Robert Trevino
Robert Trevino

NASA manager to speak on teaching careers

By Kris Rodriguez
Public Affairs Specialist

(April 16, 2009)--The UTSA Academy for Teacher Excellence (ATE) will host a lecture by Robert Trevino, NASA deputy project manager and UTSA visiting professor, at 9 a.m., Friday, April 17 in the John Peace Library Building Assembly Room (4.03.08) on the UTSA Main Campus. Trevino will speak on "The Importance of Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to Prepare Our Future Workforce." The talk is free and open to the public.

Following the presentation, ATE will host an information session from 9:30 a.m. to noon for transfer students and UTSA students interested in teaching careers in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) and bilingual and special education -- all areas in which there is a teacher shortage.

Trevino, who calls San Antonio his hometown, has worked on many major space projects over his 20-year NASA career including the space shuttle program, the international space station program, the Hubble space telescope program and the current constellation program. He is NASA deputy project manager for extra vehicular activity technology development. Trevino is a UTSA visiting faculty fellow in the NASA Administrator's Fellowship Program of the UTSA College of Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

His main research and development interests are in space suit design and space suit portable life support systems and designing space systems for human and robotic assembly and maintenance. In 2009, Trevino was a member of the team that received a patent and was recognized by the Johnson Space Center for their work on the method apparatus for fabric circuits and antennae.

Trevino earned an M.A. degree in public management from the University of Houston at Clear Lake, an M.S. in space studies from the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks and a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating from UT-Austin, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, served as a naval flight officer and currently is a captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Part of the UTSA College of Education and Human Development, the Academy for Teacher Excellence was established as a hub for school districts, community colleges and UTSA to collaboratively research, design, implement and evaluate educational programs that address emerging, statewide and local educational issues associated with a growing diverse student population. A major focus is the implementation of a Title V Hispanic serving institutions grant to utilize resources in the community to better prepare teachers in classrooms with a diverse student population.

For more information, contact the Academy for Teacher Excellence at (210) 458-3082.