can act in congress. In particular the Ranking Member for her initiative to propose we hold this hearing and for her leadership in bipartisan leadership to strengthen this committee i look forward to working alongside her for many years to come in with that i recognize the Ranking Member. Thank you chairman crews for holding the hearing. Our stem workforce is at a critical juncture the space economy is booming but if we dont build a strong pipeline over the next decade to put National Security at risk. Congress and nasa and Industry Partners and educational institutions must Work Together to prepare a 21st century workforce to a continue that the economy remains innovative and strong. Thank you for joining us today to discuss this important issue. Since established nasa has had productive partnerships with universities across the country because we advanced technologies for the Space Program and Aerospace Industry must continue these two have a strong workforce. Starting with educating students giving them Research Opportunities to excel in the stonefield. Universities across the country work on important projects such as mission monitoring, research andnd analysis. In my home state of arizona, Arizona University and northern Arizona University all work with nasa to further mission big and small. Innovative ideas and new opportunities come to students when the administrator testified earlier this year he said nasa has had amazing success when it comes to University Engagement to develop these programs and projects. For example the mission marks the first time the university has led a deep space nasa mission. The first scientist to study an asteroid which is remarkably similar to ars mandatory one planetary core. Also paving the way for future missions on cyberthreat. But the team at university of arizona is critical to the success of the mission to bring the first asteroid sample to earth. All three public universities produce the Arizona Space Grant Consortium funded by the three universities and nasa to attract and retain students in the stem fields. And arizona the space grant is awarded 175 internships and fellowships in 2018 alone. That allow students to work alongside principal investigators on missions or to build the workforce. These Research Advancements have critical insight into space and also spark an interest passion of mathematicians and engineers. But these are not the only onesai benefiting. Because nasa gains innovative ideas to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible. He also stated University Projects an agency like nasa aware money and time are limited and prospects are over budget and behind schedule these partnerships are key to maximize science and discovery across the universe. As we look ahead we must grow these partnerships to retain the knowledge and train the next generation. To make sure we have a workforce ready. And then to address the stem workforce and which i am looking forward to introducing with chairman cruzan Ranking Member that require nasa to have an Outreach Program to haves High School Students pursue careers to establish and grow lasting partnerships between itself and universities through research centers. Also working on legislation to modernize the Space Grant Program for the First Time Since 1988. To streamline to make sure the state consortiums have the resources to train the next generation. I look forward to ways we can address these issues. Thank you so much i yield back. I want to congratulate my colleagues on their opening statements. And the crowd written on witnessing the 50th anniversary and then the poetic words i could almost sense the pungent fragrance. [laughter] gathered on the mall. Like a senate hearing. [laughter] ay the clerk can just write cross talk. [laughter] cross talk. [laughter] so in the 50 years since apollo 11 has achieved incredible beats none of these were possible without then support and partnership of americas educational system in particular the talent and expertise of our universities and thats a why we are here today. University researchers lead groundbreaking projects of Space Technology and scientific discovery and in doing so to involve students and some become scientist engineers or mathematicians or the private sector. And with this pipeline vital to maintain the preeminent and outer space and im glad to be a cosponsor of legislation mentioned. Today is a crosssection of the nasa stemm education ecosystem i would like to extend a, th particular welcomeo the vice chancellor of the, matter of mississippi. This includes research of material of transformative for many applications including spaceflight. This past weekend lawn nasa launched a payload into the space station. So thank you for being here today and i look forward to a great discussionsihe on improvig stem engagement to help build the space bar spec of. Your remarks reminded me there was an old engineers joke of the monument physicist and an engineer go to the Washington Monument they are discussing how to figure out how tall it is. And a mathematician says its simple i need the length of string and transit i can measure the angle its simple trigonometry. The other said its much simpler i will take the elevator to the top i will tie the string down i will lower down on measure the length. The engineer looks at both of them and then looks at the tour guide and says how tall is the damn thing . [laughter] so with that im happy to introduce our witnesses. Ur first the managing director of the Interplanetary Initiative and the principal investigatorio of the nasa mission at Arizona State university. The research involves around terrestrialt planetary formation and including the interactions between rocky planets and their atmospheres and promotes and participates in education initiatives , teaching methodologies and leadership and teambuilding for scientists and engineers. Also currently serves on the standing review board of the Europa Mission of the survey and to receive a phd in geology and physics the second witness Mister Jeffrey malmberg the founder and ceo. Since 2009 creating products and services for the commercial utilization. Today the single largest private investor of the International Space station with 40 million of private capital to employ 70 people in texas and launched 250 small satellites and over 800 experiments to the iss p also part of an education Public Benefit corporations to researchbased and education as a graduate of Northwestern University the third witness the vice chancellor for Research Programs at the university of mississippi to work to facilitate s Research Funding as well as provide support for all funded projects at thepr university. Serving as associate vice chancellor for research at the center for physical acoustics and as a member of the executive committee for the consortium and share the technicalic committee of the Acoustical Society of america. Receiving a ph degree in physics from Pennsylvania State university. Andl finally current lastly a physics teacher in vienna virginia also the founder and advisor of the famed Rocketry Club in presidio texas. If you dont know him is located along the rio grande river, 240 miles south of el paso and resides in one of the most remote parts of the continental unitedr states. For most people english as a second language and many people face tough economicma challenges making it hard for students to focus only on school. However even under those circumstances, there Rocketry Club has consistently placed well in contest across the country and as a result happy, well respected Rocketry Team during their