Over 400 iLEAD learners and family members, along with their facilitators, gathered at College of the Canyons for our first iLEAD Space and Innovation Expo to celebrate DreamUp to Space student achievement. In partnership with DreamUp, students explored microgravity (what astronauts experience in space), the International Space Station and the engineering design process in order to develop and propose an experiment that could be run on ISS, as well as Mission Patch designs, with the end goal of actually sending an iLEAD experiment to space. Dr Jacob Cohen, chief scientist at NASA Ames, shared an inspirational message about the future of space exploration.

Experiment proposals and mission patch designs were received from learners from iLEAD Encino, iLEAD Lancaster, iLEAD AV, iLEAD Pacoima, Innovation Studios Middle School, Lancaster and SCVi. Guests had the opportunity to interact with the COC Astronomy and Physics and Makerspace clubs, NASA SOFIA pilot Manny Antimisirias and SOFIA mission patch designer Liem Bahneman, as well as enjoy hands-on “maker” items like an LED Blinkie and laser cutter name badge.

Experiment and mission patch design finalists will be posted on the iLEAD aerospace website.