Things got technical again at the Grand Stafford Theater for this months’ Software Developer’s Cartel Meet-up. First, we heard from Matt Leonard and Joe Morgan of T STAR and Texas A&M University (TAMU) respectively on their collaborations at the intersection of the space and education industries. Afterwards we heard from Patrick Smith, the founder of Job Loop.

 

Tackling tough questions like how particles interact with each in microgravity and how can you anchor up to an asteroid, Matt Leonard of T STAR and Joe Morgan of the Texas A&M Universities ESET program, discussed how their experiments can help us improve our understanding of loosely associated surfaces and how these experiments give undergraduate students real-world experience. T STARS’ successful STRATA-1 mission produced 75GB of imagery and accelerometer data after a year on-orbit and is pending publication with the National Academy of Science. The Hermes mission utilizes a capstone team of Aggie undergrad ESET engineering students who, guided by T STARS and their experience with NASA, were able to design a series of experiments using the CubeSat form factor. Hermes, a microgravity experimental facility, will arrive on the International Space Station in October of 2018 for it’s 5 year journey. Hermes will be able to facilitate science experiments as well as simple payloads that fit Hermes’ design and operations constraints.

 

Closing out the evening, we heard from Patrick Smith, the creator of Job Loop. Job Loop, a “Tinder..for jobs” app, was the culmination of a realization Mr. Smith had while comparing European job search apps with job search apps available within the US marketplace. Noticing a gap in the market, he got work. Mr. Smith, who has a background in accounting, pulled from his knowledge of development teams that he gained while working with IBM’s Watson program to construct the app. By this time the mainstream competition had caught onto the “Tinder for jobs” idea. In order to differentiate himself from the competition, Job Loop pivoted to part time jobs aimed at college students. Requiring a “.edu” email address to register, Job Loop is expanding outwards from TAMU to  other universities beginning with Texas Tech University.

 

Join us again next month for another round of specialty cocktails and intelligent conversation at the Grand Stafford Theater.