An engineer working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration came home to St. Thomas this week to show junior-high and high school students a world of possibilities. Dr. Rudolph King is part of a NASA outreach team encouraging the youth to study science, technology, engineering and math.
King is a 35-year veteran of the space administration, researching aerodynamics in Virginia. In an interview with the Source, King said when he graduated from Ivanna Eudora Kean High School in 1983, he had no idea where his education would lead him.
All he knew, he said, was that math was his favorite subject. But as his college studies led him along an engineering path, he found work in an agency that let him find out more about how planes and jets fly.
During this week’s visit, King and other NASA representatives are expected to meet with and talk to 3,000 students through in-person and virtual outreach sessions, hosted by the University of the Virgin Islands.
Also joining the event will be Virgin Islander Simmione Fullwood, an engineer now working at the Kennedy Space Center. Participants also have a chance to hear from UVI astrophysicist Dr. David Morris, head of the school’s Etelman Observatory.
“The event, which is being held in a hybrid format, allowing both in-person and online participation, has attracted students from countries including India, Scotland, South Africa and the United States,” said UVI Communications Specialist Lois Rivera.
The goal of those sessions is to showcase opportunities students have while still in school, to explore the space agency through internships and summer programs. Presenters also want to show interested and promising students how they can join the agency after graduating college.
NASA is also inviting educators to find out more about NASA’s Educator Professional Development Collaborative, designed to help them better teach STEM subjects for grades K-12.
As the sessions began on Monday, students from Charlotte Amalie High School, Eudora Kean and Addelita Cancryn Intermediate School attended hybrid presentations. When given a chance to engage students from his home island, King said he delivered some encouraging words.
“I guess the main message was to learn a lot about what interests you; something you have a passion for. And the key for me was not to give up; just try, keep trying and don’t let failure stop you,” he said.
The most memorable question in the Monday session came from students in the virtual auditorium, King said. “One interesting question was online: was it difficult for me to leave St. Thomas, to go away … and I said no, the most difficult part was leaving my parents and my family.”
But King said what made it easier was attending college in Virginia where his brother — two years ahead of him in his studies — was attending. And, he added, a brother who, like him, pursued an engineering path.
Students from St. John’s Gifft Hill School met the NASA outreach team on Wednesday. St. Croix Central High School students have a chance to hear from scientists and ask questions on Thursday.
