2021 Fall Student Symposium Keynote Speaker

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Avery Brock, B.S.E.E

REACHING ORBIT: My Undergraduate Path to NASA

Bio: A relatively recent addition to NASA, Avery arrived at Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley shortly after graduating from the University of Idaho with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2019. During his time at the University of Idaho, Avery participated in numerous student research projects and internships, including a NASA Undergraduate Student Instrument Project (USIP) supported by the Idaho Space Grant Consortium (ISGC), where he and his team worked to develop prototypes of several technologies including a high-resolution multispectral imaging system for resource prospecting, a high-altitude microbiological sampler unit for jet stream research, and a local positioning and asset tracking network system for remote research outposts. As part of the University of Idaho’s engineering program, he also completed an ISGC supported Capstone project where he and his team worked to develop a commercial satellite phone modem for CubeSat use, along with developing the design of a Tube-Deployed Reentry Vehicle.

Since coming to NASA Ames as a contractor, Avery has been involved with several technology demonstration class small-satellite projects, helping to deliver a current total of five CubeSats to low-Earth orbit in addition to leading several associated student research projects at partner universities. Eventually joining the PACE/ADP group during its infancy in 2020, Avery’s daily job is now to design, fabricate, test, and evolve novel spacecraft electrical systems in their entirety, developing everything from battery packs and solar power systems to processors and radios, with the eventual goal of developing nuclear CubeSat systems and radiation-hardened electronics to enable deep-space CubeSats. As a whole, the PACE/ADP group works to further two goals of NASA: First, to provide a low-resistance path to orbit for commercial and research payloads, and secondly, to enable this by developing a highly capable and rapidly configurable spacecraft bus able to support any payload at a rapid launch cadence, while simultaneously conducting technology demonstration experiments to further enhance the capabilities of all NASA small spacecraft.