EXPANDING FRONTIERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Founder
Dr. Fredrick Jenet is the founder and executive director of Expanding Frontiers, a nonprofit organization based in Brownsville, Texas, with a mission to foster the growth of a commercial space ecosystem. Dr. Jenet is an experienced entrepreneur, visionary researcher, and innovative educator, having founded several initiatives in Texas that are fostering the development of a state and national ecosystem for space exploration and commercialization. He is the founder of the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's first center of excellence, as well as STARGATE, a NewSpace technology development program with facilities at the Boca Chica launch complex in South Texas.
He is also the founder of Rockets and Rigs, an academic/industry/government collaboration working to solve common problems and challenges in both the space development and energy sectors. Dr. Jenet graduated from MIT with an S.B. in Physics in 1993 and obtained his PhD in physics from Caltech in 2001. He was a senior research scientist at Schlumberger Doll research laboratory and a Postdoctoral Scholar at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Dr. Louis Dartez is a highly driven entrepreneur who has participated in various academic, entrepreneurial, and non-profit organizations in a leading or advisory capacity. At Expanding Frontiers, Louis leads the Space Coders and Internships programs. He holds a doctorate degree in applied physics from the University of Texas at Arlington. The focus of his thesis work was the development and commissioning of the Low Frequency All Sky Monitor with the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Mayra Delgado is a high school biology teacher in Brownsville, Texas. She is currently working on an MBA with UTRGV. She is passionate about education and inspiring students to pursue careers in science, particularly in the emerging commercial space sector in Brownsville, Tx. She currently serves as coordinator for the EIRA Program (Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Apprenticeship Program) and as an education outreach committee member with Expanding Frontiers. Ms. Delgado uses her teaching experience to recruit and mentor students in ExF's educational programs such as SESA (Student Entrepreneurship Summer Academy), EIRA, and Space Settlement Design Competitions.