Space, Science and the Squeezebox

As a kid growing up in Northeast Philadelphia, John Kamal was curious about things, all kinds of things. He was fortunate to have a high school teacher who spurred his interest.

“I happened to have an inspiring physics teacher, Mr. Friedman, and he inspired me so much, I said I’m going to study physics or engineering when I get to college,” he recalls.

He earned degrees in mechanical engineering and landed his first big job at GE Aerospace division in suburban Philadelphia. At the time, GE Aerospace was a NASA subcontractor and John’s work focused on powering spacecraft on long journeys to planets like Saturn and Mars. He holds a patent on part of a component called a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, or RTG, a version of which was featured for a brief period in the film The Martian.

His career later took him to a lengthy stint as co-inventor of complex software to manage supply chains for everything from tomato farms to oil refineries. And, most recently, he spent 11 years teaching engineering in the Philadelphia School District at the Science Leadership Academy, a magnet school for kids predisposed to learning about science, technology, engineering and math, commonly known as STEM. Reaching some students with an interest in STEM can be challenging.

“For a lot of them, there’s just too much negative stuff going on at home, or just, you know, families worrying about how we’re going to put food on the dinner table. You’re wondering why they’re not understanding Newton’s second law, and they’re sitting there thinking about dinner tonight. To combat that, you bring in people who can be empathetic to those kids who want to learn who they are, spend time investing to find out who they are, and build a relationship with them.”

Hear our conversation about John’s inspiring journey through science, inventions, teaching and learning the accordion!