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 on Nov. 5: Forensic dentist Mary Bush is a leading expert on bitemark evidence. She speaks to host Laurie Kaiser about her efforts to eradicate this faulty science from the U.S. court system, explains why victim identification is important work, and shares how she ended up on Netflix’s “Unsolved Mysteries.”