STEM

<p>Sharing exhilarating stories from his extraordinary career, commercial astronaut and space program executive Dr. Alan Stern encourages audiences that anything is possible with dedication, perseverance, and strong leadership.</p><p>Dr.

<p>A renowned NASA astronaut named one of <em>TIME</em>’s Most Influential People and one of <em>Forbes</em>’ 50 Over 50, Peggy Whitson shares insight on leadership, building resilient teams, developing soft skills for success, and the importance of STEM education. </p><p>An inspirational leader dedicated to pushing the boundaries of human knowledge and advancing our understanding of space, Peggy Whitson has over 37 years of experience with NASA.

Dr. Dr. Dr. HC (Yes, it’s a thing), Professor of Practice Jamie Hyneman is best known as host and Executive Producer of Discovery Channel’s long running series, Mythbusters. 

Prior to Mythbusters, Jamie was a jack of all trades with jobs and skills ranging from wilderness survival and Russian linguist to sailboat captain and dive master. He is a lifetime member of both the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators, as well as the National Science Teachers Association.

<p>NASA duo shares lessons learned and best practices from the launch of the current Mars 2020 mission to help leaders and teams “Sustain Awesome.”</p>

<p>Ginger Kerrick shares her roadmap for building the teams that helped transform NASA’s culture, driving innovation and resilience.</p><p>During her 30-year tenure at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Ginger Kerrick led teams through waves of challenge and change during NASA’s most innovative decades since the Apollo missions, creating better cross-organizational collaboration and supporting NASA’s highly successful industry partnerships with SpaceX and others.

<p>Sharing stories from her extraordinary career as leader of planetary protection for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and her work on the famed 2020 Mars mission, Dr. “Moo” Cooper inspires organizations and individuals to build strong teams, overcome obstacles, and push beyond their limitations.</p><p>As the real-life “Guardian of the Galaxy,” Dr.

<p>Lual Mayen is the founder of Junub Games. He has a rich story from growing up as a refugee to becoming a game developer. </p><p>For 22 of his 24 years of life, Mayen lived in a refugee camp in northern Uganda. A few years back, Mayen saw a laptop computer at a registration station for the refugee camp. He told his mother he wanted one. She saved money for three years to get the $300 to buy it for him. He discovered Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the joy of playing at an internet cafe.

<p>Since making history at the age of 14 as the first and youngest female champion in the Skip Barber Racing Series, Julia Landauer has amassed dozens of racing series wins.

<p>Gordon is a Visiting Scholar at the USC Games and head of the USC Bridge incubator program, helping to cultivate the next generation of leaders in our craft.

<p>As the real-life high school robotics coach played by actor and comedian George Lopez in the movie Spare Parts, Fredi Lajvardi is one of the nation’s leading STEM educators and a thought leader on the power of diverse teams to fuel creativity, innovation, and resilience in any organization. </p><p>Fredi Lajvardi captivated the country when he led his team of disadvantaged Latino teens in a university-level underwater robotics competition where they defeated leading schools, including top-ranked MIT.