Young scientist Matteo Paz made a big discovery in high school, one that astronomers and astrophysicists can use in their research. Paz developed a new AI algorithm that allowed him to detect more than a million undiscovered objects in outer space. His research landed him first place at the 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search, which comes with a $250,000 cash prize. In this episode, Paz discusses his project and how both a mentor and motivation inspired him to learn and innovate.

Matteo Paz attended Pasadena High School in California, where he was president and founder of the research club and mentored others in science contests. He graduated in 2025 and will attend MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the fall. His new AI algorithm was published in the Astronomical Journal in November 2024, while he was still in high school.

The U.S. workforce landscape is changing as technologies advance and Artificial Intelligence continues to impact job and education territories. The education technology company, YouScience, is keeping up with the times, guiding students on how to prepare for college and advanced careers, while re-skilling and up-skilling a workforce for industries needing to fill jobs. On this episode, YouScience Co-founder Edson Barton and Joseph Watt, Vice President of ECMC Group, discuss how the two organizations are building on the education to workforce movement.

Edson Barton, Founder and CEO of YouScience and founder of Industry Certifications

As a 25-year EdTech veteran, he leads YouScience as it revolutionizes the personalization of career education—bridging the edtech and talent tech markets and solving critical education-to-workforce issues such as the skills gap and program equity and diversity. By providing students a more direct and tangible way to connect their education to their future careers, YouScience improves academic outcomes including high school graduation rates and postsecondary enrollment and completion rates.

As a leader in the education technology industry, Edson has been quoted in numerous reports and media articles, most notably in Forbes, US World & News Report, MSN, and eSchool News.

Prior to leading YouScience, Edson was the CEO and co-owner of ProCert Labs, a standards alignment and validation organization, and served as a senior director with Certiport where he oversaw client activities for Adobe, Autodesk, Intuit, and Microsoft, including worldwide publisher channels. Additionally, he was a sales vice president for Imergent and the executive director for Kids Voting Utah.

Joseph Watt, Vice President at ECMC Group and Managing Director of EIF

Joe grew up in the rural Midwest, where he was inspired daily by his mother’s commitment to educating others, going above and beyond to reach her students, especially those who came from difficult family circumstances. After graduating high school with a class of 40 students, then joining a student body of more than 40,000 at the University of Illinois, and finally completing graduate school at Duke University, he has experienced firsthand the wide variations, challenges and ultimately, the transformative impact of education across a multitude of learning environments.

Shortly after joining ECMC Group, Joe co-led the creation of the Education Impact Fund, driven by the opportunity to utilize patient, impact-aligned capital to propel transformative educational outcomes. By investing in scalable ventures that are addressing educational inequities and empowering underserved and overlooked groups, Joe aims to further demonstrate the strong correlation between long-term impact and outsized financial returns, thereby, inspiring increased investment in impactful educational change.

Before ECMC Group, Joe’s experience spans corporate strategy, M&A, private equity and investments within the technology and education sectors. He is a graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, where he was an Impact Investing Fellow, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He lives outside of Durham, North Carolina, with his wife, son and dog.

Utah is entering a new era of battery powered air travel with electric air taxis expected to take to the skies in the next few years. In this episode, we join the launch of Project Alta, known as Air Logistics Transportation Alliance, a partnership between Utah aerospace industry organization 47G and aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies. Guests Emma Davis, a flight test engineer with Beta Technologies and Utah Senator Chris Wilson discuss the new aircraft and the future of electric aviation in Utah.

Emma Davis is a flight test engineer at Beta Technologies based in Burlington, Vermont. She is a Utah State University graduate in mechanical engineering and for fun she flies helicopters. Davis has loved planes since she was a child and says the coolest thing about flying in the new electric aircraft, Alia, is the view. Chris Wilson (Republican Party) is a member of the Utah State Senate representing District 2 since 2023. Sen. Wilson grew up in Logan and worked at his family car dealership, Wilson Motors, and purchased the dealership in 2009