José Hernandez, a former migrant farmworker was selected by NASA as a member of their 19^th class of astronauts in 2004. After completing his training he was selected for a mission in 2007 and flew as the flight engineer in the 2009 14-day STS-128 mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. In addition to his flight engineer duties José was also one of two principal robotic arm operators and the first to tweet in English and Spanish from space. Before being selected as an astronaut, José worked at NASA as the Branch Chief of the Materials and Processes Branch at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. There he oversaw the branch’s activities in the areas of materials and processes, fracture control, nondestructive evaluation, failure analysis, and Nano materials research. His branch was also instrumental in participating in the investigation to help find the root cause of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident and reporting those results to the President’s Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

Prior to this, José spent more than 15 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) where he worked on the development of a space deployed X-Ray laser as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative. He then went on to co-develop the first full-field digital mammography system for the earlier detection of breast cancer thus opening a new area of research called computer-aided diagnosis and was recognized by both the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for this important contribution. He was also the Deputy Program Manager of the Highly Enriched Uranium Implementation program where his team was in charge of implementing a signed bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Russian Federation for the U.S. purchase of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in the form of low enriched uranium (LEU) derived from the dismantlement of Russian nuclear weapons. Finally José was invited to Department of Energy Headquarters in Washington DC to serve as the Laboratory’s Program Manager in the Office of International Material Protection and Cooperation. Here he managed, integrated and allocated Department of Energy assets and expertise, including the national laboratories and contractors, in planning, directing, and implementing U.S. cooperation with the Russian Federation in the program of Nuclear Materials, Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A).  Jose developed and implemented policies, strategies and plans to enhance U.S. national security and reduce threat of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism.   These goals were accomplished by rapidly improving the security of large quantities of attractive, weapons-usable nuclear material in Russia’s nuclear weapons complex.

After Jose’s 2009 Space Mission José was assigned to work at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. where he served as a Legislative Analyst and helped in the development of space policy, NASA’s annual budget package and served as liaison with key Congressional members. Additional duties included the development of an effective strategy that promoted the President’s new vision on Space Exploration.

José is a former candidate for U.S. Congress, author of several books including his autobiography “Reaching for the Stars” and the children’s version “The Boy Who Touched the Stars”.

Today, José works as a consultant within the company he founded in 2012, Tierra Luna Engineering. Here, he provides his expertise in business development and strategic operations to help clients develop optimum growth solutions through an integrated approach. He focuses these efforts on companies involved in aerospace technologies and renewable energies.

He has also been the recipient of numerous awards including NASA Service Awards (2002, 2003), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory “Outstanding Engineer Award” (2001), Upward Bound National TRIO Achiever Award (2001), U.S. Department of Energy “Outstanding Performance Commendation” (2000), Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) “Medalla de Oro” recipient for professional and community contributions (1999), Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award, “Outstanding Technical Contribution” (1995).  Finally, José has been awarded 7 honorary doctorate degrees including his alma mater, University of the Pacific.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, 1985

University of the Pacific, Stockton, California

Master of Science, Electrical Engineering, 1987

University of California, Santa Barbara, California

Ph.D. Science and Engineering

University of the Pacific, Honoris Causa, 2006

National Hispanic University, Honoris Causa, 2010

Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Puebla, Honoris Causa, 2012

Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Mexico, Honoris Causa, 2013

University of Laverne, Honoris Causa, 2014

Marymount University, Honoris Causa, 2015

Universidad Michoacan de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Honoris Causa, 2016

Fausto Guillen-Valdovinos is a Process Engineer at the Boeing Company Commercial Airplanes Division, where he is responsible for Developing and Integrating Business and Enterprise Architecture for the Boeing Second Century Enterprise Systems for future Production Systems.

Previous position was in the Boeing Information Systems Manufacturing Quality Systems, where he performed various manufacturing software lifecycle management assignments, from manufacturing software development testing, integrated testing, production deployment, production support, and software retirement.

United States Veteran, served 4 Years in active duty service, as a Naval Ships Propulsion Systems Engineer,

Hold a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineer, and a Minor’s in Mathematics from Washington State University.

Hobbies include staying active, play soccer (Associated Football), run, swim, and hike. Also like to work on cars and around the house.

Takes every chance to learn something new, no matter the challenges,

Likes to mentor and be a role model for newer generations, to inspire them and give them confidence that with dedication anything is possible. Favorite saying “ if someone has done it, I can too; if I try harder I can go farther”.

Barbara Venegas-Donato is a Senior Software Engineer at 3M’s Health Information Systems Division, where Barbara leads and develop cloud solutions focusing on Business Intelligence Analytics.
Prior to joining 3M, Barbara worked for over 10 years designing, developing, enhancing, and aligning highly transactional front-end and back-end systems for government entities; including the Department of Defense and Department of Commerce.
Barbara is passionate about empowering women and minorities to pursue careers in technology through mentoring. She is a volunteer for The Hour of Code, member of the Women Who Code DC chapter and member of 3M’s Diversity and Inclusion committee.
Barbara holds a B.S in Information Technology Management from the University of Puerto Rico. She currently lives in DC with her husband James and their three pets and soon will be welcoming their first child.

Teresa Ramírez, Ph.D., is a scientific influencer, mentor, and community role model that inspires many to obtain their dreams and goals regardless of any challenges. She has no limits and mentors many students from coast to coast. She actively participates in the Latinx community as an advocate for Latinx in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). She works to empower future Latina leaders through her service work with the Mujeres de HACE (Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement) DC/McLean Alumnae Board as Chair and as part of the board of Latinas Leading Tomorrow (LLT). She works alongside board members to develop and execute professional development events tailored to Latinas professional and young Latina students in the DC/MD/VA area. Dr. Ramírez is currently the program manager at the Office of Sponsored Programs, Diversity and Grants Administration at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), in addition to also working in the Office of Public Affairs at FASEB. Dr. Ramírez is a first-generation Mexican-American that earned her B.S. degree in General Biology from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2004. In 2004-2006, she participated in a postbaccalaureate program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Frederick, MD. Dr. Ramírez earned a doctoral degree in Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology from Brown University and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2014-2016. She then transitioned to becoming the 2016-2017 American Society of Human Genetics/National Human Genome Research Institute (ASHG/NHGRI) Genetics and Education Fellow. During her tenure as a Genetics and Education Fellow, Dr. Ramírez started a partnership between the NIH and Wheaton High School (Bioscience Academy) in Silver Spring, Maryland to help encourage and guide first-generation students to participate in NIH summer paid internships. Dr. Ramírez, imparts knowledge and expertise based on research and professional experience in student speaking engagements at different STEM events around the DC area and across the nation such as with the Society for the Advancement of Hispanic/Chicano and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) as well as in her hometown of Compton, California. She has been a member of SACNAS for the past 18 years. In 2012, she established and was the first president of the Brown University SACNAS Chapter, which received the 2013 Role Model Award for Outstanding New Chapter at the SACNAS National Conference in San Antonio, Texas. In 2017, Dr. Ramírez served as the NIH SACNAS Chapter President. She is passionate about sharing her love for science and firmly believes in the importance of mentorship and how it can create a positive impact in the lives of others as it did on hers