Episode 35- Victor Villegas

Summary: Today we are joined by Victor Villegas. Victor Villegas is Technology & Media Support Coordinator for Oregon State University Division of Extension & Engagement. Publicly, he is more widely known for his K-12 STEAM outreach and engagement efforts, especially with under-served, under-represented youth. He is fully bilingual and bicultural, a diversity, equity and inclusion advocate, and has a passion for engaging and inspiring youth. His main STEAM engagement strategy is using the Arts to reach students who are not typically drawn to STEM subjects, showing how Art, when integrated with STEM , can jumpstart their interest in STEM and help them understand STEM subjects better, furthering their knowledge and inspiring them to pursue STEM/STEAM education and career pathways. Villegas usually accomplishes this via his alter-ego as DroneSinger, the “Weird Al” of drones – World’s #1 creator of parody songs about drones. He leverages this “fame”, along with drones, robots, music, humor, puppetry/ventriloquism, poetry and storytelling, to spark kids’ interested in STEAM. You can find Victor’s website dronsinger.com, Instagram, Youtube and LinkedIn