As an incident response analyst, DB’s Joshua Glemza is part of a team that is responsible for keeping NASA Glenn Research Center’s information technology secure. This is a pretty important job for a world-class research, technology, and development facility that employs more than 3,400 talented scientists, engineers, technicians, and administrative and support personnel who are dedicated to developing innovative technologies for aeronautics and space flight.
However, when Glemza’s former mentor told him about Glenn Research Center’s Exploring Project and the Computer Technology Explorer Post that the facility hosts, he knew he wanted to take on another pretty important job ― that of an Explorer Advisor.
This past April, Glemza completed a six-month stint as the Explorer Advisor for the Computer Technology Explorer Post 631. Each week, he met with young men and women ages 14 to 20 to teach them about computer technology through hands-on activities. Students gained experience in animation, robotics, graphics, game programming, Web development, Arduino programming, signal processing, data acquisition, and image processing, as well as programming, computer architecture, and basic circuitry. The students also tour various labs at Glenn Research Center and in the Greater Cleveland area.
Explorer Advisor Joshua Glemza leads the Explorer Post Computer Technology as part of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Exploring Project.
Glemza discovered that by sharing his expertise and experience with students, he too learned a great deal.
“The Exploring Program has allowed me to grow personally and professionally while helping students determine their own interests in the computing field,” he said.
About the Exploring Project
Glenn Research Center’s Educational Programs Office, in collaboration with the Boy Scouts of America, has been part of the Exploring Project and has hosted an Explorer Post since the 1970s. The project was established to expose students to research and technology activities specific to Glenn Research Center and promote interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Exploring Advisors, who are Glenn Research Center staff volunteers, lead Explorer posts and meet with students once a week from October to April to explore various aspects of STEM, NASA, and Glenn Research Center.
In addition to the Computer Technology Explorer Post, the Glenn Research Center’s Exploring Project hosts four other Explorer posts, including:
This past session, 89 students from 40 Ohio high schools participated in the Exploring Project. Glemza was recently recognized by Center Education Director Dovie Lacy and is looking forward to his next class of students.
