Our Staff
The Rockville Science Center staff is excited to welcome visitors
to our storefront location in Rockville Town Square.
Stop by and say hello!
Abdeladim Elhamdani, Ph.D.
Manager
As a manager of the Rockville Science Center, Abdel develops programs, science projects, and classes that target the whole community - from elementary school students to seniors. Abdel is a neuroscientist who studied the molecular mechanisms underlying the release of chemicals and the recycling of vesicles cargo containing the chemicals in neuroendocrine and brain cells (Neurons). He received a B.S. in Biochemistry, a master’s degree in pharmacology and pharmaceutical chemistry, and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France. Abdel served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University, Assistant professor at Wayne State University, Research Fellow at NIH, and was a Senior Scientist and Project Manager at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne), Switzerland.
Howard Lichtman
Program Coordinator
Howard is the Rockville Science Center’s Program Coordinator. He plans and organizes many of the Center’s programs at the storefront and in the community. Howard has a BS degree in Computer and Information Science from the University of Maryland Global Campus. Early in his career he worked as a medical and life science technician, in the areas of hematology, clinical chemistry, tissue culture, electron microscopy, and neurotransmitters. He made a career change to Information Technology and worked over 15 years at a defense contractor where he designed and built IT infrastructure solutions, provided IT help desk support, and IT management for an international corporate conference center.
Alison Chacon
Marketing Associate
Alison is the newest addition to our staff. She joined us in August 2022 as our Marketing Associate to help get word out to the community about the Rockville Science Center. Since then, she has redesigned the RSC Newsletter, helped launch our new website and increased our visibility on social media. Alison earned a BS degree in Microbiology from the University of Maryland, College Park. After a brief stint working in the food safety industry, she decided to focus on her true passion - writing and editing - and put her skills to work in the nonprofit world, first in the public health arena and then for a faith community as Communications Director. She is thrilled to be back in the world of science helping to spread the news about the Rockville Science Center and all it has to offer to our community!