A classroom of Fairport High School (FHS) students had a chance to show off their engineering and coding skills and pick the brain of a NASA representative this week as they continue their work on projects for the NASA HUNCH class. 

Stacy Hale worked on both the shuttle and space station programs at NASA, and is the creator of the HUNCH project-based learning program. HUNCH invites students in classes across the country to work in teams to tackle some of the challenges that arise in the space program. FHS Physics Teacher Vincenzo Stornello is one of two HUNCH advisors, along with FHS Chemistry Teacher Donna Himmelberg. 

Hale stopped by FHS as part of a cross-country trip, and spent time with each FHS NASA HUNCH group, examining their projects and providing expert feedback. Students in this year’s HUNCH class are working on creative solutions for several challenges. One group is working on an anti-static “lunar shoe” for use inside a base, another on a “zero-g bulk transfer” system that would move supply items from a large bag to smaller containers in the zero-gravity environment of a shuttle or space station. 

In the HUNCH class, student projects go through a round of reviews by NASA engineers and scientists, then students revise and refine their prototypes or programs before another round of reviews. Teams whose projects are selected for the finalist round travel to Houston for a convention where astronauts and NASA employees interact with the projects.

Gene Gordon, a retired FHS physics teacher and one of the original HUNCH advisors at FHS, joined Hale for his visit to FHS. Class advisors Himmelberg and Stornello were also invited to sign the metal panel of a locker that will travel to the International Space Station.