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!

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Ashley E. Miller is one of the hosts of Inglorious Treksperts and the writer of Thor and X-Men First Class. He was also the showrunner of Netflix’s DOTA: Dragons’s Blood and a writer for such shows as Fringe, Black Sails, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

David Gerrold is the author of over 50 books, hundreds of articles and columns, and over a dozen television episodes. He is a classic sci-fi writer who will go down in history as having created some of the most popular and redefining scripts, books, and short stories in the genre. TV credits include episodes from […]

Mike Rizzo is a lifetime Star Trek and SciFi Fan. He grew up watching classic SciFi TV like Star Trek the original series, Lost in Space, and Space 1999. Of course, in 1977 his world changed when Star Wars hit the theaters. Throughout the years he has collected and created props and memorabilia from the […]

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 […]

Phil Merkel aka “Captain Phil” is a DJ on WUSB 90.1 fm radio and host of “Captain Phil’s Planet.” The Planet airs alternate Thursdays 3 pm to 5 pm and streams at www.wusb.fm if you are out of the WUBS listening area. Captain Phil embraces all music genres on his planet and most other planets […]

802 Ghostbusters is a group of Ghostbusters cosplayers based in Rutland, Vermont. We attend several events over the course of the year, including conventions, fundraising events, parades, and other community activities. We are happy to help with cosplay and prop-building questions. We are a group for fans and members alike and we support anyone who wants […]

Ronald Held has a Ph. D in astrophysics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a fan since TOS, Star Tek has inspired his research and presentation topics.

I’m a Trekkie! I grew up watching TAS on Saturday mornings, and every Star Trek series and movie since. I currently can be heard hosting Trek Talking a Star Trek podcast every Thursday night. I can often be found roaming around as a Klingon, stop and ask for a picture holding my Bat’Leth.

Andrew Liptak is a writer and historian from Vermont. He is the author of Cosplay: A History (Saga Press, 2022), and his work has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Gizmodo, io9, Kirkus Reviews, Lifehacker, Slate, Tor.com, VentureBeat, The Verge, and other publications. He writes a newsletter, Transfer Orbit, which explores the state of science fiction, reading, […]

Dr Alexander was selected as a NASA Flight Surgeon in November 2004. His NASA Flight Surgeon Training included orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training. He is a certified Flight Controller for the […]

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 […]