St. Vrain students invited to NASA's final design showcase at the Johnson Space Center

Katelin VonFeldt, a junior at Niwot High School, and Kayla Evans, a senior at Erie High School, were invited to present their project at NASA's HUNCH final design showcase in April at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The showcase focused on biomedical research related to human spaceflight.

VonFeldt and Evans' project uses virtual reality and sensory-based memory triggers to address the isolation and stress astronauts experience in space.

Nationally recognized as one of the top 20 high school teams, VonFeldt and Evans began their presentation journey at the Human Research Program Investigators Conference in Galveston, Texas, this past January, marking the inaugural invitation of high school students to the event.

Their project was subsequently showcased at the Colorado State finals in Golden, Colorado, in February, leading up to their final design presentation at the Johnson Space Center in April.

As the Program Manager designing bioscience pathways at the Innovation Center, Jayme Margolin-Sneider is also VonFeldt and Evans' bioscience teacher. Margolin-Sneider, who transitioned from industry, is passionate about her work. She said, "I feel so lucky to work at the Innovation Center, helping the students prepare for their careers and exposing them to industry."

Margolin-Sneider explained that NASA HUNCH offers students a unique chance to tackle genuine astronaut health challenges that NASA hasn't yet resolved. While students receive recognition if NASA implements their solutions, the program doesn't provide monetary compensation.

NASA's HUNCH program empowers students through a project-based learning program, allowing them to cultivate essential 21st-century skills while making meaningful contributions to actual real-world NASA projects.

Margolin-Sneider said that VonFeldt and Evans' project addressed how astronauts deal with isolation deprivation. They collaborated with CU Boulder Bioastronautics, the U.S. Space Force, and NASA to develop their project and prepare for the presentation.

The team created 360-degree videos of various outdoor scenes, including "City Life After Dark," "Sunset Snowy Walk," "Lafayette Grasslands," "Sunny Day Lake Stroll," and "Forest Rain Walk." Using a GoPro MAX 360, they edited and formatted them in Adobe Premiere Pro and exported the clips to the virtual reality headset Oculus Quest 2.

Margolin-Sneider said, "The fun part of Houston in April included talking directly to astronauts and flight surgeons about real life challenges and situations in space." Additionally, the students were able to visit the pyrotechnic labs, Mission Control and the neutral buoyancy lab, which has a mock-up of the International Space Station at the bottom of the pool.

Margolin-Sneider is a former vulcanologist with a remarkable career, having traveled the world and visited all seven continents to study extreme environments. Inspired by a middle school class on earthquakes and volcanoes, she decided to major in geology in college. She explained that the Bioscience Pathway Courses at the Innovation Center are extensive. The classes are offered for grades 9 through 12, ranging from Bioscience Explorer where the students learn about life in space, Anatomical Case Studies VR using virtual reality to solve medical cases, and Neuroscience Research and Development using virtual reality to learn about the structure and function of neurons.

Since going to Houston, Evans has changed her plans for a college major at the University of Colorado next year from environmental science to planetary sciences, and VonFeldt, who will be a senior in high school next year, could potentially go to Houston again.