time her students excelled and qualified for the National Finals at the Team America Rocketry challenge. In 2011 she was chosen by the National Aviation hall of Fame Committee to receive the Education Teacher of the year award. She received her bachelors degree in physics in manila philippines. And with that i welcome each of the witnesses to give their , testimony. Chairman, Ranking Member cantwell and members of the committee thank you so much for the opportunity to speak today. Im testifying on my own behalf. Managing director and cochair of University President of the Interplanetary Initiative to talk about today and also the Nasa Discovery Mission in the portfolio as mentioned by chairman cruz, thank you. We have a vision for an optimistic space future that we have a vision we want humans to be in interplanetary species. As the worlds continuing a leader in space. We have to be future facing and workforce oriented. This is an important thing to stress that we are in the Information Age now, the educational style of the industrial era should be behind us. We need to look forward. Second, returning to the moon this time to stay acquires more than engineers and astronauts we need everyone involved, every aspect of society we need artists and sociologists and psychologists, we need Business Leaders and philosophers. These are the kind of connections that universities are really good at putting together for a push like the push to become interplanetary. And third, the stakeholder triangle of nasa and universities in the private sector is required for our interplanetary. Nonprofit universities are neatly placed to make rapidly Response Teams and transfer the intellectual properties protas at universities into the private sector into the space sector into the american taxpayer. This transfer has to speed up. So now is the time to grow our partnerships in these fruitful mored target as waste. Now is a time to set up University Affiliated Research Centers and other such mechanism to speed up the development of specific solutions and accelerate the flow of knowledge and technology to nasa into the private sector. If he was here to meet the challenge with the student population and is the number one ranked school for the stiversity for five years in a row. It astonishes me, coming from the east coast to see what a big Public University canut be in so many of us can understand the value of these amazing institutions. We are lucky in arizona to have several. At asu are space sector partners includes over 70iv private sector, over 30 universities and over 20 government agencies, labs and centers. We have been working very hard to Interplanetary Initiatives to develop new waves to put together Research Teams that are effective, rapid, interdisciplinary include all the sectors. I feel strongly this triangle of three sectors, we have to figure how to bring those together to speed upov innovation and speed up our path to space. E we have been working on that anspecifically. Weve identified many the Big Questions we need to answer to answer our space future. On a psyche mention, we were challenged by nasa to make a bigger student collaboration with greater impacts. We pioneered ways to create interdisciplinary capstone teams, where students learn real Team Collaborative skills while working on real nasa mission challenges. We have for example student graphic designers, student project managers and marketers, working with for example student electrical and mechanical engineers. This is where the project managers actually get to help manage a project. We have cohorts of student artists producing in mission and outreach. Even over only two years into this mission we have a total of over 500 students to work a psyche already. And a total of 27 universities from 15 states. And i say this particularly chill underscore my personal commitment that this is not of course just about my university or just about arizona. This is about our society at large in our nation. And i believe very strongly in bringing all sectors together. That is what im trying to work out in our career in every way. The age of this compliance industrial workforce, is over. You know what im talking about. We dont need to train better testtakers and sitter sellers, we need to change the nature of education from the fixation of memorization of specific content, something i call the sacred content that your advisor taught you and you feelth you need to teach the next person. We need to teach that problem solve, to assess data into work effectively in teams both sharing information, criticizing and understanding information and giving and receiving feedback. Things we often dont practice until we are the workforce. This is the education of the future because the future is actually filled with jobs that dont exist today. They dont exist today. So we have to teach the process skills. In fall 2020 the Interplanetary Mission lodge the most forwardlooking undergraduate program today. It is a part of our answer to education and the Information Age. That bachelor of science and technological leadership is a scalable three Year Degree Program using exploration learning, techniques in the classroom, and having students spenden every summer in the workforce and internships. Every student will learn the fundamental content for the future of programming, statistics, calculus, collaborative problemsolving, communication, positive teamm psychology, and they will also learn team communication, ethical leadership, and Critical Thinking via a special methodology that weve been working on for years. We can acceleratee space develop by connecting universities, nasa, and the private sector for knowledges sharing and rapidly targeted innovation. We can create and deploy the teams with members of all three sectors to solve the greatest challenges. Together with mys sister universities we are ready to create our future, so lets go to space together. Thank you chairman cruz, Ranking Member and senator wicker and other distinguished members of the aviation and space subcommittee. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to return to this room to testify. Im going to talk about something a little different. T e about how we can use and we are using the commercial pathway to space to ensure we have a workforce for the next generation and beyond. To keep us in the lead as a spacefaring nation. When we open the doors of nana racks and 2009 we were met with a pleasant surprise. Our first customers were schools. Something we never predicted. Our first experiments on space stations was small nano labs that were developed by middle school students. The parents literally held bake sales, not for their soccer team, but to send their very v own Space Science experiments to the iss via the nana rack space act agreement withg nassau. This is something that could have never been imagined before the commercial pathway. So there was no direct funding, but there is the Publicprivate Partnership that is only taken off since. One of our major Educational Partners is the students bait flight Experiments Program run by doctor jeff goldstein, which has been a flag program at nana racks and now on their h admission to the International Space station. They have involved over 100,000 students, and they learn about all aspects of the process, from designing the payloads to the curriculum, to launching to sending it to space and the return. And again, nearly all of this is done with no direct massive funding. And just this weekend, nana racks flew the first ever oven to the International Space station forhe our friends in the