FUN FACT: Washington has an Amtrak rewards card
been in the private sector, working for SpaceX and its Dragon reusable spacecraft. In 2017, he was named to Forbes’ 30-Under-30 list for Outstanding Young Scientists, and in 2019, he was one of 17 professionals—and the only engineer—to be selected to live, work, and study in Russia as an Alfa Fellow. Currently, Smith is working on the development of the Gateway Space Station, which will orbit the Moon. Specifically, he studies plume impingement, or the effects a docking vehicle’s exhaust gases would have on Gateway, as well as how that plume would affect attitude control, or the position of the spacecraft. The Gateway Space Station is a key component of NASA’s Artemis Program, which aims to send humans back to the Moon. Last year, NASA and several space programs in other countries signed the Artemis Accords, a set of principles to govern the exploration and use of space. “Space used to be about one country against the other, but it’s all about global cooperation now,” Smith says. “It’s cool to see that countries that are enemies in politics can work together toward a common goal in this field of aerospace. It would be nice to have something like that trickle down into other aspects of politics and life.” Smith hasn’t forgotten what got him into the space industry in the first place—talking to kids. Today, he still does outreach as “KSmooth, the Engineering Dude.” “I wear an astronaut suit, nerd out, and talk to kids about science. I try to make it more of a dialogue because I love to hear what their ideas are. It’s really an excuse to be goofy, because that’s the real me.” —KELLEY FREUND
because she loves riding cross-country trains.
Michole Washington, AM 16 Mathematics Education Doctoral Candidate | University of Michigan
WASHI N GTO N I S CO MMI T T ED to shifting the narrative of what STEM education is and who can do it. As a doctoral candidate in mathematics education at the University of Michigan, she studies aspects of informal STEM environments like extracurriculars designed for students who are underestimated because of their race or economic status. As a resident researcher intern at NASA, she researches and develops tools focused on evidence-based, effective practices aimed at sparking and sustaining underestimated K-12 girls’ interest in STEM. She is also CEO and founder of STEMulation, an educational games and media production company that promotes STEM through the lens of social justice theory and practice.
FUN FACT: Deaton’s career may have started with a second grade assignment to write a letter to the President. She described to President Clinton the negative effects of assigned seats during lunch.
Lyndsey Deaton, Arch 07 Founder and Senior Architect and Planner/Assoc. Director | International Development Collaborative/UO Urban Design Lab
CI T I ES A RE A B O U T N EG OT I AT I N G —for energy, for space, for rights. Deaton looks at how to make this negotiation more sustainable for all using the tools of an architect. Her current work involves negotiating rights for kids to play in communities that have been displaced and resettled by development. Deaton led a team working with seven dispossessed communities in Manila, the Philippines, and Hyderabad, India. They found that these communities typically lack accessible and safe spaces for kids to play. This research was recognized with the 2021 Environmental Design Research Association’s Great Places Research Award. Deaton also volunteers with SquareOne Villages, which creates self-managed communities of low-cost, tiny homes for people in need of housing. With five other architects, she developed site plans for Emerald Village—Eugene, Oregon’s first tiny-house community.
GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
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