PHOTO: From left UHCL Provost Steven Berberich, UHCL President Ira K. Blake, JSC Director Mark Geyer, Deputy Center Director Vanessa Wyche, Exploration and Integration Science Director John McCollough, Director, University Collaboration and Partnership Office Kamlesh Lulla. Photo courtesy of UHCL Marketing and Communications. — President Blake signs new agreement with NASA JSC for partnership. From left: UHCL Provost Steven Berberich, UHCL President Ira K. Blake, JSC DIrector Mark Geyer, Deputy Center Director Vanessa Wyche, Exploration and Integration Science Director John McCollough, Director, University Collaboration and Partnership Office Kamlesh Lulla. Photo courtesy of UHCL Marketing and Communications.

UHCL signs new partnership with NASA Johnson Space Center

By Kaitlyn Kirby On Oct 28, 2019 457 0

In 1974, the University of Houston-Clear Lake UHCL was founded with the purpose of acting as a resource for NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) employees who were attending college to further their education. The major factor was that NASA JSC employees who were furthering their education were left with limited options, such as a 30-mile commute to and from work to school and back to work. Back in 1964, this challenge was recognized and promoted the idea of having a higher-level education campus closer to JSC.

This request was made by then NASA JSC Director Robert Gilruth to former University of Houston President Philip Hoffman in 1964, exactly 10 years before UHCL was officially founded, in hopes of breaking ground on the first-ever higher-level, 2-year university in the Greater Houston area, with the purpose of establishing a stable institution that favored curriculum for JSC staff, engineers and scientists. One of the other purposes was so that NASA employees could take time out of their workday to attend class and then come back to work for the rest of the day.

In years past, there was not a formal written agreement between NASA and all four colleges at UHCL. The work between UHCL and NASA JSC was solely based on single contracts for research and a comprehensive partnership. These contracts would only expand between individual colleges participating in certain activities or research. The new contract agreement acts as a more formalized way of having an open agreement for open exchanges between UHCL and NASA.

The new contract agreement continues the promise that NASA JSC and UHCL will work together to collaboratively collect and dissect research that is shared between the two organizations. UHCL agreed to keep NASA JSC in the forefront when implementing educational initiatives and technology developments. The goals of both organizations will be reflected in the degree plans for undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as research programs that focus on STEM.

Another example of collaboration between UHCL and NASA JSC can be found in the University’s library. The close proximity of UHCL to JSC created the opportunity for UHCL to house NASA JSC archives.

“We send things electronically all over the planet, as far as Germany, Canada, India, England and Australia,” said Tamatha Brumley, who is currently the longest staffed member in the UHCL Newmann Library archives department. “Lately we have sent the most information to Australia because they have some of the best writers for space history.”

Brumley said she is “extremely glad UHCL signed the contract.”

“It is great for the community; without this agreement, it would be very difficult for the community to access these historical archives,” Brumley said.

Kenneth “Ken” Young, who is now a retired engineer, worked with NASA for 48 years. Young comes to UHCL to contribute to the collection of the archives and spoke on the importance of engineers learning from past mistakes.

“If only they would come over to the archive and look over the Apollo Mission reports because we screwed up, not a lot; we landed six successful missions, but we failed too,” Young said. “These young current engineers could learn from these documents instead of making the same dumb mistakes.”

The union of UHCL and NASA Johnson Space Center has continuously bridged the gap between NASA and STEM majors for decades now. UHCL features over 90 different degree plans that can translate into a career at NASA.

Evelyn Miralles, associate vice president for strategic information initiatives & technology and UHCL alumna, focuses on the engagement of educational programs and interaction between external partners. Miralles previously worked NASA JSC as a technology strategist and hopes the continued partnership between UHCL and NASA JSC will inspire students to think big.

“Many students are always excited to work with NASA and towards space exploration,” Miralles said. “My hope is that this partnership will help inspire kids and students to think big and accomplish a lot of things because sometimes that’s what we lack; to think of a bigger purpose and connection to something bigger than ourselves.”