Five Questions With: Mike Cullen

Mike Cullen, the technical adviser for All Saints STEAM Academy in Middletown, talks with Providence Business News about the school’s quest to speak with an astronaut on the International Space Station next year via amateur “ham” radio, which would be a first for Rhode Island if the school is chosen, as well his involvement with the recent two-day “hackathon” held in Providence and Middletown.

PBN: You are involved in a lot – from the hackathon to your role as tech adviser with All Saints. Tell me what motivates you to be so involved.
CULLEN:
Call it an example of “pay-it-forward.” As a teenager growing up in Monterey, Calif. in the early 1970s, I was mentored by a group of Navy officers and their instructors – all into ham radio – who actively encouraged us to dabble with a range of technologies that were just beginning to take-off in nearby Silicon Valley. After graduating from [the University of California] Berkeley my first career was in the Air Force as a weapon systems officer aboard the F-111 fighter-bomber where I had to collaborate and use STEAM problem-solving skills while flying at night, totally hands-off, at 550 mph at 200 feet. I did this for five years before leaving active duty and heading to Harvard Business School where, at that time, 1986, I was one of only a handful of graduates going into the tech sector.
More recently I led a unique and much needed STEAM charter school initiative for Newport County. Unfortunately we couldn’t overcome the powerful politics protecting the status quo. Our research showed that early, hands-on, STEAM learning experiences would get many more students, from all backgrounds, interested in the kinds of 21st century careers requiring collaborative problem-solving skills. My volunteer work at All Saints allows me to put into action what our charter school founding group conceptualized on paper.

PBN: How was the hackathon – was the maker map featuring a network of Rhode Island’s “makers” created? Were you pleased with the turnout?
CULLEN:
The civic hackathon event was exceptionally rewarding and we delivered the Maker Map to the National Maker Faire in Washington, D.C. We had quite a mix of people participating at both sites: Staff from Brown University, staff from the urban non-profit Year-Up Providence, a city planner from Central Falls, local teachers, the commanding officer of Naval Undersea Warfare Center, aspiring politicians, our federal guests, network troubleshooters from Middletown High School, right down to middle school coders from All Saints. Turnout at both locations was strong; in Middletown we had 60 guests enjoying themselves well into the evening. Now we’re planning a hackathon in December for Newport, a city which needs regular reminders that our regional economy can become far more diversified.

PBN: How long have you been tech adviser at All Saints? Was it difficult to get kids interested in ham radio in this age of cell phones and iPads?
CULLEN:
Fellow tech “evangelist” Tom Kowalczyk and his wife Janice got our son Mac hooked on coding and computational thinking at age 8 using MIT’s Scratch software program. We became fast friends, and Tom worked with us to forge the initial STEAM charter founding group. Two years later, the Kowalczyks convinced the staff at All Saints to embrace the STEAM model and to introduce the Scratch program. Last year, my wife and I moved our son out of the Newport public schools and into All Saints which was very open to volunteer-led STEAM activities. I organized two very successful CyberPatriot cybersecurity teams and then proposed a ham radio licensing class to give students a much better appreciation for what’s deep inside their smartphones and to better understand society’s vulnerabilities in our hyper-connected world. While our student “hams” are middle school age, I’m still surprised at the very keen interest in digital communications coming from the second- and third-graders.

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PBN: This summer will be busy for the club as you prepare for the potential radio contact with the International Space Station. Tell me what you and the students will be doing. Can you also explain how the radio contact will work.
CULLEN:
We’ll be firming-up technical and educational outreach plans with our local partners KVH Industries, ATC Tech, FabNewport and R.I. Department of Education. In August, we’ll be submitting a detailed equipment plan for our primary and backup ground stations. Over the summer, we’ll begin installing the backup ground station’s antennas on the school’s roof and will begin to practice receiving satellite transmissions.
As soon as the space station approaches Rhode Island, one of our student hams will begin calling “NA1SS, this N1ASA, over.” We’ll have a highly, focused directional antenna pointing 5,000 watts of effective radio power at the fast-moving spacecraft. It may take up to two minutes to start the contact. Twelve specially selected students – not necessarily hams – will be lined up, and primed to deliver their thoroughly rehearsed question to the astronaut. We should be able to pose at least a dozen questions, but will have another dozen questions at the ready, to fire away as time allows.

PBN: This must be exciting for you as their adviser – as it will be a first for RI if All Saints is chosen for the radio contact. Do you think it will help students become more interested in science?
CULLEN:
Collectively Rhode Island has been inexplicably timid about publicly embracing the proposition that grade K-8 STEAM is a fundamental ingredient for building 21st century jobs so, yes, this opportunity is exciting. When students come back to school in September, our teachers will begin rolling-out their space-themed curriculum to sensitize students to the role of NASA, the many international partners – both governmental and commercial – and the long-term potential for humans in space, the moon and Mars. After all, there’s a very good chance that today’s youth will live to see men and women on Mars.

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