Blinn student takes giant leap toward NASA career

Matthew Lawrence selected for prestigious NASA programs exploring space missions and workforce development

May 23, 2025

Blinn College District student Matthew Lawrence is one step closer to making his dream of working at NASA a reality.

Lawrence was one of just 600 community college students selected from more than 10,000 applicants to participate in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program. Now, he is continuing his journey through NASA’s L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy (MCA), a summer workforce training program for undergraduate and graduate students.

“I’m very interested in seeing the different ways that you can contribute to NASA with physics,” Lawrence said. “Physics plays an important interdisciplinary role in space science, from biophysics, to astrophysics, or even advancing quantum computers to help make scientific discoveries in space.”

The NCAS program is divided into two missions that build on one another, offering students the opportunity to collaborate with peers across the country and engage with NASA engineers and scientists.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for any student and the fact that NASA offers this kind of experience and training at the junior college level is really unique,” said Max Hibbs, Blinn’s Dean of Engineering, Computer Technology, and Innovation. “Mr. Lawrence was extremely proactive in following his passion and I hope other Blinn students are encouraged to look for similar ways to jumpstart their careers.”

During Mission 1, Lawrence completed a five-week NASA orientation followed by interactive simulations. In Mission 2, he worked with 11 other students to simulate a mission to Mars and specifically focus on radiation research. Each team member focused on different factors needed to conduct a successful mission like rocket power, budget, and payload.

“It was really cool to see people taking their background from real life and applying it to these simulated roles,” said Lawrence. “I really enjoyed the collaboration, which is a really big thing at NASA. They want you to look at a problem from different focuses and work together to tackle that problem.”

At Blinn, Lawrence has explored his passion for computer science and physics while gaining hands-on experience as a student cybersecurity analyst for The Texas A&M University System. He credits Blinn’s dedicated faculty and close-knit community with preparing for success.

“Everyone here is so helpful,” he said. “My professors encourage questions and really want to make sure we get an education. That’s very valuable.”

Lawrence plans to transfer to Texas A&M University to complete a bachelor’s degree in physics and eventually earn a doctorate. His long-term goals are to work at a national laboratory or NASA. With his experience in the NCAS program, he already has made valuable connections that led to his participation in the L’SPACE Program’s MCA.

“They really educated us about the opportunities at NASA, from engineering to non-STEM related fields. There’s a career for everybody at NASA,” Lawrence said. “I am really excited to continue learning and making connections through the Mission Concept Academy this summer.”

The L’SPACE Program’s MCA instructs participants on the protocols and procedures that NASA uses in exploration as well as the basics of a space mission’s development. Students work in teams to develop a mission concept to a designated destination in the solar system.

For more information about Blinn’s Physics Program, visit www.blinn.edu/physics.