Currently a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida, Nathan first started his interest in Aerospace Engineering in 2009 as an eight-year old. Fueled by his slight obsession with the Space Race of the 1960s, Nathan was determined to learn everything he could about the history of space exploration and the engineering behind it. He redecorated his bedroom to match the themes of space, painting a dark navy color on the ceiling and atmospheric gray on the walls. Small reflective beads were glued to the ceiling in constellation patterns and blackout curtains covered the windows. Nathan hung posters of Space Shuttles, the 2009 NASA calendar images, and mission patches on the walls, including a framed Saturn V puzzle he put together. In addition to the constellations, small LEGOs of the Command and Service Module, Lunar Lander, Millennium Falcon, and an X-Wing Fighter from Star Wars hung from the ceiling using fishing wire.
In high school, Nathan chose to attend a magnet school thirty minutes away from his residence that had a NAF certified, Project Lead the Way Engineering Academy. Here students were introduced to the concepts and principles across engineering with three specific subjects, Aerospace, Civil, and Digital Electronics at an Advanced Placement (AP) level. Nathan was introduced to For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition his freshman year, where he competed at the state and global level across his four years in high school. FIRST Robotics Competition is a program in which students design and build a robot that will compete in a high-energy, multifaceted field game to score points and advance in rankings. Teams must not only design and build robots, but must also hold financial responsibility and secure funding each year. Teams are encouraged to spend time in the off-season improving their community through outreach events. These may include hosting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics workshops, organizing fundraisers for charity, or even establishing humanitarian aid and education programs in other countries. One of the most important values of FIRST is Gracious Professionalism, which, in the words of the late Dr. Woody Flowers, is "a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the values of others, and respects individuals and the community" (https://www.firstinspires.org/about/vision-and-mission). Through his time participating as a student in FIRST Robotics Competition, Nathan improved his leadership, sportmanship, and teamwork skills while obtaining new ones like Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition
Nathan also enjoyed volunteering for FIRST North Carolina assembling and disassembling fields at local competitions and assembling the final field in Minute Maid Park at the Houston World Championship his senior year in high school. He assembled and disassembled so many fields that year that he knew more about the field than those who designed it and were in charge of setting up the final field. Upon entering college, Nathan continued to volunteer at on and off season events across the state of North Carolina both assembling and disassembling fields but also reseting the field after each match. Over the course of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Nathan mentored a FIRST Robotics Team local to Sylva, NC. As a mentor, Nathan could no longer design and build the robot, but instead stimulates the student's minds to aid in the brainstorming processes, and assists them when they ask for help during a challenging problem. Mentors push students to take on more challenging, but achievable, tasks to build their technical toolboxes for future challenges and to drive the capabilities of the team forward each year. It is the job of the mentors to teach students about the safety of handling manufacturing machinery like Band Saws, Drill Presses, Table Saws, etc. and spot the students when this equipment is in use.
In his freshman year of college, Nathan participated with the Pride of the Mountains Marching band to perform "Believe", the 2019 half time show. We performed the music of John Bon Jovi, John Lenon, Journey, Stevie Wonder, and tunes from "The Greatest Showman" compressed into a ten and a half minute show twice at each home football game. Toward the end of the season, we began practicing marching block drills as we were scheduled to march in the 2019 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which we accomplished on November 28th, 2019. No longer in the marching band to focus on his engineering degree, Nathan enjoys playing video games such as Destiny, Halo, and Satisfactory and baking in his free time. Nathan hopes to eventually work on robotic missions destined for deep space and lunar exploration.