The next episode of High-Tech Sunday is brought to you by the BEYA STEM Conference, scheduled for February 11-13.

This year's event is all digital in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The BEYA STEM community serves K-12 students, college students, corporate, government, and military professionals, and employers with three days of learning, networking, and showcasing opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

This week's podcast will feature Winston E. Scott, a retired United States Navy captain and former NASA astronaut. He served as a mission specialist on STS-72 in 1996 and STS-87 in 1997. He logged a total of 24 days, 14 hours, and 34 minutes in space, including three spacewalks totaling 19 hours and 26 minutes. Capt. Scott was also a naval pilot and flew helicopters and navy planes.

Winston Scott entered Naval Aviation Officers Candidate School in 1973. He completed flight training and was designated a naval aviator in 1974. Scott later earned his Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering with avionics.

During his Navy career, Captain Scott served as a helicopter pilot with Helicopter Anti-Submarine Warfare Squadron Light Thirty-Three at NAS North Island, California, flying the SH-2F helicopter. He later served a tour of duty as a fighter pilot with Fighter Squadron Eighty Four at NAS Oceana, Virginia, flying the F-14 Tomcat fighter/interceptor. He subsequently served as a production test pilot and engineering director at the Naval Aviation Depot at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, as a research development test and evaluation pilot and deputy director of the Tactical Aircraft Systems Department in Warminster, Pennsylvania.

As a research development test and evaluation pilot, Scott was current in the F-14 Tomcat, the F/A-18 Hornet, and the A-7 Corsair aircraft. He accumulated more than 7,000 hours of flight time in more than 25 different military and civilian aircraft and more than 200 shipboard landings. He was selected to become a NASA astronaut in 1992. Serving as a mission specialist, he logged over 24 days in space; including 3 spacewalks totaling over 19 hours.

Captain Scott has also served as an associate instructor of electrical engineering at Florida A&M University and Florida Community College at Jacksonville. He has advised elected officials on matters related to space and aeronautics.

Currently, Capt. Scott serves as senior advisor to the president for external relations at the Florida Institute of Technology. Capt. Scott holds the rank of professor of aeronautics in the College of Aeronautics and professor of music in the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts. Captain Scott’s book Reflections from Earth Orbit was published in 2005.

Career Communications Group's one-hour podcasts are streamed every Sunday. They can be accessed through YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean, and Spotify.

The one-hour podcasts are streamed every Sunday. They can be accessed through YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean, and Spotify