DreamUp Launch Team Myco Materials

Brayden Hall describes himself as quiet and reserved, but ready to take the lead. He chose to be a part of the 2018 iLEAD DreamUp Launch Team because he’s passionate about science and technology, interested in a STEM field, and wanted to work hands-on in an actual experimental setting, especially of this caliber being done on the International Space Station (ISS).

One problem he would like to solve is with resources for construction and colonization on Mars. Recently, he was interviewed on the Santa Clarita Valley international (SCVi) Charter School radio show “Our Way or the Highway” on KHTS, where he discussed his team’s 2019 DreamUp proposal of making Mycelium (base of the mushroom) bricks: “While looking through different materials to potentially bring to Mars, it’s not even just the weight, it’s the pure space that you have, and it’s just too expensive. But if we’re able to bring a canister of thousands of spores which don’t weigh a whole lot and grow them on the way and there, you’re keeping the same amount of weight, but you’re able to expand it. And then when you build the bricks, you can harvest the spores from the mushroom bricks, bake it to kill the spores and use it in building, then you still have the same amount of spores.”

Brayden also traveled to Israel for the first time in February 2019 with his SCVi team as part of a new beta Space Science Accelerator Program in collaboration with Israel and the “Out of the Box” program, and discussed their 2019 DreamUp Mycelium proposal with Israeli students. It was Brayden’s first time traveling to Israel. He thought the culture “felt so Californian and the same. I mean, there are palm trees everywhere. It felt like a coastal city, like a coastal town, except we were across the world.”

As an 11th grade learner at SCVi, Brayden is taking a full International Baccalaureate (IB) educational program including: IB English, IB Math, IB Physics, IB History, IB Film, IB Spanish, Theory of Knowledge, and ACT Prep. He will also be traveling to Puerto Rico with other SCVi learners over spring break to help rebuild and bring supplies in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria through the Backpacks Full of Hope program, and plans to be a part of the SCVi swim team in the spring.

In 9th grade, Connor researched, wrote, and studied space science experiments as part of the iLEAD SSEP program. Although his proposal was not selected, he went to the launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to support the SCVi team and to Space Camp in Alabama. In 11th grade, he joined the 2018 iLEAD DreamUp Team in preparing an experiment in the lab, presenting it at the Mars Theatre at the Kennedy Space Center and watching it launch into outer space to go to the International Space Station (ISS).

Inspired by the 2018 DreamUp team experience, Connor and his friends researched and wrote their latest 2019 space science proposal, “Can Mycelium Be Used for Construction in Microgravity?” The team recently spoke about their 2019 proposal on the local SCVi radio program “Our Way on the Highway” on KHTS. The main problem they hope to solve is how to create shelter on the Moon or Mars. Mycelium is the base of a mushroom, which can be grown into bricks to help build this shelter.

Connor also traveled to Israel with his team during Space Week at the beginning of February 2019 to share ideas with Israel students in preparation for a new beta space program with iLEAD, called the Space Science Accelerator Program in collaboration with Israel. Connor loved meeting the students in Israel, understanding their culture, listening to their ideas about space and interacting with them.

When Connor is not involved in space science or working on his class work and mock exams in the full International Baccalaureate (IB) educational program, he describes himself as fairly goofy, plays soccer after school and is involved in a group that he helped start at SCVi called Backpacks Full of Hope. They are a group of learners who travel to Puerto Rico during spring break to help rebuild after the Hurricane.

My name is Samuel Bever, I am in 12th grade and am participating in the Mycelium experiment. I joined Dream Up because the concepts and the projects that they are doing are really cool. The things that I hope to learn with DreamUp includes how to set up and carry out an experiment. My high school path was nonlinear. For most of my k-8 learning experience, I was with iLEAD. However, when I got to high school, I moved to a different charter. After two years, I moved back to iLEAD and have been with iLEAD for my 11th and 12th-grade years. Throughout my life, I have always had an interest in science, although the specific areas of interest have shifted over the years. Currently, I love robotics and programming and have worked with various languages ranging from C to Python to Javascript. I have also worked extensively with Arduino microcontroller boards and also help to teach various STEM classes. My experiences have not just been about computers and science however. My experiences and interests also include things like acting, singing, gymnastics/parkour, martial arts, video editing/production, and dance. I have a black belt in Taekwondo and have performed in the Nutcracker ballet.