Extreme STEM | Issue 2023

Research and Development Program Ignites Educational Innovation
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A few square meters of office space in Valley Christian’s Skyway gym building has become one of the most expansive high school programs in the country.

Here lives VCS’ Research & Development program, whose focus is on innovative educational opportunities that span, quite literally, from heaven to earth (and beyond).

“I’m not sure there is any other job in the world where you’re working in both space and the ocean,” says Stephen Huber, VCS R&D Director.

“We’re blessed to be able to offer students exposure to what we call ‘extreme STEM.’ When most people hear that phrase, they think of 3D printers.

When we say that at Valley Christian, we’re talking about space experiments that are orbiting our planet as we speak, and about active ocean research, and about innovations in robotics.”

Let’s start in space, no longer just a dreamy metaphor for starry-eyed youth. The VCS R&D program has developed both kit-based and web-based space education experiments for students in grades K-12; one of their two flight units currently in orbit has made its trip around Earth over 22,000 times in the four years it’s been circling our planet.

“We’re able to give students access to environments that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise,” says Vanessa Martinez, R&D Director of Operations.

The other environment Martinez refers to is the ocean, where R&D’s continued partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has yielded opportunities for Valley Christian students to deploy an educational marine activity platform 900 meters deep in Monterey Bay. The platform includes a camera, a hydrophone for detecting and recording sound, and a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) that can be controlled in real-time from anywhere in the world.

R&D continues to develop new technologies and new opportunities for students to quickly and inexpensively deploy custom experiments to the ocean floor. Program leaders realize that their offerings provide students with singular contexts to align their intellectual pursuits with their particular passions.

“Today’s students are very environmentally conscious and focused on sustainability,” explains Danny Kim, VP/Director of Applied Math, Science, and Engineering (AMSE). “They are very interested in solving problems on a global scale, and they want to be a part of the solution for a healthier Earth.”

Meanwhile, R&D’s work in the world of robotics has produced the RoboQuest program, which allows students to build custom robots capable of being tele-operated from anywhere in the world. RoboQuest provides a foundational kit that includes all the parts necessary to build a functional robot but allows students almost full customization thereafter. R&D expects to produce over 300 RoboQuest kits in 2023. Moreover, the program’s growth means an expanded population of students engaging in creative opportunities within the field.

“I am most excited about having so many more girls in our robotics program,” Martinez says. “I love that among all else that R&D is working on, we are structuring the program to appeal to a wider student audience.”

Huber and Martinez – both of whom were recruited to VCS from other industries by Kim – are excited about the R&D opportunities that lie ahead: advancements in space technology, new models of oceanic experimentation, expanded avenues of robotic functionality, and certainly, the further incorporation of artificial intelligence and autonomous programming. Coupled with VCS overarching vision for service and stewardship, R&D programs offer neverbefore-seen chances for students to explore Christ-honoring solutions to global problems.

“It’s amazing to be able to do this kind of innovative work alongside other Christians who share the same worldview,” says Huber, who, prior to coming to VCS, had worked on engineering clean water solutions for impoverished people around the globe. “We’re doing things that nobody has ever done before.”

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