John Crassidis, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Moog Professor of Innovation at UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, works with NASA, the U.S. Air Force and other agencies to monitor space debris, also known as space junk.  In this episode, Cory Nealon talks to Crassidis about his journey from aspiring astronaut to academia, why space junk poses a threat to the future of satellites and space missions, and how he’s applying a $5 million grant from the Air Force—with the help of institutional partners and his students at UB—to help solve the problem. 

Credits: 
Host: Cory Nealon
Guest: John Crassidis
Writer: Laura Silverman
Production and editing by UB Video Production Group

Coming Oct. 7: An act of sorcery at a school table tennis match in Nigeria led Phillips Stevens to a 50-year anthropology career that dove deep into magic and witchcraft. Next time on Driven to Discover, Stevens talks with host Tom Dinki about why belief in the supernatural persists in the modern world, and how it may ultimately be what makes us human.