kitchen, and you may have heard the first customer is the doubletree which is baking cookies, and before you laugh and before you say theres no place in educational hearing, let me say that doubletree and hilton are working with scholastic and they have put a program in place in 50000 schools across the country involving 1 Million Students with curriculum to show them how baking is different on the earth then in microgravity. And this is how we capture the hearts and minds of the younger people. And let me say these are the students that will one day bring humans to mars and yes they are going to want dessert when they get there. So these are just two of the significant, these just too significant of a hundred payloads i can reference. The commercially funded experiments that we have flown to the iss include plant growth chambers, fluid chambers, dna sequencing, all paid for by the parents, the students, the sponsors, but not again direct nasa funding. Of course wed need nasa we need that Publicprivate Partnership, but this is a new model it is one model for ensuring education of our workforce. And let me add chairman cruz, that nana racks and dreamworks have flown almost 60 educational payloads from texas schools. Fromom hawkins, houston, burlison, el paso, san antonio, austin, and more. And i hope m new york twang did not destroy anything there. Senator sinema weve also flown for experienc experiments from arizona and justice weekend from Wallace Island we had 15 students from Arizona State and they deployed commercially cube satellite and it was wonderful to meet all of the students. They are great in it gives us all optimism. So im happy to provide the committee with the full list of statistics for all the districts in which we have flown payloads and what we are doing in the future. But we can do better and we can do more to prepare the workforce for the coming space economy. First off both dream up and nana racks know we can do more to bring out underrepresented communities to space. We have begun a debit dedicated effort to involve historically black colleges and universities and i should have some good news in signing our First University shortly black college and university in the next couple of weeks. And secondly, we must do more than just have engineers. And you mentioned that. Space is more than satellites and rockets. We have to engage agricultural colleges like texas a m or prairie view a m. We need to involve biology departments in pharmaceutical students to help find a cure for cancer in the microgravity of space that we have long thought was possible. And finally by 2025 is our nation and industry is focused on the return to the moon, we are driven to meet in the exciting goal. Nana racks and dream up are working to ensure by 2025 weve sent at least one Student Research project from every Congressional District to the International Space station. This is how we make sure we have open the eyes of the students from all sectors of our society. We need thene excitement, the tools, cost efficiencies and the responsiveness of the private sector. Its part of this Publicprivate Partnerships that my colleagues mostly from theda University Sector are talking about today. We need to ensure the workforce of tomorrow is ready to keep us on the moon, move usan onto mars, and just as importantly unlock the new discoveries in the unique environment of space. Thank you. Thank you, doctor gladden. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, let me first thank you for the opportunity to provide my perspective on the role that universities can and should play in the development of the nation stem toworkforce. To provide nasa with the engineers and scientists needed to accomplishing its mission to the next generation. Chairman cruz you did a fantastic job introducing me, one little bit if you go little further i was a physics teacher for about five years. So ms. Can do knowing i can talk shop after words. As with the many technical challenges the complexities of mission at nassau will only increase. It is incumbent upon Higher Education c to. Pair a workforce to those challenges. One critical element income pairing this is the necessity for a passion for lifelong learning. Transformative technologies are no longer coming once the generation theyre coming once a decade. We have several programs and initiatives in mississippi to address these educational challenges. We have designed and are in the process of building a unique 200,000 squarefoot Stem Education facility. What makes a space unique as it is designed from the ground up. Its around collaboration, across disciplines and active learning teaching methods that focus on small Group Project work and interactive technologies. These methods have shown both improve thegi comprehension as well as promote group problemsolving skills. Another unique program is our center for manufacturing excellence. Ur all cme students manager in engineering, business or accounting but they also share a body of coursework across all these disciplines. Cme students focus on Group Projects, communication skills and understanding a holistic view from the technical all the way to the financial. We cannot predict the technologies that these graduates will engage in their careers, buthe we do know they will always need to work in teams and understand the bigger picture. The University Also has a key role in developing next principles. Additive manufacturing instructionde are important examples. Design thinking helps break down complex multidimensional design problems into a manageable framework. While lean engineering realizes those designs through highly efficient production and manufacturing. A challenge here is not to sacrifice the technical foundations upon which all of these concepts are built. Added manufacturer and construction will play vital rolls in any longterm Space Mission. E whether the mission is based on the moon or a manned mission to mars, Replacement Parts cannot be stopped they will need tol be printed as in a larger Scale Structures on the surface of the moon or planet will require using native materials and rely reliables constructions. The role ofy those materials would bean increasingly important in the next generation of space design. Nano phase materials such as graphing have been studied for several decades. But are now emerging as useful technologies. Our center for graphing renovation enhancing polymer material that was Just Launched this saturday from wallace flight facility in virginia to be tested on the International Space station. For protection, it will spend about a year in space, and is designed to protect against hyper velocity impacts. So in a year will bring that down and see how the experiment went. We and others are exploring graphing and relative to nassau from michael filtration to highefficiency solarar panels. And let me be clear, both graduate and undergraduate students play critical rolls in all of these research experiments. Perhaps less obvious but increase the importance and increasingly important skill set is around space activities are legal and regulatory issues. Um is home to the national air and space law center, along with the journal for space law since 1973. As space activities in the private sector continue to grow, appropriate light touch legal frameworks need to be developed and studied to best inform decisionmakers. Um are preparing the workforce for the first aron laws Masters Program in the nation. Let me take a moment to emphasize here, along with some others who have already spoken on it, the importance of the nasa Space Grant Program. This