Karen Stelling
Faculty advisor
Karen Stelling is a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has been involved with engineering outreach for over 30 years, with organizations like Project Lead The Way, the American Association of University Women, and more. She graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, then Stelling went on to get her MBA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Before returning to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a professor Stelling acted as the Vice President and then Vice President Aviation & Facilities for FES. There she Initiated growth from one LEED Accredited Professional (AP) to over 250 LEED AP’s, created Sustainability Specialist role, increasing certified projects from 1 to 25+. Provided sustainability training internally and in Qatar. Was Design Project Manager for Qatar Foundation’s Convention Center Extension, a LEED Gold certified facility ($500+mm construction cost, 20+ design subcontractors, approx. one mmsf). Project won 2011 Middle East Economic Development (MEED) award for Gulf Coast Countries (GCC) in Travel & Leisure category.
Doc Chaves
Acting Board Chair
Doc Chaves brings more than 40 years of marketing and communications expertise to the project. Doc currently serves on the Lincoln Children’s Museum Board of Directors. Doc is a freelance writer focusing on translating English to English especially in the tech and financial sectors. In 2022, Doc retired as director of corporate communications for LI-COR Biosciences where he was involved for 24 years in new product introduction and marketing for technology for Environmental and Biotech research.
Mark Dreiling
Captain,USAF (retired)
Captain Mark Dreiling, United States Air Force, retired, served as a Space Operations Officer during his career in the Air Force. Prior to his retirement, Captain Dreiling was the Test Director for the Family of Advanced Beyond-Line-Of-Sight Terminals, a multi-billion-dollar satellite communications terminal program which will provide national leadership with the next generation of secure, nuclear survivable, global strategic and tactical communications. Captain Dreiling spent most of his career working in missile warning. He is a former certified Missile Warning Crew Commander, having led multinational 16-person missile warning crews consisting of U.S. Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Royal Air Force personnel. Before serving in the Armed Forces, Captain Dreiling worked for State Senator Mark Quandahl and State Senator Pam Brown in the Nebraska Legislature. Captain Dreiling was also a member of the freshman office staff for Congressman Lee Terry. Captain Dreiling is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal. He is a member of the Papillion La Vista Schools Hall of Fame and he has been honored with the Nebraska Alumni Association’s oldest recognition – the Distinguished Service Award. He is also a member of the HillVets 100 class of 2018. An Eagle Scout, Captain Dreilling spends his his free time volunteering as a mentor for both ROTC cadets and Scouts.
Sohrab Asgarpoor
UNL College of Engineering Liaison
Dr. Asgarpoor is currently a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. From 1985 to 1986, he worked as a lecturer in the
Department of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University. In 1986, he joined ABB
Network Management Technology Inc., Houston, Texas (formerly Ferranti International
Controls Corp.) as a senior engineer, where he designed and developed advanced power
system applications software for energy management systems. He joined UNL in
September 1989 and from July 2017 to January 2024 he served first as the interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in the College of Engineering and was then named Associate Dean in August 2018. His research involves engineering education, mathematical modeling, simulation, optimization, and reliability evaluation of electric power and energy systems including Distributed Generation (DG) toward the goal of improved decision-making under uncertainty.
John MccLure(1954-2021)
BRS Founder
John McClure brought the dream of a CubeSat to Nebraska with a goal to have middle- and high-school students leading the project. John passed away during the first full year of the team’s project. He helped celebrate the news that NASA accepted the BRS project to fly on a future mission. The BRS team continues to pursue his dream and honors his memory for sharing his passion for space exploration and the potential of satellite technology. John was the President and CEO of Sicuro Technology Company, that specialized in satellite and radio communications. Mr. McClure had more than twenty-five years of experience in IoT including leading the development and business team for the General Motors Onstar subsidiary, which was the original large-scale IoT commercial business. As an information technology senior manager for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) he provided leadership for $4.2 billion of products and services and as an entrepreneur created three technology startups in the software and systems integration industry providing services to the Aerospace, Commercial and General Aviation, Logistics and many other markets.
Kevin Simmons
Inter-School Coordinator
Kevin L. Simmons leads the Wolverine and Wolfpack CubeSat Development teams (WCDT) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He is Principal Investigator WeissSat-1 and CapSat-1, CubeSat missions selected by NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) in 2017 and 2019. He led the first middle school team to launch a CubeSat in 2018 and his WeissSat-1 team submitted their final report to NASA in June 2020. He teaches Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Aerospace to middle school students full-time with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. He is trained as a biochemist, and has worked in industry, military and academia. In addition to the Wolfpack, he founded BLUECUBE Aerospace, LLC which educates young students about small satellites after completing six years in the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Directorate. He is an officer in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Palm Coast section and was recently inducted into the National Space Club Florida Committee Space Worker Hall of Fame. His aerospace honors include the Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award, the National Coalition for Aviation and Space Education Crown Circle Award, and the AIAA Foundation Educator Achievement Award. He is a 2009-2011 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow and graduated from North Carolina State University with degrees in Biochemistry and Chemistry.
Robert Hinson,
USAF,Lt.Gen(retired)
Robert Hinson (Bob) served 8+ years as the founding Executive Director for the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska ( retired 31 December 2020). He joined the NSRI on 1 August 2012 after serving nine years as vice president of Government Programs and Corporate Lead Executive (CLE), Northrop Grumman Corporation. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, General Hinson served 33 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant General in September 2003. Prior to his retirement, he was vice commander Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO. Other key assignments included serving as deputy commander of US Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, NE; commander, 14th Air Force at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA; Director of Operations, Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, CO. commander, 45th Space Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, FL; commander of the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD; and chief of the Strategic Nuclear Policy Branch on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. General Hinson was a command pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours, primarily in B-52, FB-111 and B-1 bomber aircraft. He has numerous awards and decorations. He received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee and a master’s in humanities and education from Arkansas State University. He completed the Program for Senior Officials in National Security, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.