Since 1989, the Washington Space Grant Consortium has been providing students with hands-on education and research opportunities to succeed in the workforce. Their mission is to support Washington State students in STEM and thereby “strengthen the future workforce for NASA and our nation.” Through their list of affiliates, which include many Washington State community colleges and universities, the WSGC has been able to aid many students in pursuing careers in STEM.
One group of students who have experienced the positive impact of the WSGC is Bellevue College’s own Rocketry and Aerospace Club. The club, led by Mykolas Kovarskas and advised by Dr. Trevor Gamble, builds and launches model rockets in addition to collaborating with the Washington Aerospace Club. Many of the BC Rocketry and Aerospace Club’s efforts have been funded by the WSGC, such as materials for building rockets and scholarships for club members.
Political turmoil at the federal level has placed the WSGC in limbo about receiving federal funding for their initiatives. Recently, the Summer Undergraduate Research Program organized by WSGC had to be cancelled due to funding processing delays on grants nationwide.
On Monday, three students from the BC Rocketry and Aerospace Club sat down to have a conversation with Rep. Adam Smith of the 9th District to discuss the impact that WSGC and the NASA Space grant have had on them. They shared their experiences with how the space grant gave them resources, hands on experience and funding to pursue their educational goals. Kovarskas shared that when he had enrolled at BC he was unsure about a career in STEM, but the Rocketry Club and the space grant helped him find his passion and earn a NASA scholarship. Sam, who will be studying CS and engineering at the UW, didn’t have a lot of resources for STEM in her home state, Texas, and said that the Rocketry Club helped her find interest in STEM. Nathan, who is also transferring to the UW, has been interested in the space industry since a young age and draws inspiration from his father, an aircraft mechanic, and his grandfather, who used to clean planes.
There was concern about how the new administration’s decisions would impact funding for NASA, since the space exploration program has been largely dormant since the moon missions. Rep. Smith explained “it’s been a fight but it’s coming along” in regards to securing funding for NASA. There is also the issue of the U.S.’s massive debt and the fact that President Trump is “not running the federal government well,” per Rep. Smith. Hope lies in the popularity of space missions amongst private companies like SpaceX and important Earthly applications like pharmaceuticals, which can be developed better in space.
Sarah, another BC student, was curious about Rep. Smith’s plans to protect UW and BC from the Trump administration’s recent actions against international students. While BC has been proactive in resisting the Trump administration’s directives by issuing clear guidelines for students and faculty and launching an immigration enforcement protocol, organized action at a federal level is necessary to keep higher education safe. Rep. Smith states, “The elected democrats are very united” and that an important part of resisting Trump is asking the question, “How do we address the concerns of those who voted for Trump?”
