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DJ Scientific spreads the word
through rap
“If the rappers say that education is cool, maybe the kids will get it,” says NASA
EMC engineer Mark Branch
 On weekends at the hottest hip-hop clubs, Mark Branch is widely known as “DJ Scientific: the Genius,” as he blends amazing sounds for the pleasure of gyrating crowds.
Those people wouldn’t recognize him during the work week, though, because in his day job Branch is an electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) test engineer who directs two test facilities at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD).
A rocket scientist with a passion for rap, Branch does what he can to bring his two worlds together, so inner city kids will be attracted to and pursue scientific careers.
Focus on education
“Ever since I’ve been at NASA, the engineers who look like me have been few and far between,” says Branch. “The number has increased over the years but not as fast as I want to see, so I try to go into the inner city and other urban areas and get kids to focus on education.”
Because he works for NASA, he naturally wants them to understand the STEM disciplines. “But beyond that, I want to see them focus on education as a means to succeed. I present myself not only as a rocket scientist but as a hot DJ, so that’s my hook with the kids.”
About EMC
The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major U.S. lab for developing and operating unmanned scientific spacecraft. Branch’s area of EMC ensures that systems, subsystems, circuits and components function as they were designed within their intended environment, without any interference.
For example, airplane passengers are cautioned to turn off their electronic devices in flight. That’s because they transmit signals that have not been tested with the electronics of the airplane.
“If the emissions were high enough from your phone, or from everyone’s phones in unison, you could potentially have a state where the landing gear might not work, or communications between the airplane and ground would cut off. So as a safeguard, they say turn off everything,” Branch explains.
In the same way, the group he oversees measures the electromagnetic radiation from an instrument that might compromise other instruments on a satellite or the vehicle that carries it into orbit. “This applies to everything going up in space. I deal with electronic devices, so if it has electronics, I generally test it,” Branch says.
His test list included components for servicing missions for the Hubble Space Telescope.
Living his dream
There are two EMC test facilities at Goddard. The smaller one does component- and instrument-level tests, the larger handles full-up satellite queues. His team includes one civil servant and six contractors, Branch says.
“I value the opinion of everyone on the team, and they don’t hesitate to give it to me. There’s a lot of synergy with this group. We all work well together,” Branch says.
What he enjoys most is living his dream. Since he was a kid, Branch wanted to work for NASA. His mom was an English teacher who encouraged her children to investigate all possible career directions. When his interests switched to outer space she bought him books about flight and rockets.
Branch was also heavily influenced by his father’s discipline. His dad was an Army colonel, and the family moved around a lot, as military families do. When his parents divorced his mother moved the family to Greensboro, NC. Another influence was stories of his great-grandmother, head of the early NAACP in Irvington, KY.
“I was fortunate to have my mom and my dad, and it’s important for a young man to be guided positively by a man,” Branch says. “This is why I have strong feelings about going back to the inner city and getting young black males involved. There are too many who do not have a positive black male figure in their lives, and it’s a shame.”
Into hip-hop
Branch’s older brother moved to New York, NY to get involved in TV production. He sent plenty of the latest hip-hop tapes to his little brother. Armed with those marvelous tapes, who wouldn’t want to be a DJ?
Branch picked up his DJ skills in junior high. His mother warned him of the dangers of a dual career in rocket science and music, but today Branch uses his weekends and vacation days to do both. In fact, he has a mini production studio in his basement.
“I’ve been at NASA for seventeen years and have done well for myself, so I figure I can do whatever I set my mind to. I tell kids they can do the same, even if they’re not scientifically inclined,” he says. “Just follow your heart, and maybe you can get a degree out of doing what you love, and people will pay you to do it!”
A fine career
Branch received a full scholarship to HBCU Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD), and he feels a strong affinity toward HBCUs and the good they can do for young African Americans. He graduated in 1991 with BS degrees in both physics and engineering physics.
He’s been at NASA ever since. From 1991 to 1996 he was an electronics engineer for tracking and telemetry systems.
“There is a point during the shuttle’s launch where communications with the launch pad are affected, so we needed different tracking stations to take care of different parts of the ascent,” he explains.
For six months Branch was a thermal vacuum engineer for the space simulation test engineering group, focused on the vacuum and thermal conditions of space. He took over his current position in 1997.
Partnering
Besides his DJ work, Branch is involved with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). This year he’s also mentoring a kid from a nearby elementary school, through a NASA educational outreach program.
Branch would like to see NASA formally partner with hip-hop artists to get the word out in the inner cities about careers in science. “Rappers,” he says, “can dictate what’s hot in the black community. If you have them aligned with NASA, saying education is cool and talking about the importance of education, some kids, maybe a lot of kids, will get it! Young minds aren’t that hard to influence.”
D/C
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