NASA Advisory Council Science, Technology, 

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) 

Engagement Committee 

NOTES 

May 28, 2019 

STEM Engagement Committee Members 

Present: Cristin Dorgelo, Norman Fortenberry, Michael Lach, Ray Mellado, Darryl Williams, and Aimee 

Kennedy, Chair 

Not Present: Daniel Dumbacher, Carl Person 

Others Present: 

Beverly Girten (Executive Secretary), Michael Kincaid, Kris Brown, Diane DeTroye, NASA HQ Office of 

STEM Engagement; Rob LaSalvia, Rick Gilmore, Cathy Graves, Tara Strang, Glenn Research Center 

Opening Comments 

Dr. Beverly Girten, Committee Executive Secretary welcomed everyone and noted the meeting is taking 

place in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). 

CoSTEM/STEM Education Advisory Panel Update 

Dr. Kennedy and Mr. Mellado participated in a closed meeting on May 24, 2019 for the CoSTEM 

Education Advisory Panel during which the group looked at the implementation plan for the Federal 

STEM Plan. Work on the implementation plan is moving forward. 

Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) Updates 

Overview/Budget/ National Space Council/Moon 2024 

Mr. Kincaid summarized the Fifth National Space Council Meeting where Vice President Pence 

announced plans to land the first American woman and next American man on the Moon by 2024. Mr. 

Kincaid then introduced the Artemis program. 

Business Services Assessment (BSA) Closeout/Strategy/Portfolio 

Ms. Brown reviewed the BSA implementation timeline, noting the Office of STEM Engagement 

completed all BSA implementation actions and officially closed out BSA activities on April 30, 2019. Ms. 

Brown commented the actions were completed six months earlier than planned. Ms. Brown provided a 

brief summary of the systemic and programmatic worked completed and noted the BSA effort resulted 

in foundational changes in how the Office of STEM Engagement does business. The new NASA Strategy 

for STEM Engagement drives Office of STEM Engagement work over next three years. The strategy drives 

three focus areas into actionable objectives and strategies. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms. Brown reviewed the structure and overall content of the NASA STEM Engagement portfolio. Using 

drivers from NASA Strategic Plan and the STEM Engagement goals and requirements and looked at how 

agency portfolio to identify gaps. The STEM Engagement Council had opportunity to weigh in on gaps 

and opportunities for Office of STEM Engagement to consider in the future. Dr. Lach commented the 

slide presented communicate significant progress over past 9-12 months. Dr. Lach questioned which 

aspects of the portfolio have the highest return on investment. He discussed developing a framework for 

what spark means and designing an initiative based on the framework. Some aspects of the portfolio will 

be more impactful than others and it is important to see what the literature says first before moving 

forward. The literature will help to make the hard decisions. 

Ms. Brown noted that the portfolio team did an analysis of each activity across the agency against the 

STEM Engagement strategy and objectives. They completed a gap analysis to identify areas that need 

improvement. She noted there are places that are natural in the pipeline for NASA to invest but that is 

needs to be balanced with NASA being a mission organization. 

Dr. Lach commented a key driver of spark is the interpersonal relationship between a young person and 

a more experienced STEM professional, noting an internship is likely more powerful than a fellowship, 

which is more independently driven. Working with NASA employees and contractors allows students to 

see how STEM professionals work. He suggesting establishing a set of guiding principles to identify 

which aspects of the portfolio are more likely to result in better outcomes for everyone. 

Connecting Nation’s STEM to NASA’s Mission 

STEM Partnerships/Apollo 50th Anniversary 

Dr. Girten provided an update on the Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions 

(TEAM II) solicitation which has a due date of August 13, 2019. Dr. Girten provided an update on 

partnerships, emphasizing the recent work completed under the partnership with Tynker. The 

agreement was signed in December, 2018 and NASA and Tynker have already completed an enormous 

amount of work under the first annex. One NASA-themed coding challenge has been completed and two 

additional challenges are forthcoming in fall 2019. Dr. Girten also shared the recently signed space act 

agreement with Boeing, noting Tynker and Boeing agreements are linked to the Apollo 50th anniversary. 

Both partnerships will amplify efforts in those arenas. 

NextGen STEM: Commercial Crew Program 

Diane DeTroye commented that the appropriated money for SEAP (STEM Engagement and 

Accountability Project) is transitioning to NextGen STEM, which includes TEAM II and ISS activities, for 

example, STEM on Station. NextGen STEM focuses mission-driven efforts to enable content that is 

beneficial to mission directorates, while keeping target audience in mind. NextGen STEM works to 

leverage STEM Engagement resources. For example, Space Grant has investments in educator 

professional development. Ms. DeTroye then gave an overview of the three NextGen STEM themes: 

Moon to Mars, Commercial Crew, and Low Sonic Boom Airplane. Low Sonic Boom Airplane refers to how 

the country could get back into supersonic transport. These three topics were selected in conjunction 

with the mission directorates and support the student community. 

Ms. DeTroye shared highlights from NextGen STEM Commercial Crew efforts, including classroom 

activities for K-12 that are enhanced by digital learning, engineering design challenges, and virtual tours. 

