About Us
STEM+C
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math + Creativity
Our mission statement…
To provide the most fun, hands-on learning to students of all ages interested in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) through a Creative thought process. Our focus is in the areas of Aviation, Aeronautics, Aerospace, Software and Robotics.
We passionately promote model aviation through hands on learning.
STEM+C was founded to provide an inspirational and practical hands-on learning experience for students interested in aviation, aeronautics, aerospace, rocketry, robotics, and software. We strive to be a community resource of knowledge and experience. We want to provide the best tools and modern technologies so that students are using industry approved tools, equipment and technologies while learning. We want to modernize the approach to learning and get back to understanding that hands-on trial and error are an important part of the learning process.
At STEM+C we engage, mentor, and facilitate students of all ages with our projects, programs, and challenges in aerospace, aeronautics, aviation, rocketry, robotics, and software coding. We are an organization of career professionals working with students and teachers to help them better understand career paths in some of the most exciting and rewarding technical careers in today’s economy. Our facilitators and instructors come from various backgrounds and career paths. We provide hands-on classroom instruction, mentorship, guidance, insights, and advice to help students pave a career path. The remote-control airplane, remote-control multi-rotor, and remote-control helicopter (hereafter referred to as ‘rc aircraft’) are the primary tools that we use to develop student and teacher interest in aviation, aeronautics, and aerospace. It is vital that we engage youth and our educators with hands-on experiences. Not doing so will be detrimental to our future, the security of the United States, and maintaining our World leading status in those career fields. STEM+C strives to develop science and engineering literate students who will excel in the future workforce. The Aviation Subcommittee meeting held by Senator Kyrsten Sinema (Held in May of 2022) and the FAA’s Advanced Aviation Advisory Meeting (held in June of 2022) early indicate the United States has a severe shortage of students interested in the career fields of aviation, aeronautics and aerospace. STEM+C is here to help nurture students’ interest in these fields.
Our programs and the programs that we facilitate are conducted in multiple ways. Most of the K-12 education system in the U.S. is not equipped nor trained to use rc aircraft as part of a strategic education curriculum to introduce and/or engage students’ interest in aviation, aeronautics, and aerospace. We bring our programs into local schools. The teachers and the students work and learn from our highly experienced facilitators and rc aircraft flight instructors. While our facilitators are in the classroom working with the students, we are simultaneously educating the teachers during the same class period. In addition to our in-school programs, we provide after school community-based programs that enable us to reach more students than we can reach by working with just one school. These programs are open to students in K-16. Yes, college students work with us, along with adults who wish to learn. Our programs and projects are our attempt to inspire and engage the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technical operators. Our goal is to get students excited about those career fields. Our aerospace projects are like any aerospace project that any aerospace company would try to attempt. The missions can be accomplished, but it will take planning, experimentation, discovery, engineering, design, and construction. There is no guarantee of success, however, through our designing, engineering, building, and testing, we prepare for the worst and plan for the best of outcomes.
Meet The Team
Paul Kaup
Paul Kaup, STEM+C Founder, STEM+C Facilitator, UAV/UAS Instructor, Rocketry Instructor
Steven Klass
Steven Klass, Founder - Robotics / Software, FTC Coach and Facilitator
Deirdre Morhet, Accountant, STEM+C Facilitator
Deirdre joined the STEM+C team as our accountant and as a facilitator. Deirdre has worked as a NASA engineer, and she founded BASC Expertise located in Gilbert Arizona. Deirdre brings a wealth of business expertise, as well as having a background in engineering and being a part of the aerospace industry.
Jim Ausloos, STEM+C Facilitator, UAV/UAS Instructor
James is a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch. Focuses are, unmanned aerial vehicle construction, systems integration, UAV flight training and racing. He enjoys multi-rotor (UAV) long range missions and freestyle flying. Jim is engaged in working with long-range UAV vehicle development for future BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) regulations.
Meet The Team Shawn Quinn, STEM+C Facilitator, UAV/UAS Instructor
Shawn works as a Senior Engineer designing physical and virtual server infrastructure at American Express. He has been flying R/C models since grade school. He got his private pilot's license via a PPL Ground School class at Gilbert High School and the follow on Discovery Flight sealed the deal for getting licensed. Today Shawn is an avid FPV Fixed Wing and multirotor enthusiast.
David Bradshaw, STEM+C Facilitator, UAV/UAS Instructor
David is a Captain at Southwest Airlines and has been working for the airlines since 2004. He has over 25 year of experience working for part 121, and part 135 air carriers. His previous work experiences include flying for a Charter Airline and as a cargo pilot. Dave is an FAA-certified Pilot (Transport w/Commercial privileges) and Flight Instructor (Single, Multiengine, and Instrument; A/B-737; A/BE-1900): Dave has been flying RC models since 7th grade for a total of 43 years experience with Model RC. While attending school and taking flight lessons, David managed a hobby store for four years.
David Haase, STEM+C Facilitator, UAV/UAS Instructor
David is a First Officer at Southwest Airlines. He has over 20 years of flying experience as a commercially rated pilot as well as several years of UAV/UAS operator experience working with Textron Aviation.
Bob Hunter
Bob Hunter, STEM+C Facilitator and UAV/UAS Instructor Pilot: Bob is a Software Engineer in the Industrial automation sector, and is an avid UAV / UAS Pilot, Racer, and Instructor. He started and ran a MultiGP multi rotor racing chapter in Southern California prior to relocating to the Phoenix area. He is an Associate vice president for the Academy of Model Aeronautics district 10 and also serves as a board member for several clubs.
