GRAND FORKS – Former NASA spacesuit engineer and UND alumna Kavya Manyapu returned to the campus of the University of North Dakota this week as the keynote speaker of the 2025 Space Operations Summit.

Standing in front of students, faculty and aerospace professionals, she charted her path from UND’s Space Studies Department to leading development of lunar-exploration suits for the Artemis programme.

The Space Operations Summit, held November 5-6 at UND in Grand Forks, convened aerospace industry leaders, government officials and university researchers to spotlight the growing role of UND in the national “space economy.”

UND’s designation as a Carnegie R1 research institution and its partnership with the U.S. Space Force were cited as key markers of its rising status.

Manyapu earned her PhD in Aerospace Sciences from UND and now leads the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Spacesuits (xEVAS) development for NASA’s Artemis lunar programme.

She told the Grand Forks audience: “I feel like it’s come full circle… it is here that the belief in me was instilled that no horizon is too far to reach when passion meets purpose.”

For locals in Grand Forks and UND students in particular, this moment underscores how education in this region can lead to the most ambitious space exploration missions. UND is positioning itself not just as a regional university but as a national hub for space operations research and workforce development.

UND’s connection to NASA and key space-programs places Grand Forks on the map of the burgeoning space industry and strengthens university-town talent pipelines.

“Grand Forks is a central player in the thriving space economy, and proof that innovation and space go hand in hand.” — Sen. Kevin Crame

As Kavya Manyapu’s homecoming keynote makes clear, the future of space is not only thousands of miles above Earth—it begins right in classrooms like those at UND, in towns like Grand Forks. This summit signals the turning of a page: for local students, for regional innovation, and for the expanding frontier of human presence beyond Earth. For Grand Forks, the message is bold: the next giant leap may very well have roots here.