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ideaventions™ Team

Shilpa Agarwal

Shilpa has an MBA, with a concentration in IT from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a BS in Information Systems. Her career has spanned over 15 years in IT research/analysis, government contracting and federal proposal development. She has been associated with ideaventions for the past two years, first as a parent and now as a STEM educator. When she witnessed first-hand the excitement that her son had for the ideaventions curriculum and hands-on approach, she wanted to be a part of it from the inside out! She is thrilled to put her knowledge to use and contribute to the mission of STEM enrichment. Both her sons, ages 9 and 3, love attending classes at ideaventions and participating in all the activities!

Jordan Albrite

Jordan graduated from the College of William and Mary with bachelor's degree in Psychology and Religious Studies. Her focus on community and preventative psychology in her studies and internships sparked an interest in early education and led her to seek a career in the education field. She is currently pursuing a Master's in School Counseling through George Washington University. In addition to teaching classes, Jordan serves as the ideaventions Party Manger and Director of Communications and Training. Jordan's favorite parts of her work at ideaventions are researching and testing new experiments for labs and camps and designing new robot builds for our Jr. Robotics classes. And she especially loves catching glimpses of the amazing minds and big imaginations of our students!

Science memory: “My first memory of being truly excited about science was when my first grade class ‘planted’ lima beans in damp towels inside plastic baggies and watched them germinate. It was my first look into what was happening underground when a seed ‘magically’ became a plant, and I loved to see it grow a little more each day.”

Jacqueline Currie

Jacqui earned her Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Bristol. She then worked for a defense contractor, developing aircraft systems for a high-altitude, long-endurance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). Jacqui enjoys drawing on those experiences as Director of Technology and Engineering Programs at ideaventions. She also develops interdisciplinary labs for the ideaventions™ Scholars program and manages off-site summer camps. Her favorite thing about ideaventions is seeing students come up with creative solutions to open-ended challenges: "They always surprise me with something new!" In her spare time, Jacqui enjoys traveling, orienteering, horse-riding and volunteering at her local planetarium. On any given day, you’ll find her teaching classes about computers, programming, engineering or robotics!

Science memory: “I grew up in the United Kingdom and a family vacation to Florida with a trip to the Kennedy Space Center really sticks out in my memory. Seeing a Shuttle on the launch pad and a real Saturn V rocket in the hangar absolutely cemented the fact I wanted to study aerospace engineering.”

Ryan Hanna

Ryan earned his degree in Information Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently works as a Network Administrator full time but loves being able to pass on his knowledge at ideaventions. Ryan is also a published iOS and Android app developer and is looking forward to developing new technology workshops for next term. His favorite workshop is “How Computers Work,” which allows students to take apart computers piece-by-piece before reassembling them.

Juliana Heitz

Juliana grew up in Northern Virginia, after moving to the US from Venezuela when she was seven, and attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, where she met Ryan (Heitz).

After high school, Juliana traveled north to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she received her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management of IT. She started in management consulting after graduation and for more than a decade, she was in charge of business operations and project management for major corporations. Her day-to-day work ran the gamut of the business world, including managing multi-million dollar budgets, complying with complex accounting standards and, of course, meeting aggressive deadlines. But after years of success, Juliana was ready to tackle something new.
That new challenge came to her when she couldn’t find innovative science classes for her son. Most parents might go out and buy a microscope or science kit. But Juliana and Ryan knew they could do something more, something that would make an impact in the community. After months of planning and lots of late nights developing the concept, they took the leap and started ideaventions™. It launched in 2010 and continues to grow and expand. Their passion for STEM education gives them laser-like focus for developing the highest quality classes and programs for students. They simply love seeing what children come up with! They have two very curious and different boys, ages 10 and 6. They are very excited to share what has been their most rewarding experience to date—learning with their children.

Math memory: "I always loved math because it made sense. In school, I played a game with myself to see how quickly I could finish my math work and then I could watch the kids playing outside. My fifth-grade teacher noticed that one of my classmates and I were getting bored in math and one day took us aside to explain what a radius was and how to calculate the circumference of a circle. From that day on she would give us our math lesson to work on and we would do it in the AV closet while the rest of the class did the math lesson for the day. I loved it!"

Samir Jahic

Samir was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and grew up in Rochester, New York where he received his Associate degree in Science. Samir is currently a junior working on his Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics while preparing for Medical School at George Mason University. His first experience working with kids was volunteering at the Galisano Childrens center at Strong Memorial Hospital, part of the University of Rochester. While volunteering, Samir was exposed to the joys of teaching kids and has had a passion for education his entire life, which is why he enjoys teaching at ideaventions! During his free time Samir enjoys traveling the world, playing sports and spending time with family.

Carol Lieske

Carol has been an early childhood educator for the past fifteen years and is Director of Early Childhood Programs and Camps at ideaventions™. Her interest in science grew as she watched her students “light up” when engaged in science activities. Carol has developed and taught science enrichment programs to children Pre-K through 3rd grade and has conducted numerous science workshops for early childhood educators throughout the area, most recently at several of GMU’s highly regarded Professional Development events. At ideaventions, Carol is happy to have the opportunity to share her joy for learning and her passion for guiding children as they embark on a lifetime of exploration and discovery.

John Miley

John, a native of Hanson, MA, is a technology reporter at The Kiplinger Letter, a national business forecasting newsletter. He talks daily with leading experts about the shifting landscape of technology topics such as computers, robotics and cloud computing. He received his master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he built up digital skills, including video production, web coding and how to launch an online magazine. During undergrad at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, he spent four summers as a YMCA camp counselor, organizing dozens of kids and teaching small group activities. That experience cemented to his passion for working with kids and he is extremely excited to be a part of ideaventions. In his free time you can find him running, biking and reading.

Aisha Salazar

Aisha is working on her Ph.D. in food safety and security through Kansas State University. She received degrees in Biology and Psychology from Virginia Tech and her master’s degree in biodefense from Georgetown University. Aisha has worked with children as a camp counselor, a babysitter, and a tutor. She loves that ideaventions allows children to think creatively through hands-on activities and that she’s challenged to learn something new on a daily basis. Her favorite classes to teach are Biology, Secret Agent Club, and Magical Spells (she enjoys getting messy during experiments and often wishes experiments were edible). Aisha spends her spare time at food festivals and concerts, cheering on her favorite sports teams, and traveling.

Science memory: "I would say my love of science began in kindergarten during the great cicada swarm of ’87. I would play with cicadas during recess and then dissect them after school in my neighbor’s basement. We’d look at them under microscopes for hours."

Jake Strauss

Jake was born in Chicago but raised in Oakton. He is currently attending Miami University in Ohio, which he insists has no relation to the city in Florida, where he is studying to become a High School History teacher. He enjoys reading books about presidents, astronomy, and famous inventors. He has loved science since he started testing chemicals in elementary school, and has decided to become a teacher so he can learn for the rest of his life. Jake has been an assistant camp leader at ideaventions™ for two years now. Working with the wonderful students at ideaventions™ has been an amazing experience for him, and he hopes to instill in them his own passion for knowledge.

ideaventions™ - A Discovery Lab for Kids
2952-H Chain Bridge Road

Oakton, VA 22124

(703) 255-7202
info@ideaventions.com