Nathan Brooks
Nathan Brooks, an engineer at Boeing, invents ways to improve antennas and other technologies for communications, signal jamming, and the detection of airplanes, rockets, and missiles in flight. Born in Louisiana, Nathan played sports throughout school and then became interested in math and science during high school in Missouri City, Texas. He attended Florida A&M, a historically black college/university (HBCU), and began raising a family of three sons with his wife Angela, who also majored in electrical engineering. Encouraged by the President of Florida A&M, he pursued graduate study and earned a PhD with research into electromagnetic systems necessary for hypersonic flight (5 times the speed of sound). Nathan continues to work on geolocation technologies, and has won numerous awards, including being named Boeing Defense Space and Security Engineer of the Year. He is Boeing’s first African American Senior Technical Fellow.
Real World Application
- Satellites relay information using radio waves, which, like all electromagnetic radiation, travel at the speed of light: 186,000 miles per second. By knowing how long a signal takes to reach the GPS receiver in your phone, you can figure out how far away the satellite is. If a signal takes 0.06 seconds to reach the receiver, how far away is the satellite
- Knowing the distance to a single satellite isn’t enough to define your position, since you could be anywhere on a sphere with a radius of that distance. Trilateration requires a minimum of three satellite signals to define an exact position on Earth’s surface. Why are three signals needed? Why not just two?
Group Discussion / Activity
- What would you like to ask Nathan that wasn’t covered in the video
- Nathan said that he was into sports when he was young. He also said that math and physics were his favorite classes in high school. Identify two things you are passionate about that seem very different from each other to most people. Can you think of some ways that those areas of interest overlap? How could your interest in one area (for example, sports) also help you in another (for example, math)?
- Visit this site to learn more about how GPS works: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/gps/en/. After learning more about GPS, work together as a group to create a skit, presentation, or demonstration that teaches your classmates about GPS. Use sports, art, cooking, or some other activity—but not travel—as your example for the demonstration.
Video Project
- Create a video short: using the interview with Nathan and other images you find online about hypersonics or trilateration, make a 1-minute video that would excite other students about science and technology. Decide whether it is for kids your age or for younger students.
Invention Challenge
Invent something that uses someone’s location to solve a problem.
- Explore It: Knowing where you are or being able to track a ship, car, or airplane has made possible many advances in scientific exploration. Whether using the stars to navigate a ship across an ocean, tracking your hike or bike ride on your phone, or using a rideshare app, triangulation and navigation are the basis for innovations in trade, business, and other areas.
- Sketch It: Design a system to track the location of your school backpack or favorite hoodie. Will your invention use GPS? Or will it use some other method of determining location? Who will use your invention? Is it for one group of people, or could different groups use it in different ways? You and just some of your friends, or people you’ve never met?
- Create It: Make a prototype version of your idea using paper, cardboard, tape, and other materials from your house or classroom.