Beginning in 2016, I became involved in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (http://www.ariss.org) volunteer group. As an amateur radio licensee (callsign KR5P), I was asked to provide technical support for a middle school in our local area, Stephen F. Austin STEM Academy, that was preparing to conduct a contact with the International Space Station using amateur radio. At the time, I knew nothing about the ARISS organization or what was involved.  A team of us worked together with the school for many months to host this event at Brazosport College where I worked at that time. Several hundred students attended this very successful event and participated in other activities as part of the complete project. Since that initial event in October 2016, I've helped out in various ways with ARISS including being part of the education committee where I helped review and score proposals for future ARISS contact events. 

This has been a fun experience since it combines my interests in space, communications and teaching people about technology. Being around K-12 (and higher education) school teachers is infectious. Their enthusiasm for teaching their students about STEM is inspiring. If you are a school or other organization working with young people (colleges also), consider submitting a proposal to host a contact. Information on how to do that is on the ARISS web site referenced above. During the 2025 SEEC conference, I will be in the ARISS booth in the vendor/exhibitor area Thursday and Friday and look forward to talking to folks about how you can host a contact at your organization. 

In January 2024 I retired after a 40 year career in information technology. My most recent position was as Director of Information Technology at Brazosport College where I worked for 30 years.