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 Ģ������ƵStories      February 21, 2025

By Cam Adams

Ģ������Ƶ alumnus Aaron Speyer doesn’t remember much about his trip to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia when he was six years old — but he remembers that initial fascination with space.

It’s something that’s stayed with him his whole life, and just years after his time in Cullowhee, Speyer is reaching for the stars as a NASA HLS systems engineer at Stellar Solutions in Huntsville, Alabama.

As a systems engineer, the 2022 Ģ������Ƶgrad helps track the overall performance of the program, ensuring that the technical aspects of the program are consistent with contractual requirements and scheduling.

“It’s a unified approach to make sure that the work is being done, but also, the objectives of the whole mission are set, so the moment the rocket takes off, you know everyone is happy with the effort we’ve put in,” Speyer said.

Speyer holds two bachelor degrees, one in innovation leadership and entrepreneurship from Ģ������Ƶand one in applied physics from the University of North Carolina Asheville. He’s also an incoming graduate student at the University of Southern California.

Using his two degrees, Speyer brings a unique dynamic to his position.

“A lot of engineering that we do, it's a balancing act pretty much, so it takes a very technical approach combined with the ability to measure and kind of compare against performance scheduling and costs,” Speyer said.

“The business degree has helped me to be able to tie in the business aspect of what we do pretty well I would say. I gained a good amount of knowledge and experience just working with the different programs like Excel for example and working with different methods of measuring overhead costs and scheduling.”

And the Fletcher native is a unique person himself. Not only does he work closely with NASA, Speyer is also a scuba diver, a marathon runner and a student pilot.

“I've always been drawn to pursuits that push me beyond my comfort zone,” Speyer said. “For me, these hobbies provide opportunities to grow, learn and build resilience, virtues I believe are worth cultivating in every aspect of life.”

During his time at WCU, Speyer was involved in several organizations, including student government and the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

“I think that all gave me opportunities to build leadership skills and things like that, so kinda pairing that with the interests that I had, I've always been interested in space exploration,” Speyer said.

“That kinda helped me shape what my strengths were and I guess from there, figure out a path to really connect that with my passions, so right after I graduated, my plan was to always have a STEM degree in engineering or physics. I was always interested in that, too. After I finished business, I kinda wanted to immediately veer over to that, so Western was a great opportunity to build that foundation first.”