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Jamie Principato wants to ensure that blind students can excel in science and engineering careers. So the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ undergraduate is parlaying her own experience in designing and building space instruments to help them get the training they’ll need.

Blind from birth, Principato developed a project called BLAST, which involves hands-on workshops for visually impaired high school and college students focused on providing a solid background in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Her first workshop involved both electronics and the art of soldering. Now she’s part of the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Space Grant Consortium (COSGC), a NASA-funded initiative that gives students at Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ institutions, primarily undergraduates, a chance to design, build and fly space instruments and experiments.

Principato’s first COSGC project was in 2014, when she was the lead scientist on an experiment mounted on a high-altitude balloon to measure space radiation. “I want all students with disabilities like mine