Program Provides incredible space, science and injuring Research Opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students from a wide swath of the country. I can tell you from personal experience that nothing can hook a Young College student into a nasa career faster than working on a realworld project with nasa engineers. I think the subcommittee for your attention and welcome questions when this time thank you, ms. Container. First i think god for allowing me to it be part of the stem endeavor. Second thanks to you all for giving me this opportunity today to share and give testimony about the impact of stem engagement, especially to the underserved, under representative, minorities, women, and rural communities. I have been a physics educator for 27 years. I hope it doesnt show. [laughter] and i have been an advocate of interdisciplinary and applied approach to learning. Even before ive heard the acronym stem and the late 1990s. Se i strongly believe impractical and experimental learning as i myself learn best by doing. Who does not enjoy handson and minds on activity . Or the adventure of putting theory into practice . Are bringing knowledge tore life . Much more solving realworld problems. The power of this method of learning gives students a sense of responsibility, accountability, and ownership in their own learning. Every day before i start teaching, i always try reminding myself of this quote. Tell me and i will forget. Teach me and i might remember, but involve me, and i learn. Honestly, ive always wanted to tell my former teachers about that quote, because then they would have a better understanding of what type of student i was when i was young. But i never got the chance or turk courage to tell them anyway. So now as a teacher, this became my quotes, a daily reminder that as a teacher i need to create a learning environment that is transformative, engaging, fun, and where learning remains implicitly. Teaching at percy to high school in texas, which is a border town, rural geographically isolated, and to be exact its 251 miles away from el paso. Its about four hours away from the nearest walmart. It is an economically Disadvantaged School that is one of the highlights of my teaching career. I had my most meaningful and fulfilling experience as an educator in that School District. Its the most challenging, yet is the most rewarding. With more than 60 of the students identified as english language learners. 95 hispanic, one 100 participating in the reduced not even reduce, free lunch program. It truly challenge my creativity and teaching, thus what i did was use my passion for aviation and aerospace. And i began incorporating basic rocketryg. In my physic teaching. I also create a free summer t Enrichment Program and rocketry and robotics toge provide students activities that will make their minds engaged. This ideaat came to mind when i attended the first graduation i had in that school. There were four empty seats placed in remembrance of the four students who died due to drugrelated events, drag racing accident, and even suicide. I felt the urgent need for my intervention, a sense of responsibility tome this community by keeping these children away from bad elements such as drugs, alcohol, teenage pregnancy and street racing. Hence i founded the procedural rocketry and Robotics Club in 2007 and created teams competing at the american rocketry challenge, which is a Stem Initiative in the Worlds Largest model rocketry contest. The program group, the membership started with three young girls and then it has grown to more than 30 students. Myh the support of cosponsor ms. Ed delina portillo know who is in esl teacher, i do not speak spanish and that was the hardest thing for me to it do. To be able to teach to a group of kids where we dont have any communication that would be comfortable for both of us. But we tried through english. We tried. The administrators, staff, teachers, community proceed out and the companies outside help sponsor the program and it became really popular amongst the middle school and High School Students. And even our neighboring rural schools were encouraged and inspired to do the same initiatives for their students. Proceed a gained national carecognition because of its consistent placement in the top 100 teams in the nation at the tart contest in 2009 up to present. And in 2012, we got invited to the white house science fair and our Team Presented their rockets to president obama. Because they mostly finish the top 25 in the National Finals, presidio team got the chance to participate at the nasa Student Launch Initiative projects, which is an advanced high power Rocketry Program whereci students design, build, and launch rockets which carry scientific and engineering payloads. These air aerospace Stem Initiatives allowed our students to enhance their Critical Thinking, analytical and skills, conduct scientific research, improve their communication skills both oral and written, develop time management and organization, utilize technology through software in simulations, problemsolving troubleshoot, and collaborate to make wise decisions. To these programs my students develop stem skills and soft skills, employers are looking for in the future workplace. Our students also became involved in the nasa Texas High School Aerospace Scholars program. Texas alliance for minorities in engineering statewide contest, the texas tech stem academic competition, even bought bulb robotics in state and world championships. Tca robotics, bexar about ask even the procedures he robotics virtual contest held in mit. It sounds impossible to believe, but this is the record of what my students at proceed to have done. And doctor mann berg, also participated in the student spaceflightme Experiment Program at mifson two to the iss where we sent to microgravity Flight Experience to the International Space station onec Spacex Falcon and compared results to our own ground earth experimentation sprayed thison achievement is truly special because students collaborated and communicate with astronauts on board the iss and the community of presidio developed awareness and exposure to stem literacy. I left proceed on 2014 and relocated here to northern virginia. However, i continued to mentor the proceed a Rocketry Team and communicate with them virtually through skype every friday from three to 5 00 p. M. Eastern time. After school. I reviewed their rockets simulations and give them feedback on their designs. I also virtually demonstrate s strategies and techniques on how to build stable and robust rockets. I currently teach ap physics courses at Oakton High School in vienna, and i continue my goal of encouraging student participation and interest in stem. I am one of the teacher sponsors of the cougar robotics, rocketry and physics club. Our Rocketry Team won first place at the battle of the rockets last year. We became National Finalists at tark and currently we are working with nasa on our sli project. I roboticsto f rct made it to the first robotics world final in detroit michigan last year. Last monday alone are physics club members participated at the stem Outreach Program of the association of old crows in the International Symposium and convention on electronicc warfare and we won the Cyber Security code breaking challenge. Last friday, i took my students to the pro jet aviation career expo in education in leesburg, virginia and we bagged 22500 worth of scholarships on flight training. [applause] thank you. Because of my experiences in heaching and the world third poor School District in the state of texas, and right now and