Professor Matthew Nelson is one of the co-founders of the SBA and is currently the organization's president. Prof. Nelson has over 18 years of experience in high-altitude ballooning and leads the High Altitude Balloon Experiments in Technology (HABET) team at Iowa State University. Prof. Nelson is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Iowa State University and serves as the director of the Make to Innovate program. He also serves as the Assistant Director for the Iowa Space Grant Consortium. Prof. Nelson also holds a Private Pilot License, Part 107 license and an Amateur Radio license.