Tag: Amy Medina Jorge

AIAA SciTech Forum 2026 Adds Prominent Speakers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 12, 2025 – Reston, Va. – AIAA will kick off SciTech Forum 2026 with opening remarks from America’s most experienced astronaut, Peggy Whitson, Vice President of Human Spaceflight, Axiom Space. The event is scheduled 12–16 January, Hyatt Regency Orlando. Other daily plenary speakers will cover the latest innovations transforming aerospace, including:

  • Jonathan Arenberg, Fellow and Chief Mission Architect for Science and Robotic Exploration, Northrop Grumman, shares insights from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
  • Arbi Karapetian, Director, Innovation and Technology, Formula 1, brings nearly 30 years of aerospace experience to reveal how innovation fuels performance across industries
  • Jason Levin, SVP of Engineering for Air Dominance & Strike, Anduril, showcases lessons learned in developing its Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Fury
  • Craig Martell, CTO, Lockheed Martin, and Ylli Bajraktari, President and CEO, Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), discuss the challenges and opportunities of next-gen artificial intelligence

AIAA SciTech Forum is known for setting the pace of innovation and connection for the year. This year’s inspirational theme, “Breaking Barriers Together: Boundless Discovery,” will envision the possibilities for aerospace’s future. Other notable speakers include:

  • Camille Alleyne, Founder and CEO, Arusha Space, LLC
  • Carissa Christensen, CEO, BryceTech
  • Todd Citron, CTO, The Boeing Company
  • Greg Ombach, Senior Vice President, Airbus
  • Will Roper, CEO, Istari Digital, and former Assistant Secretary of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, U.S. Air and Space Force
  • Brad Rothenberg, CEO, nTop
  • Ryan Tseng, President, Co-founder, and Chief Strategy Officer, Shield AI
  • Danica Vallone, CEO, Making Space

The new Career Accelerator Program for university students will deliver an intensive day of career advice and tools from AIAA Corporate Member hiring managers and recruiters, plus confirmed speakers:

  • Hillary Coe, Chief Design and Marketing Officer, Vast
  • Amy Medina Jorge, Educator and Blue Origin commercial astronaut
  • Joan Misner, Social Media Influencer @YourFemaleEngineer

Registration with the best pricing is available through 15 December. For the most up-to-date program information, visit SciTech.aiaa.org. Journalists can request media credentials at [email protected].

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on LinkedIn, Instagram, X/Twitter, and Facebook.

Trailblazing STEM Educator Amy Medina Jorge Completes Spaceflight on Blue Origin’s NS-32 Mission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Clay Mowry:

“Congratulations to Amy Medina Jorge on her journey beyond the Kármán line! We are thrilled to see such a remarkable educator-astronaut make the journey of a lifetime as part of Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-32 mission. Amy is one of those teachers who literally goes above and beyond to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators.

We were honored to recognize Amy in 2023 with the Trailblazing STEM Educator Award in partnership with Challenger Center. Amy stood out due to her tireless work every day to empower students in STEM – especially those who are traditionally underserved and underrepresented. She’s given her students the chance to participate in real space experiences, leading more than 60 space experiments including developing and flying biometric sensors and performing in-flight 3D printing on a parabolic zero-gravity flight.

As a middle and high school teacher at Odyssey Academy Galveston, in Galveston, Texas, Amy is also an AIAA Educator Associate Member. Teachers like Amy are invaluable – not only to their local communities but to the space community as a whole.

Amy’s lessons are launchpads for her students’ dreams, giving them every opportunity to see their potential. Certainly, her students’ dreams were onboard with her today. What an inspiration!

AIAA applauds Blue Origin on continuing to open up access to space to more people, totaling nearly 60 commercial astronauts so far. We salute the countless aerospace professionals whose expertise has brought the New Shepard fully reusable, suborbital rocket system to this point. Reusability is the future of launch.”

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. Visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.