NextGen STEM starts by looking at what the evidence says is a good way to do it and then revise as 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

evaluation and feedback is received. For example, for grades 5-12, the egg drop is enhanced with 

technology and additional tools that give students exposure to the kind of tools they will need in the 

workforce. These include graphs and platforms that are notable within education community. Ms. 

DeTroye highlighted the VR (virtual reality) field trip, noting it is an unprecedented opportunity for 

SpaceX and Boeing facilities. The team is able create 360 degree videos in those facilities. The videos are 

viewed using an Oculus headset and can be exported to Google Expeditions or Google Cardboard. The 

field trips come with teacher materials so a teacher can use it in the classroom. 

Ms. DeTroye noted the X-59 Low Boom Aircraft activities are called Small Steps to Giant Leaps in honor 

of Neil Armstrong who started his career as a test pilot. The team is creating activities that are focused 

on sound: how sound travels, sound effects, and forces of flight. The team created activity guides for 

classrooms. They are trying a novel experimental approach, of creating a citizen science activity. The 

activity enables students to measure ambient noise in their community and add their data to a database 

for use by NASA researchers. Low Boom Aircraft resources include a comprehensive activity guide that 

brings all the pieces together. 

Ms. DeTroye then shared the Moon to Mars efforts, which include building a launch vehicle, the 

Gateway, and lunar landers. The activities were developed using the expertise NASA had with the Rocket 

Educators Guide. NextGen STEM updated materials from the Rocket Educators Guide. The Moon to 

Mars team conducted a coding challenge and subject matter experts are currently in the process of 

evaluating student submissions. The team is also developing curriculum support materials. 

Dr. Girten shared two activity booklets that were published in hardcover and online, Forward to the 

Moon with Artemis and the NASA National Park Service Junior Ranger Spaceflight Explorer booklet. The 

Forward to the Moon with Artemis has a print order of 100,000 booklets. National Park Service is 

printing 50,000 copies of the Junior Ranger booklet. 

Dr. Michael Lach shared that he had some questions and concerns about NextGen STEM and Dr. 

Kennedy invited him to share those questions and concerns during the meeting. Dr. Lach stated there is 

data that shows saturation of products in middle school and more opportunities are needed for high 

school and elementary school. Dr. Lach also expressed concerns over the use of “NextGen.” Although 

NextGen is not trademarked, there is a connection to the NextGen Science Standards. Dr. Lach 

commented that hands-on and inquiry are passé. The egg drop has routinely been characterized as 

something we don’t want to do. The egg drop may conflict with more research-based science education 

research. Dr. Lach also asked about what success looks like for NextGen STEM. He questioned how are 

people to use NextGen STEM materials and how will NASA know if the materials are used well. He noted 

there is an abundance of online resources for teachers and schools and are generally not used well. Dr. 

Lach questioned how will NextGen STEM will distinguish itself from the masses available on Google and 

Pinterest. 

Sparking Interest in STEM 

Mr. Rob LaSalvia began his presentation by stating Dr. Lach raised a good point, that is, how might we 

ensure the products in the portfolio provide the greatest amount of good. He also shared the bulk of 

funding in 2019 focused on higher education. Mr. LaSalvia stated his team should have internal best 

practices in a month which will be used to make the portfolio as strong as possible. Mr. LaSalvia 

commented his team has worked with National Science Foundation colleagues to investigate how 

longitudinal tracking can be strengthened. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. LaSalvia noted Office of STEM Engagement efforts are working to attract underrepresented 

students. Office of STEM Engagement seeks diverse candidates and at a minimum seeks to have 

participants reflective of college enrollment. While Mr. LaSalvia noted the Office of STEM Engagement 

exceed some measures over the past two years, there is still work to do. Mr. LaSalvia presented data to 

show how Office of STEM Engagement is ahead of its target. 

Mr. Gilmore then discussed the NASA Advisory Council STEM Engagement Committee’s 

recommendation related to NASA’s role in sparking interest in STEM. Dr. Cathy Graves reviewed the 

recommendation and shared the team has potential candidates, which includes individuals beyond 

STEM experts, and stated the team will share the panel members when finalized. Sometime in mid-June 

or July, the team will conduct a forum at NASA Headquarters to discuss the recommendation. The forum 

work will result in the production of a report which will be used to develop future solicitations. Dr. Tara 

Strang then presented potential questions for the panel. 

Mr. Gilmore then shared the team will continue talking about disseminating the report both internally 

and externally. The report can be used to support future solicitations, can be shared at professional 

conferences and with other federal agencies. 

Dr. Lach questioned the scope of the report, noting there are two top-level questions which may be 

intertwined. The first is, What is spark and how do we generate it among people? The second, 

depending on the answer, is, What should NASA do about it? 

Discuss/Finalize Findings and Recommendations 

The STEM Engagement Committee continued discussions and agreed upon one finding: 

Finding: The Office of STEM Engagement brings a continuous improvement approach to 

its work and is making good progress on the work plans previously presented (i.e. BSA 

findings, NASA STEM Engagement strategy, Federal 5-year STEM plan). 

Major Reasons for the Finding: 

• The Office of STEM Engagement continues to align their STEM engagement programs 

for maximum impact. 

• The Office of STEM Engagement continues to leverage scalability of their reach 

through strategic partnerships. 

Adjourn Meeting 

Dr. Girten then adjourned the meeting.