Space Science & Engineering Forum: Explore Your Place in Space

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026
9:00 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. 
Diboll Gallery | Malkin Sacks Commons 

Schedule of Events 

• 9:00 a.m.: Coffee and Undergraduate Research Poster Session 

• 9:30 a.m.: Kickoff Address and SSE Start-Up Research Project Presentations  

• 11:00 a.m.: Undergraduate Research Poster Session  

• 12:00 p.m.: Lunch for attendees who R.S.V.P.! 

• 12:15 p.m.: Keynote by Tia Ferguson, Senior Executive (retired), NASA Marshall SFC, "Opportunities for Discovery and Careers in Space Science and Engineering" 

• 12:45 p.m.: Josh Nguyen '27 presents the NASA-supported project, “Coacervate Protocells in Microgravity: Stability, Function, and Implications for the Origins of Life Beyond Earth,” that was selected through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program and will investigate how microscopic droplets known as coacervate protocells behave in microgravity.  

• 1:00 p.m.: Overview of New Space Science and Engineering Minor by Cindy Ebinger 

• 1:15 p.m.: Matt Barrios presents Go TU Space! - How to gain space-related experience as a Tulane student in science and engineering 

• 1:30 p.m.: Networking with Industry attendees and SSE Faculty 

Register here for lunch: https://forms.gle/2k91jTkYjBsm9X9c6