Arizona Middle School Science Bowl Speakers

"Where the world ceases to be the scene of our personal hopes and wishes, where we face it as free beings admiring, asking and observing, there we enter the realm of Art and Science"

─Albert Einstein

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2009 Science Bowl Speaker

Kevin Margeson, Manufacturing Program Manager for Honeywell Aerospace on NASA's Project Orion

Kevin Margeson is currently working on design to production issues for spacecraft avionics, displays, and navigation. Kevin has been active in manufacturing solutions that enable complex engineering development for 20 years. He has led a wide range of projects, including construction of power systems for the International Space Station, manufacturing and marketing satellite control systems and components, and in implementing Lean Manufacturing, Manufacturing Execution Systems, and Product Data Management Systems. Kevin's career includes positions with Anheuser-Busch, Allied-Signal, Honeywell, Motorola, and EDS. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University in 1989 and an MBA from Arizona State University in 1996.

 NASA Project:

The Constellation Program is NASA's initiative to continue the human presence of the United States in space. Constellation will allow human beings to travel to the Moon and on to Mars. It includes a constellation of new space vehicles starting with a new crew exploration vehicle, Orion, to carry crew and cargo to the International Space Station and to the Moon. It also includes the Ares I rocket to carry Orion to low earth orbit (ISS) and the Ares V heavy lift rocket. This rocket will provide humans with access to the Moon by enabling us to launch the Earth Departure Stage, consisting of a lunar lander, lunar surface exploration vehicles, and habitat modules. Future elements of the program will include equipment to put human beings on Mars by the year 2040.

2008 Science Bowl Speaker

Matt Kim, Founder and President of QuantTera and the Arizona Nanotechnology Cluster Chair

Dr. Matt Kim is the Founder and President of QuantTera.  QuantTera’s vision is to advance the capacity and economic scale of the fiber-optic networks and satellite-to-satellite communications to transform global telecommunications. QuantTera specializes in a new class of LASER devices for photonic integrated circuit applications, which combine the advantages of nano-engineered materials and the integration of the materials into standard electronic circuit platforms.  Dr. Kim has a background in the microelectronics industry and has developed innovative LASERs, detectors and amplifiers, which form the enabling components for telecommunications.  He is also Chair of the Arizona Nanotechnology Cluster, which is a fully non-profit 501c3, for nanotechnology education of the general public.  In 2000, Dr. Kim co-founded MicroLink Devices, Inc., a leading manufacturer of high performance transistors for cellular communications in Niles, IL.  At MicroLink he was Vice President of Operations and supervised the transistor manufacturing program.  From 1994 to 2000, Dr. Kim served as Principal staff scientist at Motorola’s corporate research laboratory, for prototyping high speed transistors, microwave devices and optical devices.  From 1989 to 1994, Dr. Kim was a senior scientist at Bandgap Technology Corporation where he was in charge of the characterization of transistors and LASERs for telecommunication applications.  Dr. Kim received a Ph.D. in Physics from the Univ. of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and B.S. in Engineering Physics from Cornell University. 

2007 Science Bowl Speaker

Chevy Humphrey, President and CEO of the Arizona Science Center

Chevy Humphrey leads the largest science center in the state of Arizona. The Arizona Science Center’s mission is to inspire, educate, and entertain people about science. Before joining the science center, Ms. Humphrey served as the director of development for The Phoenix Symphony and held similar positions at the University of Houston, the University of Texas at Austin Performing Arts Center and The Houston Symphony. She is a member of many professional associations, including the Large Format Cinema Association Board of Directors, Association of Science and Technology Centers, and Association of American Museums. Her insight in the science field has proven valuable on many projects including the Don Harrington Discovery Center. She is the first African-American woman to become CEO of a science and technology center in the country.