Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium

Diem Quynh Luu is a senior in Biochemistry at the University of Washington. As a research assistant and a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Diem has kept herself busy gaining experience and strengthening her skills for her future career. She enjoys her time as a CNA at the Lahai free clinic, helping diverse and underserved communities every day.

Diem was also a part of the 2024 All-Washington Academic Team at Everett Community College, earning her a scholarship at UW for her academic excellence. Now, she serves as the Community Chair for the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS). 📝

Post-graduation, Diem is looking forward to reaching her goals of applying to medical school and becoming a doctor that focuses on providing assistance for underserved populations. 🏥 🩺

Kaung Lin is a 2nd year Computer Science student at the University of Washington. On top of being a teaching assistant and an undergraduate research assistant, Kaung enjoys his active involvement in student organizations on campus. Being an officer for both the Society of Asian Engineers (SASE) and Scholars Pursuing Academic and Celestial Exploration (S.P.A.C.E.), Kaung has had the opportunity to meet new people from around campus with varying interests.

In his free time, Kaung enjoys drawing and creating, using those skills to help with fundraising for his student organizations through the Makers Fair. 🖌️

With a minor in education, one of his goals post-graduation is to create accessible K-12 computer science classes for the future generation. Kaung is looking forward to this summer where he will be a part of the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Tech Developer internship preparation program.👨‍💻 📘

Catherine Ingram is a 4th year Aeronautics and Astronautics student at the University of Washington. Through her undergraduate journey, Catherine has had the opportunity to intern with Boeing and Alaska Airlines, building upon her education and skillset through each experience.

Catherine is passionate about teaching others and creating access into STEM fields. She does so by being a mentor for the Museum of Flight Michael P. Anderson program, creating STEM opportunities for the younger generation. She is also a current teaching assistant for the Control in Aerospace Systems class in the Aeronautics and Astronautics department.

Beyond the classroom, Catherine enjoys being an Aerodynamics Configurator for the Design Build Fly student organization for 3 years where they have recently placed second overall in the 2026 national competition! Catherine is looking forward to graduating this quarter and joining Boeing as an Aerodynamics Stability & Control engineer in the Fall. 👩‍🔬 🛫

Joshua Fox is a 4th year Biology student at the University of Washington. As a research assistant in the Ferguson Laboratory, Joshua has co-authored published research on the behavioral and social impacts of fentanyl-and-meth polysubstance use and a psychedelic’s ability to reverse social deficits. Joshua is currently working on his second co-authored publication, looking at the impacts of polysubstance use and a psilocybin treatment on gene expression in brain regions associated with stress, reward, and sociability. Growing up in rural Eastern WA, a career in science had always felt out of reach for him, so he strives to redefine who belongs in STEM, in hopes of inspiring and uplifting others who may feel the same.

Outside of classes, he enjoys tutoring others in the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity Instructional Center biology department. At home he also taught his cat, Howard, how to communicate using talking buttons!🐈️

Looking towards the future, Joshua has accepted a position as a Graduate Proteomics Intern for Talus Biosciences this summer.🧬 🔬

Nicole Piedrahita is a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Washington. Throughout this year, she has worked to complete 2 class projects - one being a 3D modeling project and the other a “mock internship” mechanical design project. She has also been a part of the UW EcoCar Club, where the majority of her work was designing a steering wheel and driver seat for a small EV car. These opportunities not only allowed Nicole to gain experience utilizing mathematical and analytical skills, similar to that of future careers, but also a chance to work and problem solve with a team to reach their end goal.

In her free time, Nicole enjoys volunteering for Material Advantage, where she conducts and teaches STEM experiments to youth. And this summer, Nicole has been accepted to participate in the LAUNCH-SPACE undergraduate research program through the Iowa Space Grant Consortium!🚀 🌠

Jingyi Zhong is a 3rd year Computer Science student at the University of Washington. With a strong interest in data science and machine learning, Jingyi has had the opportunity to study abroad and participate in 2 research opportunities, learning more in each area. As a Global Scholar, Jingyi was able to participate in a Japan Physics Lab working with data on the development of microscope technology. The next summer, studying abroad in Germany, she was able to collect data from sensors mounted on bikes, measuring street and bike safety in the area. Most recently, Jingyi has studied abroad in Beijing attending Tsinghua University. Jingyi enjoys expanding her knowledge and learning beyond the United States and hopes to continue in the future.

Outside of the classroom, Jingyi enjoys solo traveling and meeting new people around the world. She is looking forward to this summer where she will be interning at Phillips as an Ultrasound Acoustic Engineering Intern. 👩‍💻 ⚙️

Central Washington University rocket teams had an out of this world opportunity to tour the Stoke Aerospace Test Facility in Moses Lake!💫 Connor Luce, an intern at Stoke and a WSU student, guided students around to learn all about the facility and the people who work there.

Students saw test stands for a variety of Stoke's engines and were able to meet the engineers and technicians on working on site. They even had the opportunity to meet a Boeing flight test engineer at lunch, proving that aerospace is alive and well on the east side of the mountains.🌌🏔️

BIG thank you to Stoke Space for this opportunity and to Connor for being a rock(et) star. 🚀

The Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium invites you to attend our inaugural Community Learning Webinar featuring Dr. Elison Blancaflor, NASA Program Scientist for Space Crops! 🌱👨‍🔬

Dr. Blancaflor’s presentation titled “A Green Revolution for Space: Harnessing Plants for Multiplanetary Living,” will give insight on how plants can serve as a source of food on the Moon and Mars. Dr. Blancaflor will speak to the benefits and challenges for plant production in space. We invite you to join our learning community and obtain a broad overview of NASA’s plant space biology research and how this is expanding the boundaries of scientific discovery beyond earth. 🌎️🔬

Webinar Details:
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
4:00-5:00pm PDT
Webinar via Zoom
Pre-register here to receive the webinar link. --> https://washington.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vXUp8BDgSjmQhxlxV4Luag #/registration

This event is open to any and all who want to learn!

The Washington Space Grant Team travelled to D.C.!

We had the opportunity to Collaborate with all 52 Space Grant Consortia 🌌, Lobby with Washington State Delegation of Congress 🏛️, Learn about the future of STEM careers from NASA and industry partners 🔭, and we brought back all of our new knowledge and practices to benefit our Washington State students🚀

The National Space Grant Directors Meeting not only allows us to work together to build upon the National Space Grant Program, but it also allows us to advocate for our programs nationwide.

February 23-27, 2026, the Space Grant team will be attending the National Council of Space Grant Directors meeting! We are excited to bring back new connections and knowledge to benefit our students on Washington State.

During this time we will have limited availability to respond to questions. We will be back in office and continue regular responses on March 2nd.