This 2-day workshop is funded through a NASA grant to expand the ASCEND program to other community colleges in Arizona. The goal of the workshop is to prepare community college faculty to mentor teams of students through the ASCEND balloon project. After the workshop, the participating faculty will be able to lead an ASCEND program at their college and then bring teams of students to participate in the fall balloon launch (TBD). The workshop will be led by Dr. Tim Frank and Rick Sparber, who have mentored students at the South Mountain Community College since 2008 and currently at Glendale Community College through the ASCEND program.

Faculty participants will go through a condensed payload build process and learn what the students are expected to do and how best to guide them through the process. This will include building the payload housing; etching, drilling, and soldering circuit-boards; programming microprocessors; configuring sensors; collecting, downloading, and analyzing data. Participants will also get to take much of the equipment and supplies back to their colleges to get their teams started. These supplies will include: copper-clad circuit-boards, a small drill press with bits, a soldering iron with solder, a Basic Stamp 2pe microprocessor, an A/D converter, and various sensors.