one of the richest counties in the entire country, i became more certain, i am more determined and passionate about can contribute intomy the future workforce. This is my way of giving back to this country. I hope that you two will continue to invest in our youths education for it will surely guarantee great returns. Thank you very much and may god continue to bless us all and god bless the United States of america. Thank you very much condi know for that very powerful testimony. And let me say to each of you thank you for your testimony that was illuminating. It was important and particularly for those who are have been educators, thank you for the time you have spent inspire and shape the nextgeneration of scientists and innovators, and leaders. This can dino let me say to you as well, you are escaping every week with your students at presidio high school, and if you would please convey from me to the students at the presidio Rocketry Club how proud we are of the hard work they are doing. And in fact one story that i wouldnt ask you to elaborate on, is a story that a spokesman for the Aerospace Industry work accounted in a Texas Monthly article. Which is that the presidio team, in order to be able to afford their first trip to virginia for the Team America Rocketry talent challenge, had to auction off a goat, and according to the article your teamed auctioned off a goat in presidio every year for the next five years. Andrs in 2014 the team plays its highest ranking yet, force place in the competition could you elaborate on that please . Like what i said, thats an economically Disadvantaged School and so we dont have much budget. But its very difficult to convince the school board to allow his to go outside of presidio. So what i decided was together with the teacher i worked with my cosponsor, we have to raise funds in order for us to show that we once these kids to move forward. One of the initiatives that we did was a suggestion from a parent to auction a goat. Because of that time, when we tried to compete in the national in tark and we made it to the top 100, we have to fly out of texas. But we have to go to the airport four hours away first. As the transportation that was the most difficult and then the budget on how to build the rockets as well. So i always tell the kids we cannot waste money, we cannot waste time, we have to do everything through simulation first and through that simulation, build from scratch. H. And we decided lets show to the school board that we are willing to put inim time and effort. There were groups of companies, particularly lockheed market incorporation because at that time will be learned that we made it to the National Finals we were already told we were not moving on because we dont havemo the budget, theres liability in all this things. But when i mentioned it to mr. Steve deleon who used to work at Lockheed Martin at the time, he felt like he wanted to help. So he was able to gather about 3000 and he told me to it put pressure to your board and tell them we are willing to support this initiative. And so we went. But we have to do it every year. We cannot just rely on other peoples money every single time. We have to show them that we are also putting in some of ourve effort. We first raffled a goat, and in that particular area, a goat is a common thing to eat. So they would pay money in order to eat the goat. But there are winners where they dont want the goat so i we auction it at night because we have an arts festival. With one little goat we could make 2000. Its all about hard work, its about your initiative, we sell donuts. I burned my fingers by barbecuing in front of church every sunday. Because i wanted to show the community that we are not just traveling out of town for pleasure. We wanted to be we wanted to compete and bring back the glory that little town of presidio. what is the impact on those goals to participate and how do we expandn it some more schools have that opportunity quick. It is incredible the impact we have students coming to us now who are asking us for help for the university and phd thesis. They started with a seven years ago. Teachers tell us every week the students never forget participating in a project space. Tually goes to so with a great deal of humbleness we see how many lives we have changed how many students decide to go into stem or engineering or biology. So we have an extraordinary impact on the lives of the students and the teachers and the parents when they see it as Something Real that can be done within an academic year. How do we expand it . Sometimes that awful thing of business we are investing to the disadvantaged. We have to reach out to more communities. We are working. What does it cost quick. The smallest price we have is 15000 for one month on the space station. I will best honest that we dont make money on that. We also work with nasa and German Space Agency but for 15000 you can do a test tube that goes up. Let me repeat that to those watching on cspan 50000 but you 30001 30 days on the space station you can see the Research Done we work with partners who can provide a curriculum and we are expanding that program is growing rapidly its also growing into more disadvantaged locations we still have trouble with nasa because we donte d quite pickp the funding for disadvantaged communities and talk about leadership and doing work at the uae so this is a great story of all working together. Nasa and the private sector. Its a good story. If im doing the math right 15000, that is seven and a half goats. [laughter] thank you to all of you for being here today. We have a great relationship with nasa and West Virginia at the center we just renamed in her honor but i would like to ask anybody on the panel but in my observations one of the most enlightening things i have seen and the way to get our students with theirr collaborative efforts is with West Virginia university. How do you see that expanding clicks and is there any pushback with the internships . Because a lot work there in the end. I certainly dont see anyainl pushback from nassau. It has been a very good partner to the Higher Education community providing those internships and opportunities for students and also the Research Projects that we talked about before they are always involved in every Research Project. Those are golden opportunities for students to get involved in the project of interest but also to engage with the professionals and that engagement over and above the technical parts is quite valuable. Is certainly dont see any pushback and all of us are looking for more opportunities for our students. Like the Space Grant Program. Thats a great example of a vehicle to make those sorts of things happen. Talking about your Robotics Team another example living in a rural state one of the things i have noticed that is lost on people is a Stem Education whether Elementary Middle School or high school. But the skill set that you develop are not just science and technology you learn how to present and share knowledge with other teams and other schools. I think that person to have that concept of teamwork is incredibly important and nasa is a team. We divide our groups into committees. Right now we have a Marketing Group kids that are just enrolled in documentation alone because we have to pair up with other schools so its important to them to have good relationships so in the end if you dont make it as a top finalist the top teams will have a chance to select to you. Its not all just the build or the coding or programming , its all types of skill. I think that fleshes it out. So it is