Zero-G Essays
Why would this Zero-G flight be meaningful to you? (150 word limit)

As soon as I saw this I gasped! Nothing could be more relevant to my projects than a zero-g flight.

Let’s start from the beginning. Every since I was a kid I’ve wanted to fly. I gobbled up stories about people transforming into birds, witches on brooms, Hermes’ winged feet. In middle school, I built balsa gliders in the “Make it Fly” Tech challenge. In high school, I submitted to OK-Go to send art on a zero-g flight (A signed poster hangs in my dorm for participating!) 

For me, curiosity knows no boundaries, everything I learn is connected and applied to the future of space– it’s how I approach college! I applied my Augmented Reality skills on mission patches, I made a 360 video about USC Rocket Propulsion’s static fire, and I used my Designing Live Experiences class to build an entire space hotel, complete with innovative zero-g games and 360 theatre (..cont) 


The Zedi selected for this opportunity will be responsible for proposing and executing a storytelling or research project to amplify their Zero-G flight experience, aligned with ZFF's community-focus. What would your project be? (Note: This does not have to be the final project idea. The flier will collaborate with the non-profit to finalize your idea). (500 word limit) * 

(..cont) Along the way, I am passionate about bringing my teammates in to expose them to considering space as an emerging environment for design. I am a connector, drawing from professor resources at USC (like astronaut Garett Reisman), and making the most of networking opportunities with space professionals I meet through my Marketing Manager job at Orbit Fab. Everyone has something to teach me and I’m excited to share those learnings. 

As Marketing Director for SEDS USC and part of my ZFF service project, I organized a space art workshop, and my next planned workshop is on microgravity design. I aim to bring together architecture and design students alongside engineers and have an interactive brainstorming hackathon. If we believe space should be for everyone, it should also be developed collaboratively.  

I’m also in the midst of a year-long research essay and website project focusing on how art impacts technology in the space industry. A part of that is the untapped emerging field of designing for microgravity. My lengthy list of sources includes the book “Space Wear” all about the unique opportunities for fashion design in space, NASA’s Capillary Cup design (what are the new everyday objects of space?), JSC Habitability Design Center’s work (eg., shoes better equipped for assisting with grabbing to anchors on the wall), 12 primary sources in the form of interviews on creative careers in space, and more. Since the non-profit has pillars in habitat research & development this seems especially relevant and exciting.

As such, to amplify the experience I would continue to develop this research and shed light on the exciting potential for design in zero-g within the product/industrial/graphic/UX design communities. Some of the applications I'm most excited to explore would be making a VR experience for zero-g (imagine floating with a headset being a jellyfish in the the ocean, or following a story of you as a ballon floating through the air..) 

I would complete this project through the multi-pronged approach of: 

1) continuing interactive, interdisciplinary workshops at USC through SEDS
       - I draw from my experience running workshops for FIRST Robotics as well as 3 year of
      hands-on curriculum development and teaching high-school students at Tesseract Initiative 

2) Launching a social media campaign for my website resource and essay
     - I draw from my experience as a graphic designer, brand strategist, and marketing
    manager for various tech companies. I will use innovative methods of capturing the
    experience through filmmaking techniques learned at school (eg. 360 camera)

3) Bringing a physical prototype (hopefully developed at the hackathon event I host) to test a fashion, VR experience, or product design in zero-g.
     - I draw on my makerspace resources at USC, professors, and manufacturing/fabrication
    experience from FIRST Robotics and USCRPL.

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The non-profit hosting this flight is looking for fliers who can bring a diverse perspective to the flight group. What unique perspective would you bring to this experience? (250 word limit) *

I’m a woman and polymathic artist/engineer from an immigrant family (second-gen Russian-American). I can’t say I’m proud of it right now, and I stand strongly against the Russian aggression on Ukraine (where extended family on my father’s side is from). In this newly tumultuous relationship between NASA and Roscomos, I wonder if my Russian identity and ability to speak fluent Russian and intermediate Chinese will be needed in the future. If that opportunity comes up I hope to use that to advocate for peace. 

For this zero-g flight however, I think my main perspective is a female designer and aspiring entrepreneur. For my major “Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation” senior project (2024) we have to start a company, and I’ve considered founding a company dedicated to product and experience design for microgravity. The number of companies with at least one female founding member is still only 28 percent in 2020 and far less in tech and space. I want to show the world that aspiring to be a female founder and not taking the traditional route of being an engineer in the space industry is possible!

We often see engineers testing concepts in zero-g but rarely artists. Meaningful art & design comes from the artist’s breadth of life experiences and access to new environments. I would be honored to experience zero-g with the hopes of designing for it. 

Thank you for this opportunity and for considering me. 

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