Adam Vigneron’s university orientation has in many ways been similar to that of other students. He took in a seminar on the institution’s history, he was acquainted with the rigorous lecture schedule and he listened to a breakdown of the projects students will complete.

Except Vigneron was listening to NASA’s deputy administrator Lori Garber and Canadian Bob Richards, who co-founded the International Space University (ISU), among others.

Vigneron, who calls Wilcox home, begins classes today at the exclusive ISU in Melbourne, Fla., which is conveniently located about 30 miles from the Kennedy Space Center.

“It’s quite a rush being here,” Vigneron explained Monday during a Skype interview from Florida. “I’m surrounded by individuals who are really quite impressive. So I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from the experts I’m surrounded by.”

The ISU’s nine-week Space Studies Program offers students intensive training across a host of disciplines, including space science, space engineering and space policy and law, among others. Lectures run for four weeks before the 143 participants split into 30-member teams to complete projects.

ISU alumni include current astronauts, space scientists, even the editor-in-chief of a space-safety magazine.

According to the university’s website, tuition for the summer program costs close to C$23,000 (Vigneron received funding from the Canadian Foundation for the International Space University). Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree, which Vigneron holds, but he said the majority of his fellow participants either have a master’s or PhD. At 23 years old, Vigneron is one of the youngest students this year. This fact is not lost on Vigneron who, after hours of orientation sessions, still speaks with unbridled enthusiasm.

“I’m unbelievably grateful,” he said. “It was a real honour to be selected.”

Nearly as important as academic achievement to the ISU’s admissions committee is a demonstrated commitment to using space to better humanity, he said.

That’s been Vigneron’s dream since he was a boy walking home from hockey practice, staring up at the “endless expanse” of the Saskatchewan sky. He and his family have travelled twice to the Kennedy Space Center, while Vigneron family trips always included an educational component.

Says Adam’s mother, Ramona, of her son’s lifelong passion for all things space: “He’s always had an interest in rockets and satellites,” she said. “We’ve definitely had a kid who always wanted to know how things work.”

The certificate Vigneron will receive upon graduation in August will become part of a treasure trove of accolades. Following graduation from Wilcox’s Athol Murray College of Notre Dame at the age of 17, he studied engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. He is now pursuing his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Along the way, he has travelled to Norway on a space physics student exchange, launched a scientific balloon near his hometown and met famed U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

He plans to take in all this latest opportunity has to offer, and grow his already extensive list of contacts in the international space scene.

“It’s been absolutely phenomenal so far,” Vigneron said the night before classes began. “And we’re just getting started.”

vbrown@leaderpost.com