great the senator is here with me today i joked we were stem times two because we just recently got a bill passed. Part of our mission has been to draw in more women into stem at a younger age. What is your experience with this . How do you think we can increase participation . Of other minority groups not well represented quick. This is something im so passionate about and i think deeply for anyone who feels their voice cannot be heard because of gender or economic background. To me the key step in advance seeing equity is culture where people can rise on their merits sociologist say until they are 30 percent of people you feel that they are like you and then you feel you are alone and then the most vulnerable. s if you dont have a good culture you will not have diversity. I would like to add to that that experiential learning you n,can create any kind of miracle with the perfect internship but if we can do this in scale lost. E have that is so much trying to make sure these inquiries can be done at scale is critical to equity and diversity. Thank you. I have to tell you that all of you are so inspiring and i have so many friends who are teachers to find the creative ways to inspire students through music and physics. It is the art of passion of teaching to move our country forward because you have grabbed me i am ready to take a class. So thank you to all of your passion it is infectious so the senator and i did introduce a a bill to get young girls pletter k through 12 involved in Stem Education hopefully it will pass the house and we would get some things moving but in nevada we have a wonderful woman doctor elizabeth who is a Research Professor at unlv and got the bug early so we know currently half the states in the United States including nevada received less than 10 percent of federal r d funding with a joint federal state program to allow more states to participate in state and aeronautics research. In to be received 100,000 at unlv to study Minerals Found on mars so as a role model for so many she is leading this Research Project and was selected as one of ten scientists to choose which samples to be brought backsa to earth. So the president s Budget Proposal terminates this office of stem engagement and significantly will cut. So we will do Building Blocks and help for teachers and schools to bring this up too scale but what do we do if we terminate this project . Where do we go from here quick. One very practical thing i might say is by the way speaking of gender so to win a deep Space Mission in the first that we know my friend and mentor we are about to take a percentage of our Mission Money to use it for dedication and outreach and that something i mentioned in my testimony but that could be expanded if they could reach k12 or reach out to communities if it was just allowed to be used in a broader sense that would be a simple way to help with the potential tightening of the budget. So offering internships and scholarshipss, to people who are going to graduate school. And then to do some great things in the classroom. 550 undergraduates in two years that could have been 550 High School Students and that would begin to make aig differenc difference. I want to ask all of you and all the different areas that you work, how can we help you get the next generation inspired to reach for the stars . That is what nasa is all about. Where the policymakers . You cant legislate everything but what can we do to help . And nasa opens doors and then nasa still opens doors and no matter where we are about the trust of what nasa of what it would be and i dont want to see nasa go away. Some governmental organizations which is wonderful but it is a special part of our government. So the contest expire so real going to space. I watched the moon landing know. So that involves the launch of a rocket or a satellite. Thats inspiring and then to make them motivated. And thats truly important. Nasa is uniquely positioned. And also connects back to the gender gap discussion even before they get to her reaching back into the middle school thats where you begin to see differentiation in the Elementary School through nasa that might be a powerful thing for the country. I think it is reduction instead focusing so much on the classroom so why not allow teachers to create those Stem Initiatives and projects to participate and do activities like that. As the demand for jobs continues to grow its critical we have students all over the country that have skills and competitive upon graduation regardless if they choose to receive one where they receive their education the score provides fundingei that those sort of funding the producing high quality studentsth in the stem field to make broader base availability to nasa. So speak to the importance of building a nationwide workforce drawing from every state across the country. Thank you for that question for i see the effects of our workforce every day and at the jet Propulsion Laboratory everybody feels that its a real problem right now which i imagine you can relate to. So to me showing students early that you are not a special kind of person if you go into stem but anyone who is interested can do it. Is not a difference you can love art and philosophy in sports and also math. So if we could not make it a differentiator but the culture of not judging girls in fifth grade telling them theyre not good atin math to work on that culture and give the teachers the freedom to connect all the fields together would be a great impetus to bring people into the world of stem. We just hired the First Company recruiter. And we are very hungry to find the right level of young engineers to pick up some new programs lately in my head of engineering is where do we find the people . So we have a problem today and we are worried about getting the right people. I think all of that is it exactly right and that question and that diversity across theus country. And we are culturally different and these experiences as young children. And then to make an amazing engineer but she has to have the opportunity to see that path forward. Or the programs that it works for to be so invaluable to make sure because there is talent out there we have a pipeline problem. So you mentioned some of your experience in texas. So obviously we work very hard to have exceptional students thanks to the dedication and faculty and administrators and state officials to make sure they have the tools they need. But the challenges they face and then to share the ideas to help schools in south dakota recruit to retain teachers that are equipped. That my salary was cut more than 10000, but that is one thing that would attract teachers in rural areas. Because they have nothing to lose. Thats what ive noticed. So its something that is new to them. So one is their pay scale obviously i am very my own right to use my own resources and thats what i promised my students every day if i can get the resource here, i will bring it to you. So for career day every year we have it in november. But the first career day we only had plumbers i have nothing against those kinds of jobs. That is the most popular where the Border Patrol and military but i thought these kids have to be exposed. So i told the teachers and stadministrators i want to do a Virtual Career so people from the outside like professors from the universities or other countries. And only for himself. Doesnt matter how much i get tpaid for teaching. So i would give 100 percent of what i have that i would hope the other teachers wednesday because we are losing the majority of them. Or the elementary has faculty members