REDEFINING STEM EDUCATION: INITIATING AND DEVELOPING A PRE-COLLEGE AEROSPACE TEAM

Many researchers forecast the New Space Economy to exceed one trillion dollars (USD) by 2040.To meet this need, it is vital that space-faring nations and those choosing to capitalize on this new domain embrace new strategies to enhance and further develop their STEM workforces.The answer is to educate the workforce of the future through an industry lens.Traditional educational models lead to boredom and uninspired students who can too easily lose interest in the pursuit of a long-term STEM career.Moreover, traditional STEM education churns out cookie-cutter students who may test well or have a high GPA but who have no real product to show for themselves upon graduation.As such, changing the way STEM education is defined can produce a well-trained and motivated STEM workforce of the future especially when it comes to aerospace education.A prime example of this novel educational model is the Wolfpack CubeSat Development Team (WCDT) located in South Florida, United States.Operating as part of the Aerospace and Innovation Academy, the mission of the Wolfpack is to design, build, test, and fly CubeSats as early as middle and high school.In general, the model of the Wolfpack best positions students to remain in the STEM pipeline through their college years and more must be done to reshape traditional STEM education to reflect an industry connection.Although the WCDT continues to grow, there remains insufficient aerospace resources and access for all students who may want to learn through an industry lens; however, individual members have begun creating school-based teams that collaborate with the WCDT.This paper will look more closely at The Greene School Aerospace Team, based at a private school in Palm Beach County, Florida, US, of which the authors are a part.The teammates who participate in this fledgling program undertake real-world aerospace work in the form of aerospace policy advocacy, international mentorship for a team in Japan, and CubeSat design.This paper will also explore the successes and failures that are associated with starting brand-new experiential teams.