Higher Education Archives - �鶹��

DARS (Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services) 2022 Drone Camp

Kristyn Damadeo — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 14:49:41 +0000

The �鶹��’s GeoTEd-UAS program teamed up with the Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC [formerly Thomas Nelson CC]) in partnership with Virginia’s Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) to conduct two drone camps focused on special needs students from area high schools in Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, and Williamsburg/James City County. The camps explored career preparation and applications in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS [aka drones]). Students were taught important safety and regulatory practices for drone operators, as well as the basics of flying drones. Students even earned their FAA TRUST certificates for recreational flyers and received their own drone. During each camp, students flew small drones inside through an obstacle course, and larger drones outside on VPCC’s campus, and during a trip to Anderson Park in Newport News arranged by John Lesko (GIS/UAS Specialist, Newport News, VA). On the last day of each camp, students took a field trip to Nauticus (Norfolk, VA) to see the museum’s current drone exhibit, fly drones in their ‘Drone Zone,’ and crawl over the decks of the USS Wisconsin.

“This was a great experience for our students,” said Sherry Hildebrandt, HCS transition specialist. “Both camps helped students gain self-confidence while learning additional life and vocational skills.” VPCC Professor Julie Young said, “One of the students said ‘it was the best week of his life,’ and that was priceless!”

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Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars(VASTS) 2022, Week 1

Kristyn Damadeo — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 13:47:15 +0000

On June 24, 2022 the VSGC completed week 1 of the Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) Summer Academy. 63 students from high schools all over Virginia participated. Students had the opportunity to work at NASA Langley Research Center including tours of the Landing and Impact Research Facility “Gantry”, the Fabrication Lab, and model shop and even saw a demonstration of the “ISAAC” robot. They also attended talks from NASA engineers and Space Shuttle astronaut Dr. Roger Crouch.
A main goal of the VASTS academy was for the students to design a human mission to Mars. Students split into teams necessary to complete the mission. They had to manage scarce resources and teams had to communicate to accomplish the primary objective. Each team then had to present their work to a Mission Design Review Panel made up of NASA Langley Research Center representatives.
If you are interested in the VASTS program you can find out more VASTS Main Page

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Laurel Ridge Community College Students Attend NASA/West Virginia Space Grant Hack Week Program

Kristyn Damadeo — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 16:51:53 +0000

Students from Laurel Ridge Community College were sponsored by the �鶹�� (VSGC) are attending a NASA/West Virginia Space Grant Hack Week Program this week at West Virginia University. The students and their faculty advisor, Melissa Stange worked on Fault Diagnosis for Safety-Critical Autonomous Systems. The educational and training activities introduced the participants to the critical problem-space of Fault Diagnosis on-board spacecraft with the goal of generating novel solutions. The team is working with WVU faculty and technical experts from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that are serving as mentors. VSGC also sponsored participants from Old Dominion University and Virginia Tech.

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Bringing Crewed Mission Planning to a New Digital Frontier

Kristyn Damadeo — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 20:21:30 +0000

The �鶹�� (VSGC) will be launching the first of our online summer programs, the Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS), June 13.

Ian Cawthray, VSGC’s education programs coordinator, is taking charge of the six-day-long program.

“The purpose of VASTS is to educate today’s students on the space mission design process used by NASA through challenging their abilities to communicate and plan for the nearly infinite challenges of human spaceflight,” said Cawthray. “The students in each week of the VASTS Summer Academy collaboratively design a human mission to Mars in only a matter of days.”

Although all of our summer programs are now online, VSGC has taken every step to ensure all participants have the same experience in this new online platform.

“The biggest challenges in transitioning to an online format were maintaining the communications and social aspects of the VASTS Summer Academy,” said Cawthray. “We will achieve the goal of re-creating the critical aspects of the Summer Academy. [We are] combining our Content Management System and the ODU Distance Learning Webex system, in order to keep students discussing, planning, and solving problems.”