going back. So when you leave you have to come back to help your community to flourish. We have to handle the 40 below windchill in south dakota. Given the achievements of nasa and its partners to maintain American Leadership with Community Improvements and capabilities that was a cybersecurity professionals. How important are the capabilities andbi a Large Network of professionals in space . Thank you for the question. Growing up with our Software Capabilities and cybersecurity we are spending more and more money that we think is well spent to protect our internal and external communications. Its something none of us know the moment will be a crisis but its a threat even a Small Company like mine is investing to make sure confidentiality and communication systems. We are hit all the time. Just to add briefly onto that the team is now above 800 so the opening for cyberattacks is theft and for a project like this the catastrophe can only be l imagined that is beyond critica critical. Im glad to hear. You spoke competitively competitively to find qualified employees that were trained engineers to fill the demands of the modern workforce. What i want to ask all four panel members, in your opinion how importantop is . So i think back to when jfk came to houston and Rice University we will take him in to the moon and bring them home within a decade and what kennedy said at s the time why does rice play texas . Not because it is easy that because it is hard. How important to have a new generation of students and teachers . How important is going to mars so how important is that to inspire the next Nobel Laureate to share for inspiration . So these are narratives of fear and guilt and the way to do the miracles we are capable of but of optimism and hope anda that is who we could be as humankind so these beautiful ideas that we could have it is the inspiration for students to go into the stem field for something they find could make them a better humand being so it is incumbent if we turn away then we have to do this. We just opened the office and uae and we have been doing work into the space station with their educational payloads why are they looking at space . Its funny how we take things for granted in this country and dont realize they studied the last 100 years the best way to ensure we stayed to gather as the Oil Revenue Goes down is to get into space. So that they have renounced a 100 year program to go to mars so they look and study yes and say what you did during the apollo era is the best way that we as a government can inspire our kids to get meaningful jobs. The same in mexico the same in the uk all have open Space Programs in the last two or three years all as the role model and here we dont even. See it. Only when someone gets in front of us for a brief period of, time and it just frets frustrates me how we are motivated by spac space. But the world looks around what you did during apollo thats the best way to motivate our generation but it inspires. That is all very well said but if you look from a straight return on investment its not a great thing to do. But the intangible power of the Space Exploration is immeasurable i dont think i can pinpoint any Single Initiative or program in this countrys history that we could all collectively be more proud of and inspired by band the apollo program. It really took this country to a whole different level and the inspiration that it delivered to the country was then leveraged into other technical advances. So thats when you look at return on investment and pull that into it as well. So the power Space Exploration it goes way beyond the direct dollars. It is a reminder we really are not alone either have to protect ourselves in the future to explore what is beyond into maker budget even better. To put the skills we have developed why is it not winspiring . That is my lifelong dream. One of the things we have heard as well is the stem fields will always keep growing whether cybersecurity or space or computers or programming the world is getting more and more complicated and technological and people lacking those skills have a much higher chance to be locked out of their best chances of the future. One that they have testified to is expand the pool from expand the graduates coming out to. And in particular minorities and africanamericans and hispanics are underrepresented and will continue to be. Both of those are realities. I have considerable familiarity with. My mom was one. She came out of rice in 1956 and hired at shell is a Computer Programmer at the dawn of the computer age my dad was a cuband immigrant the name became a Computer Programmer with a heavy spanish accent and amazed wonder to be in america. So how do we expand to see that they can achieve the stem fields to get the tools to pursue careers . Especially the women it was very difficult to have them speak up for themselves so i as their teacher will be here with their second mom. And with the skills and the exposures we provided foros them until they continue these young girls that i mentor all the way they finally called me to say my last question help me decide to i accept the job or go into the sciences . Things like that. It continues to mentor these kids male or female and continue to provide the exposure. I am very happy where im at right now because they were pioneering this capstone project is in lieu of having the final exam they are developing projects all the way ninth grade through senior ino that project is amazing to conduct research and presentations students who published a book and to create a story about her struggle from siberia and it ended up being a film so she was invited to the film festival. It is experiential learning and now we move on to middle school to be exposed at a young age because this is a skill that we will need for the future workforce and we need to continue our mentorship. I and thanksgiving one of my students graduated with a degree in physics and told me im coming home at thanksgiving and i want to buy you dinner. Things like that. You just give everything that you have. Its not about me anymore but its about my kids in the future of my children and their children children and i want to contribute now stricken a choice that you describe like to see a lot more students having choices tlike that. I will be brief the only extra point i would add is we reaching further back into the grade level if we think about grow with the underrepresented groups i do think we will get more bang for the buck if we reach back as early as we can whatever the programs are or wherever they live think we need to start early a lot of those preconceived notions summer cultural. Some are implicit bias. Whatever the reasons are, they start very early. Its hard to get them back on track at the High School Level is certainly at the university level. With that extraordinary brand that is nasa, how do we reach out to more disadvantaged communities clicks we now made a conscious effort to reach out to not only africanamerican and hispanic and one hispanic americans but when you say you can go to the iss they say are you selling us a bridge . So nasa sometimes has well paid relationship with commercial but the more they hear the more times it comes out and just being nasa and very often its under nasa now there are people will not think t they can go to the space station in this way so to answer practically we go to the conferences and meet with the people we want to train you or locate on the reservation or send something and we will help you. It is hard work but we cannot wait for the government to do it but we