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Anna Pasqua

Annie Pasqua is a music educator, music director, composer, and performer whose credits include performances at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Symphony Space. A student of noted concert pianist Morton Estrin, her choral compositions are featured in the Judith Clurman concert series, published by Hal Leonard. With her sister, Jenna, Annie is the composer/lyricist/librettist of TESS: A New Rock Opera, based on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. She has been an avid Star Trek fan since childhood, and she and her husband, Deniz Cordell, were married by Walter Koenig.

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Kent Schmidt

Kent Schmidt was born in South Carolina, but was relocated to Upstate NY when he was a teenager. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science. He began working in retail environments until he started a 22-year career selling and leasing automobiles. A lifelong computer and electronic enthusiast, he transitioned into an IT management position with the Della Auto Group and now supports 250+ users with their technology issues. He is one year and one day younger than the original Star Trek, but was propped up in his crib to watch some of the original run. After Trek went into syndication, he rarely missed an episode after school and never during the summer months. He worked as a Production Assistant, then Grip, Key Grip, and finally, Gaffer for the long-running fan series Star Trek New Voyages/ Phase II. His study of Jerry Finnerman’s lighting techniques and practices and his application of those methods resulted in the high point of his lighting career when David Gerrold said “You are channeling Jerry Finnerman with your lighting. Kent, he would be proud of you.” His perspective on the Borg stems from an extensive Science Fiction library and decades of reading, watching, and studying Sci-Fi in all its forms.

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Professor Matthew Szydagis

Matthew Szydagis

Dr. Matthew Szydagis grew up with Star Trek: The Next Generation and after watching Lt. Cmdr. Data he realized that science officer was the position for him. He received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2005, 2006, and 2011 respectively, then continued his work in physics as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Davis (2010-14).

Since 2014, Dr. Szydagis has been a member of the physics faculty at the University at Albany SUNY, pursuing experimental particle astrophysics, in particular direct laboratory detection of dark matter particles, underground. He works on the liquid-Xenon-based LZ experiment and with supercooled water (the “snowball chamber”), and is the developer of the NEST (Noble Element Simulation Technique) computer software.

Since 2019 Matthew has also been a member of UAPx, helping to seek answers regarding the true nature of UAP from a scientific perspective. Most recently, you can find him as a regular on the History Channel TV show “The Proof is Out There” and in the documentary film “A Tear in the Sky.”

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Brian Mix

Brian is one of our incredibly talented prop makers here at the Star Trek Set Tour. When not working on the Enterprise, Brian builds tradeshow exhibits including electronic gadgets, product videos, and interactive demonstrations. His prop builds from across fandom are meticulous and painstaking in detail and function. Ask him about his Robby the Robot!

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Joey Gates

Joey Gates has collected everything from comics to action figures, trading cards to bottle caps, the only thing he doesn’t collect is DUST! Joey resides outside of Rochester, NY where he is a small business owner and father of five. Having collected for nearly 30 years, he has acquired many skills and will share his tips and tricks of the trade! Join him as he talks about the ins-and-outs of the collectors market and fresh ideas on getting your Holy Grail(s)! He’ll be bringing along some rare vintage toys and collectibles with him to show and tell as well! Whether you’re into “Star Trek”, “Star Wars”, “Masters of the Universe”, or something else, he’ll be talking about his experiences and will chat with his fellow fans and collectors to share ideas and experiences!

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Bill Latham

Author/critic William Latham is the author of seven novels in Powys Media’s Space:1999 series as well as Mary’s Monster, a modern-day sequel to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. He has also contributed film criticism to John Kenneth Muir’s Horror Films of the 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2009 series and Muir’s Superheroes in Film and Television. He authored the non-fiction Chasing the Cyclops for Powys Media and co-authored the young adult book Scary Stories of Stamford. Born in New Jersey, Latham has dabbled in information technology for decades and is currently working on a Cold War thriller that takes place during the production of a famous 1970s film. He can be reached via his website www.williamlatham.net.

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Roy Bjellquist

I am a native of New Jersey and have been a fan of Science Fiction since first being introduced to Star Trek in the early 1970’s. My earliest recollections are seeing it advertised in the local TV Guide for its syndicated appearance on Channel 11, WPIX, New York.

My love of the series opened the door to other science fiction classics of the 1960’s: Lost In Space, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, The Invaders, UFO, The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone, to mention just a few. These fantastic television shows of the 1960’s carried over my interest into other science fiction television of the 1970’s: The Six Million Dollar Man, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Space:1999, Ark 2, The Bionic Woman, Logan’s Run, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, to also name a few.

The shows closest to my heart have always been Classic Star Trek, and Space:1999. These shows have allowed me the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, and establish lifelong friendships worldwide, due to our common bond and love of our beloved shows.

It has been truly a rewarding experience being a presenter at previous Trekonderoga Events over the years. These presentations helped to inspire me to start my weekly LIVE Internet show broadcast over Facebook (Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner celebrating its 4th year this April) during the pandemic to help bring friends and fans of science fiction together from all over the world to share in the love of the genre.

I very much look forward to presenting this year at Trekonderoga, as it is not only enjoyable time to discuss the love of science fiction with fellow fans but to see my extended family of friends, I have met over the last nine years at this special annual event!! LLAP!!

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Dr. Kevin H. Knuth

Dr. Knuth is a Professor of Physics at the University at Albany (SUNY) and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Entropy (MDPI). He is a former NASA research scientist having worked at NASA Ames Research Center in the Intelligent Systems Division designing artificial intelligence algorithms for astrophysical data analysis. His current research interests include the foundations of physics, quantum information, autonomous robotics, the search for and characterization of extrasolar planets, and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). He has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has been invited to give over 100 presentations in 18 countries.

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Mark A. Altman

Mark A. Altman is the writer/producer of Free Enterprise, starring William Shatner & Eric McCormack, author of the bestselling oral history of Star Trek, The Fifty-Year Mission, from St. Martin’s Press, showrunner of The CW’s Pandora and the upcoming Deathlands as well as a TV writer/producer for such series as The Librarians, Agent X, Castle and many more. He is also the author of numerous Star Trek comics and co-host of the immensely popular Star Trek podcast, Inglorious Treksperts.

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Daren Dochterman

Daren Dochterman has been working in the motion picture industry for nearly 30 years. Today his work is featured on HBO’s acclaimed Westworld, and his most recent Concept Designer credits include Star Trek Picard, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Independence Day: Resurgence, Passengers, and Star Trek Beyond.

His Inglorious Treksperts podcast is a fan favorite…and now he is doing the Weirded Beardos podcast with fellow WF guest Kirk Thatcher!!

Fans probably know Daren best for his work as Visual Effects Supervisot for Robert Wise on the Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 2001. He’s been busy revisting that project to bring it back to home video in 4K resolution!