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John Venditti first learned about the Space Studies Department at UND, when he received a bachelors degree at Embry Riddle in 1996. After some time in the workforce, Venditti applied to UND and Embry Riddle for their programs, but once he secured a position with United Space Alliance (USA), he knew the best place for him was UND.
Venditti makes sure crew and flight controllers have the most recent information needed for procedures on the International Space Station (ISS). Specially, he is the American point of contact for Russian procedures on the ISS.
“I like USA. I like NASA. I like Houston. But the Space Studies program can broaden opportunities for me if I decided to go outside the space track I am in now,” said Venditti.
Being a distance student allows Venditti to capitalize on both being near work and being virtually near school.
Venditti does like living in the Space City, “Houston is the place that has everything to me. USA, NASA, Boeing, Lockheed. Everyone in space is there. Living in Houston allowed me to get a foot in the door and if I ever decided to change careers being here would make it possible.”
Quickly he found that having a strong education is a good attribute to have when looking for a job. “If I send a resume out to people, I need to have an edge to show that I have something different to offer. The Space Studies program at UND allows me to do that.
Venditti continued, “I’m in an industry that also values education and I would want to mirror that quality. USA, especially, encourages people to go back school.
The program he found was laborious, but highly immersing.
“UND does a great job as making the program as interactive as they can,” said Venditti, “As distance students, we have an extra challenge of keeping discipline in maintain a set schedule and working toward to the degree.”
But the main reason why Venditti is here is the passion for his favorite topic. “And I really like the subject matter,” he explained, “I like the engineering part and seeing how things work. After seeing launches all the time, it is amazing to know how things work especially on space vehicles.”
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