At NASA and Nightclubs, Stars Align for DJ Scientific

WKYS (93.9 FM) on-air personality Antonio the Cigar Smoker stopped by for a quick hello as Branch scratched, cut, blended and pulled off perfect backspins.

Kris Ramson, manager of Love, gave him a nod. The music was good.

Then there was the woman with the pretty face, the skin-tight jeans, the black top and the cleavage.

"I like your music," she said, smiling sweetly and rocking back on her heels just enough to draw a little extra attention to her top.

Branch's colleagues at NASA can't quite picture all this.

"He's really quiet and business-like around here," said his boss, Bob Vernier. "He's not the flamboyant type you would think would be energetic enough to be a hip-hop DJ."

Branch was a 7-year-old Army brat growing up in Greensboro, N.C., when a fascination with magnets and electricity started him thinking about a career in science. His interest was clinched a few years later after his mother, an educator, gave him a book on the history of space flight that included conceptual designs of spacecraft of the future.

"The book included illustrations of the space shuttle and many space vehicles that now have been conceived," he said. "From that moment on, I wanted to work for NASA."

First he had to complete high school, where he belonged to the "High IQ," team was a member of the National Honor Society and played bass in the orchestra, continuing a tradition he had started in grade school.

To get in with the popular kids, he again turned to music.

"I was in honors classes, so I was with the nerd crowd," he said. "But because even back then I also deejayed, I was also in with the cool crowd. So I had the best of both worlds."

After graduating with honors, he headed to historically black Morgan State University, where his father had once run the ROTC program. There, he pledged the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, enrolled in a NASA engineering program and delved into the wonders of physics, his favorite branch of science, what he calls "the foundation of any engineering career."

He also made friends in the university's career development department, and that led to interviews with agencies that came to Morgan to recruit.

"I was fortunate to be able to sign up for a NASA interview," he said. "There is no better place to work for an aerospace engineer. I put my hands on things that go into space. That's a wonderful feeling."

Although he loves his day job, his avocation has brought its perks. He is one of the hottest DJs in an area with clubs, such as Love, that are nationally known for their music. He's been on the box when Beyoncé, Diddy and LL Cool J were in the house. He also was on the mike when the Democratic National Committee came through to drum up support in a past election. The extra money he makes helps pay for a home in a gated community with its own production studio, membership in a country club and the custom suits he wears to functions outside of both his jobs.

For six years, he served as DJ for the NFL Players Gala held in conjunction with the Super Bowl. In February, he played records at the Legends of the NBA event, part of the NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, where he rubbed elbows with Julius "Dr. J" Irving, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins.

He has his own Web site, http://scientificbeats.com, and a production studio where he is working with a singer whom he expects to do so well that he's considering a full-time career in music production. The singer, Leslee Michele, works by day as Leslee Cork, a public affairs specialist at Goddard.

For a little boy from Greensboro who dreamed of working with the stars, he's accomplished his goal in more ways than one.