could have some emphasis put on nasa that sometimes its not sometimes its the commerciall sector when something goes wrong it is us if its wrong it is nasa. [laughter] so to get over that. To go back to what was said, so many students are drawn intoie student drawn in if you get rid of that he will model of just one really smart boy but everybody works together tost solve something is where you get real diversity. We can do that in elementary and high school that is what our degree is. We can do that at scale. The saying that what you can do to help to relieve on teaching to the test so they have more freedom to teach in the other ways that we know works. Thank you to each of the witnesses for your hard work and testimony here today. Now i am extending because the senator is one minute a away. So now to sound eloquent so now lets ask another question. Universities. What should universities be doing better to expand Stem Education . And then assess space grants how much of a difference are they making . This is hugely impactful it not only funds the faculty to solve a particular problem but as i said there all the students involved in these problems it is critical. So beyond that program, higher ad as a whole is looking pretty deeply. At the Stem Education experience we have a cookiecutter traditional mold but the real problem is you have to be able to work with those who dont have engineering background that they have the accounting degree or whatever it is the center for manufacturing exam is ann example that builds teams summer engineers or accounting majors but all working on a yearlong problem so they understand each others worlds. So the more of that we can do to get creative and teaching to the test im fully on board to move away from that and get more creative at the secondary level but thats at. The same university wont teach to the test but we teach a lot the way we have always taught. Can i get an amen on that . [laughter] i think im beginning to see more willingness and higher ed to feel broader okay think thats the First Response we have had. That is wonderful. Thank you so much mister chairman allowing me to pop out brick also thank you for testifying on the important issue. In your written testimony you discuss the difference between missions like the Hubble Telescope so when testifying before the full Commerce Committee that University Led missions are more likely to be completed on time compared to the nasa flagship mission. What do you see the difference how pei emissions are led and what lessons could nasa learn to keep these missions on time and on budget . I very much hope not to disappoint you are trying to be on schedule and under budget but the way that they are run the pr led missions are conceived of as a as a whole. So the schedule and the budget and thehe plan is built up as a unit while the others come from the survey, trying to answer the really big and tough space challenges that we have and put together by a competition and then the leadership is picked so then what they have separate city states to blend into a functional government altogether thats a big challenge. Maybe the aspirations and the new Technology Development that makes budgeting much harder is what we should be doing so if there is a way to create a more united team that would help with the budgeting and scale scheduling challenges. Thats what i see them coming from. I am really proud of arizonas university that we take advantage of advantage the programs that provides the opportunity to receive funding for missions to achieve the goals but im concerned about what happens when the mission ends so after nasa and university make significant to focus field space the funding to support the research disappears this could leave nasa and universities to lose a key source and it makes it much harder to complete. So what opportunities exist to help universities make longterm investments . And what more can we do to develop these longterm relationships for these decades of research . Mimic it is a constant problem that you build up the incredible expertise in the funding and emphasis goes away. We saw this happen withap the apollo era. The Institutional Knowledge of lunar science began to drain away because the funding was cut. I envision where we are so lucky as we have been in arizona to win these missions with these tremendous teams like to see the opportunity for those waiting for the next Mission Opportunity rather than finishing into a different industry. So that they can do these efforts to hit the next big target and we dont lose the people they are still in the same teams and connectedon better and doing tech transfer in whatever the next important thing is i would love to see nasa create partnerships like that. You are absolutely right those specific projects ends to invest time and money in a scale on and the skill set. One of the things we do at the university of mississippi is work on developing a relationship with the program so when the funding ends we have a trusting relationship between those on the federal side and faculty members and afresearch staff. What that tends to do if the funding has shifted or dried up to have the relationship and some flexibility with the skill set as we talked about the way the education side that leads to a more flexible faculty. If it doesnt fit in the box that i cannot be involved so to have that flexibility a longterm relationship is key to extend the time we are collaboratively looking the other point is we do have some models of federal agencies where scientist stay on campus for an extended period of time it can be three or six months or longer those are incredibly valuable and to go so far with a particular agency we have federal scientist embedded full time with our faculty and one of our facilities. Thats what builtt relationships that lasts decades. Since 2015 you were the syincipal investigator on the mission with the exposed nickel iron core it is much like the earth. As you develop this mission how do you work with other researchers . What doua you believe they gain from the opportunity and what they across the country. And to hit this topic and then to sew the Research Faculty and then we would really like them not to be capstone teams and with the graphic designers and a student project manager on the team and then to come from the project and they share challenges in the set of capstones and the team that one buys Virtual Summit on the ship somewhat on the east coast and in the south or in new york they mailed hardware back and forth and they want. That is how we want to engage people thats the workforce of the future spin mister chairman i went to take a moment again thank you for helping is hosting this committee hearing. And with the competitiveness so thank you for the work that you all do. And think you to each avenue the witnesses thank you for your testimony and passion and the difference you are making the record will remain open the next two weeks and the senators are asked during that time to submit questions for the record and upon receipt they are asked to submit written answers to the subcommittee as soon as possible. We are adjourned. We are adjourned. [inaudible conversations] december 6 the second lieutenant, a member of the Royal Saudi Air force entered the building on grounds of Pensacola Naval air station killing three sailors severely wounding eight other americans. He was killed during the attack. This was an act of terrorism. The evidence shows that the shooter was motivated jihadist ideology. So we learn the shooter posted a message on september 11 this year to state t