In addition to mission planning, the program will once again be hosting Astronaut Dr. Roger Crouch as it’s guest speaker, who has flown two space shuttle flights, STS-83 and STS-94.

“Dr. Crouch has been presenting to VASTS students for the last ten years,” said Cawthray. “His story of never giving up on your dreams is designed to encourage the VASTS students as they tackle this challenge and before they begin on their individual journeys to tackle the other challenges they’ll face in their careers and lives.”

When talking about his involvement in VASTS, Cawthray does not take his role lightly.

“This program is important to building the skills and futures of students in Virginia,” said Cawthray. “Being able to assist in the growth of hundreds of students a year is an important job to take on.”

Furthermore, the use of an online platform opens new possibilities for future programs.

“We will certainly be able to have a significant amount of lessons learned that we’ll be able to make use of in re-vamping the Summer Academy next year,” said Cawthray. “The new tools and techniques for delivering the VASTS Summer Academy will be crucial in pushing the limits of in-person and virtual technologies for a better student experience.”

VASTS will have two more iterations this summer, July 12-17 and July 26-31, with a total attendance of 223 students.

Visit from more information on our summer programs.

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VSGC Summer Programs: A New Digital Frontier

Kristyn Damadeo — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:15:16 +0000

The �鶹�� is now offering an online alternative to our summer programs. With the help of Old Dominion University’s Office of Distance Learning, our summer programs and internships are happening in spite of a global pandemic. Now lets get to it!

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VSGC Graduate and Undergraduate Papers Now Online

Kristyn Damadeo — Fri, 10 May 2019 12:39:25 +0000

What does a good �鶹�� research paper look like? The 2018-2019 Graduate and Undergraduate Research �鶹�� Scholarship winning papers are now posted online. The subjects include research in a variety of �鶹�� fields including chemistry, biology, astronomy, engineering, physics and atmospheric sciences. In the photograph above, ODU’s George McLeod presents his research at the VSGC Student Research Conference. His topic is the characterization of uncertainty in inundation models and watershed hypsometry for identification and assessment of non-linear impacts of sea level rise.

Follow the links under the individual profiles at to read the papers.

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VSGC Programs

Kristyn Damadeo — Tue, 07 May 2019 14:32:30 +0000

Did you know that VSGC offers a variety of programs and scholarships for students and faculty from middle school all the way to graduate school? We also offer opportunities for educators. Download an interactive pdf to learn more about our programs.

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Upcoming deadlines for VSGC programs

Kristyn Damadeo — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 19:47:06 +0000

Deadlines are coming up for many of our�� 2019 programs for both K-12 and Higher Education. For more information visit the direct links:��(high school),��(8th and 9th grade),��(Virginia Community College students),��

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VSGC Fellowship recipient at the American Geophysical Union

Kristyn Damadeo — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 15:51:54 +0000

VSGC Fellowship recipient Magdalina Moses,�� a Master’s candidate at Virginia Tech, recently presented a poster related to the 2017 total solar eclipse at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Washington D.C., in conjunction with scientists from Virginia Tech and the Naval Research Laboratory.

By linking together several numerical models, Moses directly compares theoretical predictions to HF radar data obtained in Oregon and Kansas during the eclipse. These comparisons enabled her to identify the physical effects that most strongly affect radio propagation through the ionosphere during eclipses, and help the scientific community better understand how near-Earth space responds to changes in solar radiation.��For more information about VSGC Graduate Fellowships, click .

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2019 �鶹�� Takes Flight Application Opens

Kristyn Damadeo — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 14:58:04 +0000

Applications are now open for the 2019 �鶹�� Takes Flight NASA Research Experiences Program. Virginia Community College students in �鶹�� fields with a GPA of at least 2.5 are eligible to apply. Students accepted to the program will work with NASA research advisors on designated projects over the course of a 10 week, 40-hour- per-week, paid summer research experience.

More information can be found on the �鶹�� Takes Flight website:��

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