Starlab ExpertLink is a program of The Ohio State University George Washington Carver Science Park that links space experts to K-12 classrooms who are working on a Starlab-related design challenge. Experts serve on panels that remotely link to classrooms several times over the 2-3 month challenge. For students, these sessions help them understand the space station/low-Earth orbit context of the design challenge and are a venue to get questions answered and feedback on design ideas while providing exposure to STEM careers.
Starlab ExpertLink
Starlab Expertlink
Get Involved with Starlab ExpertLink
During 2024-25, Starlab ExpertLink is in the second year of active collaboration with the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN). Every autumn, OSLN poses a statewide design challenge open to any/all schools in the state of Ohio. Schools can register to participate in the challenge. Once registered, the school lead will receive an email invitation to participate in Starlab ExpertLink and have a custom panel of space experts connect with their classroom(s).
Experts are space professionals in industry, government or academia with experience relevant to the design challenge and a willingness to serve in a STEM outreach capacity. For Experts, the time investment is modest - approximately 4-5 hours over the 2-3 month duration of the design challenge - with no prep and sessions accessed entirely from one's computer!
Registration is quick and involves an indication of grade range preference and the area(s) of subject matter expertise. Experts also upload a selfie-style video of themselves talking about what they do in their jobs. School leads see this video when they consider preferences for their expert panelists.
Key Dates
- January 13, 2025 - Deadline for schools to upload design challenge entries for judging
- March 4, 2025 - Design Showcase and Awards Event at Battelle - Columbus, Ohio
2023-2024 Starlab ExpertLink Results
During 2023-24, 118 schools across Ohio registered and over 47,000 students participated in the OSLN design challenge. Starlab Expertlink panels were formed for 22 of those schools and over 50 remote sessions were conducted. Anonymous surveys of Experts and School Leads were conducted to learn from this program.