038 From Educator to NASA Engineer, with George Gorospe

Today's guest is a true STEM Rockstar! After being raised in the Southwest, George Gorospe left behind all that he knew and headed east to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The adjustment was tough for George, but with family support, and the support of other Native Americans at Dartmouth College, he made it work. His journey included a stint as a teacher at his alma mater, the Santa Fe Indian School, before he began to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In pursuit of more knowledge, George obtained an internship with NASA that grew into a series of amazing opportunities that would shape his career and open doors to his dreams. George continues to live out his dream of solving problems for NASA at the Ames Research Center, but also has a particular interest in become an astronaut for which he recently submitted an application.

Show Notes

George Gorospe, born and raised in Albuquerque, NM, attended high school at the Santa Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, NM. After graduation, George attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH where he majored in Classical Studies. After Dartmouth, George returned to his community to become a full time high school teacher at the Santa Fe Indian School. While there, he decided to pursue an engineering degree at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. During his second undergraduate education, George completed multiple internships at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. Once George completed his Mechanical Engineering B.S. degree, he participated in NASA’s premier leadership development program, the NASA Academy for Space Exploration. At the end of this program, George was hired to work in the Mission Design Center, where he helped develop conceptual space missions to send robotic explorers to the outer solar system. George is currently a member of the Diagnostics and Prognostics Research Group in the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center. There he manages the Systems Health Analytics, Resilience, and Physics modeling (SHARP) Laboratory. His research interests include: automated test systems, UAV electric propulsion systems, robotics, advanced diagnostics and prognostics, and GPU accelerated computing.

Santa Fe Indian School

UNM Mechanical Engineering Program

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (NASA)

NASA Ames Robotics Academy

NASA Ames Academy for Space Exploration

Indigenous Fly-In Program (Dartmouth College)

Artemis Program (NASA)

Urban Air Mobility (Air Taxis)

 

Contact:

George Gorospe

[email protected]