New Paltz High School’s Ethan Greger (Grade 12) and Jacob Frost (Grade 11), who attend two innovative Ulster BOCES Career Pathways Programs, have been working together to complete a project that many adult professionals could only dream of: designing, programming, and fabricating 48 matching doors that will be used to deploy satellites on the International Space Station (ISS).
Specifications for the ISS project come directly from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) HUNCH initiative. This program empowers and inspires the next generation through project-based learning, enabling high school students to acquire 21st-century skills and launch their careers by contributing to the design and fabrication of real-world, valued products for NASA.
“Our doors will basically be the connector from the Space Station to outer space,” Ethan marveled.
The opportunity to participate in the project came to Ethan and Jacob as part of their Ulster BOCES learning experience. The young professionals currently split their school day between attending the Hudson Valley Pathways Academy (HVPA) at Ulster BOCES (an early college high school program located on the SUNY Ulster campus in Stone Ridge), and the Port Ewen-based Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center’s (CTC) Advanced Manufacturing program.
Ethan and Jacob have been programming the CTC Manufacturing shop’s acclaimed 5-axis CNC milling machine with the more than 400 dimensions that are required to design the doors to NASA’s exacting specifications. For this project, the doors must be built to .005 of an inch accuracy–the width of a piece of paper–or the project will be considered a failure.
Once completed, the parts will be sent to Kingston-based FALA Technologies Inc., one of Ulster BOCES’ industry partners, for inspection. FALA, which is an industry leader with a global reach, provides contract manufacturing, as well as supply-chain manufacturing and engineering services, to build custom equipment and advanced electro/mechanical products for the semiconductor, transportation, military, advanced energy, and industrial product sectors. By the end of the school year, FALA will examine and certify the parts to ensure they meet measurement specifications. Ulster BOCES will then submit the work to NASA.
“The young professionals attending Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center and Hudson Valley Pathways Academy programs receive unique opportunities to work on deeply meaningful projects that feed the cycle of inquiry that we promote here,” said Amy Storenski, principal of HVPA. “The work that Ethan and Jacob have put into this project will soon take on a whole new level of contribution to this world. This is what we want for all of our young professionals.”
Both Ethan and Jacob feel strongly that they would never have these opportunities in a conventional high school setting. “The fact we are doing something tangible makes it a hundred times more interesting,” said Jacob. Ethan is equally enthusiastic about the NASA project. “I am making something to be used in space and will make a difference. It intrigues me to keep working on it and to pursue it as a career,” he said.
Robotics & Advanced Manufacturing instructor Myles Harris, who has been working closely with the young professionals on the project, is impressed with their efforts. “They've definitely grown and discovered things they didn't know were possible,” he said, noting how the two have matured and become more independent through the process.
“Having our young professionals fully ‘buy’ into the cycles of inquiry and build their own capacities and visualize how they can make a full career out of what they’re learning here–while truly enjoying it–is just so rewarding,” Harris added. “It is wonderful to see the students grasp onto it all and want to pursue it.”
Jacob and Ethan both plan to pursue their passion for science and engineering in their future. Jacob, who comes from a large family of engineers, plans to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and study electrical engineering. Ethan, who said that he has had a lifelong interest in aviation and aerospace, plans to obtain his pilot’s license at Dutchess Community College and to advance further into the field from there.
HVPA, a P-TECH (Pathways in Technology) early college high school program, is a six-year course of study beginning in Grade 9 that focuses on honing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills while also offering required credits in English Language Arts and Social Studies. Students graduate from HVPA with both their high school diploma and an associate’s degree from SUNY Ulster, having gained the education and skills they need to succeed in the workforce.
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