Meet the Student facilitators
Jett Peterfreund
Jett Peterfreund, STEM+C Facilitator, and aircraft appearance technician, I am a Senior at Arizona College Prep. I am currently working on my Private Pilot license, I enjoy the outdoors, and I love making a difference in my community. I have been involved with STEM+C since 2017.
Anson Knoblach
Anson Knoblach, STEM+C Facilitator, and aircraft appearance technician, I am a Junior at Perry High, and I have been involved with aerospace activities since I was very young. I enjoy working on Near Space Balloon projects, flying UAV/AUS, and rockets. I aspire to attend an out of state school when I graduate high school. I have been working with STEM+C since the fall of 2021.
Gerrit Kaup
Gerrit Kaup, STEM+C Facilitator and UAV/UAS Instructor Pilot. I am a first year student at Arizona State University, I am majoring in Aeronautical Engineering. I have been involved with STEM+C since a very early age working with my dad.
Meet the STEM+C Board of Directors
Lisa Hoberg
Lisa Hoberg manages Membership Services for Greater Phoenix Leadership, an organization of leading CEOs influencing state policy in the areas of education, workforce development, community infrastructure and social impact.
Our Testimonials
Maggie Ortmeyer, now a junior in college noted that "young girls and women are often not taken seriously when they show an interest in STEM subjects. However, Paul Kaup and STEM+C provided a safe and encouraging outlet for me and the other young girls in our group to explore the field of STEM(+C) as equals. I cannot stress how influential and important that aspect of STEM+C was. . . . the education I received while working with Paul Kaup and STEM+C was not available anywhere else. The information we learned, and the hands-on way in which we learned it, was a unique experience because the many subjects we studied were not being taught in classrooms or other clubs. It was, therefore, an invaluable experience that allowed me to become a more well-rounded student and person."
Maggie Ortmeyer 
Some participants have gone on in the aviation and aerospace fields. For instance, recent HS graduate Jake Minker is in the process of getting his FAA pilot certification. Keith Peterfreund reports that "Paul played a major role in my son Jett's dream. Jett always wanted to be a pilot, but I personally didn't have any knowledge on how to become one. I didn’t know where to start or how to start educating him. This is where Paul stepped in and changed the course of my son's life. Paul had Jett join his STEM-C UAV group. He taught Jett and other kids the art of flying. He did this without asking any of the parents to give any money. Paul is the main reason my son is accumulating hours of flight time. Jett is now a part of Discovery Flight in STEM-C. Without STEM-C and Paul Kaup I know my son Jett would not have been where he is today in the early stages of pursuing his dream of being a pilot."
Eric Gordon is an Unmanned Aerial System Engineer for an aerospace military defense contractor Desert Rotor. He is also a third year student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Unmanned Aerial Systems. Eric worked with Paul Kaup and STEM+C for over eight years learning, pursuing enduring challenges, and eventually even teaching students. Many others have gone into engineering as well.
Jake 
For instance, Zein Sebraoui, a second year Electrical Engineering student at Arizona state University enrolled in the Ira Fulton school of Engineering worked with STEM+C and Paul Kaup for several years in high school. "Those experiences have been by far the most influential experience towards my aviation and engineering career by far." Mr. Glaser reports that his son, Max Glaser, "was been lucky enough to be part of the STEM+C program led by Paul Kaup. Max was part of this program through middle school and high school first as a student and then as an assistant leader. This allowed him to not only gain knowledge in this field, but also leadership experience. Currently, Max has one semester left of mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. While he has not continued with aviation, he has applied much of his knowledge gained in STEM+C working with the formula SAE car at UA."
Zein Sebraoui 
"My name is Jacob Hoberg, and I’m a rising senior at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona. This past year, I joined a TARC (The American Rocketry Challenge) team led by Paul Kaup of STEM+C. We met an hour away from my house, but the weekly drive was worth it because there are no opportunities like it near me. Paul and the older students are extremely knowledgeable and equipped to help me practice my interest in rocketry. I also enjoyed volunteering at the Taking Flight event to share STEM+C with the community. I am interested in flying and hope to be able to sign up for a discovery flight soon, too.
Working with Paul and the team has reinforced my interest in studying engineering at a college like Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott or New Mexico Tech University. I’m currently in an apprenticeship with the AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratories) NM on the NMT campus. I have heard other engineering students in college say that they never had hands-on experience with anything related to engineering, prior to attending college. I am grateful that Paul spends so much of his time and energy providing students in middle and high school an opportunity to have hands-on experience with aviation, aerospace, flight, and robotics, in order for them to get excited about college and a career in those fields."
Jacob Hoberg 
"My name is Jeff Kapis. I am not an engineer, rather, I am the proud parent of a young adult, Travis Kapis. Travis has always excelled academically, and during his early high school years, he grew to love science and math. At the end of his sophomore year, a friend connected Travis with Paul and through that connection, and subsequent work with Paul’s development group, Travis formed new aspirations to become an aerospace engineer. He is now enrolled in the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University to begin work on his degree in Aerospace Engineering. The work that Paul leads for this group of young, budding engineers is priceless. He has inspired and grown the experience of my own son in ways that I could not have."
Jeff Kapis 