Following last year's highly successful fully remote summer engineering program, this year's 2021 Summer Engineering Academy brought students and teachers together for in person learning. Again, the students were engaged and are excited to share highlights of their work.

This year's Engineering Academy focused on space flight, exploration, and the International Space Station. Students delved into the study of science, technology, engineering and math with enthusiasm. They researched space flight and exploration over time, both in the U.S. and in other countries. They also studied the design and purposes of the International Space Station. They learned that the ISS is a place for global collaboration. They designed their own projects using Minecraft Education and answered the driving question: "How can space exploration help us to solve some of the problems on Earth?"

The students also had the opportunity to speak with former NASA Astronaut Dr. Robert Satcher about his experiences and his research studies. Dr. Satcher, who holds both a Ph.D. and a medical degree, “zoomed” into the student’s classrooms on July 27 offering first-person insights into space exploration and problem solving and also answering questions that the students posed to him. The discussion with Dr. Satcher is featured in this section. 

Students accepted the challenge of developing their own space stations using Minecraft for Education, and conducted their own research on how space exploration can solve problems on Earth. We think you will enjoy watching the presentations as much as they did creating them!