Owensboro Community & Technical College student Kiean Washington has been selected to participate in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program June 24-28, 2019 at Kennedy Space Centerin Merritt Island, Florida.
Designed for community college Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students, the program provides participants with an authentic NASA experience and encourages them to finish a two-year degree or transfer to a four-year university to pursue a NASA-related field or career.
Washington, came back to OCTC through the Tech X program while working as a barista at The Crème. Washington excelled in the Tech X program and discovered he had a passion for physics. Now employed at Castlen Steel, Washington completed the Tech X program and is pursuing his Associate in Science degree. His future plans include transferring to Western Kentucky University to major in Physics.
When asked how he learned about the opportunity from NASA he replied “There is a poster hanging in the ATC and I thought-Wow, that would be really awesome. I didn’t really think I would get selected, but here I am!” After completing the online form students are guided through a mandatory online program that takes approximately 25 hours of work. Upon successful completion, Washington was selected to visit the NASA facility in Orlando for a four-day engineering design workshop.
In addition to touring the facilities, the all expense paid trip exposes students to an engineering design challenge, and work on a team project with NASA engineer mentors.
The NCAS program is part of NASA’s efforts to better serve groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields.
