Doug Pusey recently passed away after a brave, long battle with cancer. A veteran science teacher in the Alpine School District for many years, Doug left a lasting mark on generations of students. Among them was James Porter, who counted Doug as one of his favorite teachers and the key inspiration behind his own path into education.
After Doug retired from the public school system, James brought him to the Space Center to lead the classroom portion of the field trip program. His contribution became crucial during the Space Center’s transition from the old Central School building to its new facility, where Doug helped get the state-of-the-art planetarium up and running while maintaining a full schedule of field trips.
Though Doug left the Space Center a few years ago to pursue other interests, his impact remained. I had the privilege of working with Doug before his departure, and it was immediately clear that teaching was his life’s passion—his students always came first. The Space Center community mourns his loss and pays tribute to an educational pioneer who helped further our mission of inspiring a spacefaring civilization.
Reflecting on his mentor and friend, James shared:
"All of us here at the Space Center will cherish the time we had with Doug. He was one of the big inspirations that got me into teaching, and it was an absolute pleasure to work side by side with one of my favorite teachers. The best part was the opportunity to become a close friend."
A New Robot Host at the Space Center?
Meet Olly (at least, I’m pretty sure that’s his name!). I had the pleasure of meeting him yesterday.
Olly is the brain-child of Spencer—a dedicated Space Center volunteer and Voyager Club member—and his dad, Mr. Blair, a former computer science teacher at Lone Peak High School turned software engineer. While still a work in progress, this little android already shows massive potential as a standout feature for the Space Center.
Olly’s body is entirely 3D printed, with an iPhone serving as his face. Together, the iPhone and a built-in Raspberry Pi make up the brains of this friendly robot, driving multi-directional head and arm movements. He’s been loaded with data from the Space Center's online footprint, enabling him to answer a wide variety of Space Center questions on the spot. The possibilities here are incredible.
Because Olly is an ongoing project, exciting opportunities are opening up for other Space Center volunteers. Mr. Blair plans to open the initiative to high school interns looking to gain hands-on experience for school credit. Once the prototype is fully dialed in, additional units could be built and deployed throughout the facility—from the lobby to the planetarium and Starbase.
Watch out, Disney—the Space Center is building interactive robots of its very own!
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