People Category: HUB SciTech 2022

Bio coming soon.

Leia Spaniak is a first-year student majoring in aerospace engineering at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Her team’s experiment launched on NG-12 and was tested on the International Space Station in 2019.

Carlos Castro is a PMI-certified project manager and is the senior consultant and product owner responsible for the preliminary design and evaluation tools Pacelab APD, SysArc, and Mission Suite at PACE Aerospace & IT.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen, Germany, and received his master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering at the Institute of Technology in Berlin, Germany.

Carlos is also a member of the AIAA.

Bio coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

Girls Take Flight Alumna: Shyanne Smith

My name is Shyanne Smith and I am a senior at Health Sciences High and Middle College. I plan on going to UCSD after high school where I will major in Journalism. I will then go on and attend Howard University for my masters degree. I am very interested in literature and creative writing. I also enjoy public speaking, whether it’s giving speeches, debates or presentations I enjoy speaking to others in a public setting. I am currently apart of my school’s ASB club, yearbook club, and the basketball manager for the girl’s basketball team. Outside of school I often do missionary work with Shadow Mountain Community Church. My hobbies include traveling, hanging out with friends and writing.

Claire Pickerel has been involved with Higher Orbits for four years now. In her time, she has developed three Go For Launch! experiments – two of which entered the final round of judging. She, also, attended the International Science School in 2019 along side four other Higher Orbits students. She is now studying Geology at Colorado State University with the intention of perusing a career in planetary geology with the hope of being an astronaut.

Christopher (Chris) Pestak is the Program Manager of the Glenn Engineering and Research Support (GEARS) contract for HX5, LLC. HX5 is a 1,000-plus engineering contractor headquartered in Fort Walton, FL with customer-focused locations across the US.

The GEARS contract is a seven-year, $350M contract with the NASA Glenn Research Center. As the Program Manager for GEARS, he manages an organization of 370 contractor employees performing a wide range of research and engineering work in space and aeronautics.

Throughout his 39-year career, Chris has worked as an engineer, group leader, project manager, program manager, and corporate executive. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and a MS in Industrial Engineering, both from Cleveland State University. In 2020, he was elected to the rank of AIAA Fellow.

Michelle Lucas has been inspired by space her entire life. After years of hard work in school, Michelle graduated from university and went to work at Johnson Space Center (JSC) to follow her dream. There she was part of the Payload Safety Review Panel, then she worked Mission Control for the International Space Station as a Flight Controller. After that, she then went on to be a technical instructor for astronauts. Along the way she found a passion for inspiring the next generation so she left JSC to pursue this new trajectory. Michelle started Higher Orbits – a non-profit that uses space to excite students about STEM. She runs programs all over the country (and world!) encouraging students to find and pursue their passion. Michelle is honored to be an AIAA Associate Fellow.