Javier Montiel is a prominent educator and STEM education strategist with a two-decade career in bilingual education and international collaboration on educational projects. He has led and implemented numerous international STEAM education initiatives in nine countries, working with students and teachers at multiple space agencies and technology companies. He has been a presenter at Space Center Houston since 2011. He has taught official NASA courses and teacher training at the Johnson Space Center, in addition to being a guest speaker at NSTA, SXSWedu, the Mexican Space Agency, the Mexican Congress, Insight for the Future of Innovation, EdInnovate in Tokyo, Japan, and various conferences at Carol Davila University in Bucharest, Romania, among others.
He worked and was recognized for his contributions as a Science Advisor for the “Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms” initiative by the production company GBH in Boston with NASA and as an educational ambassador for virtual reality through Delightex. He is an ambassador for Space Station Explorers, a member of the ExaTec Houston 2024-2025 Board Member, and a SEEC CREW for Space Center Houston.
Professor Montiel is the founder of the International Aerospace Academy, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering communities through research, technology, passion, and meaningful projects. He helped establish the Solidarity Mission, the only official educational mission recognized by Space Center Houston to conduct projects in Mexico, serving as the program’s flight director.
He collaborates with the ISS Mimic project as an International Space Education Specialist and contributes to Magnitude’s ExoLab missions for plant research in space. In 2024, he published “Rabbit Goes to Space,” a children’s space research book sponsored by the National Space Laboratory for the International Space Station.
His recognitions include the “Top 100 Visionaries in Education” award, the Tony So Award for Excellence in Education, the Hispanic Hero Award from the Brazoria County Chamber of Commerce, and the Cherri Brinley Award for outstanding contributions to space education. He was recently named Director of Education for Explore Mars, a global community that advocates for a unified visión for humanity’s future on the Moon and Mars in the 2030s.
