NASA Inspires The Next Generation Of Aerospace Engineers
Jonas Diño
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650/604-5612 or 650/604-9000
E-mail: jdino@mail.arc.nasa.gov
As the country reflects on the first 100 years of powered flight,
NASA is reaching out to the students who will shape the next 100
years of aerospace.
On Dec. 11 and 12, approximately 1,500 fifth- through eighth-grade
students, teachers and parents from the around the Bay area will
participate in Aero Expo III at NASA Ames Research Center, located in
California’s Silicon Valley. Aero Expo III is the third in a series
of Centennial of Flight celebrations sponsored by NASA’s Airspace
Systems Program in collaboration with NASA Ames’ Education Office.
The theme for the expo is ‘Future Flight Technologies.’
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to support activities like
Aero Expo III. Our goal with this event is to encourage the nation’s
youth to pursue careers in math and science. We hope to create a
spark that will fire the imagination of a new generation of NASA
aerospace engineers,” said Robert Jacobsen, manager for NASA’s
Airspace Systems Program.
Students will engage in a full day’s activities beginning with a
presentation and question-and-answer session with Jacobsen on the
past, present and future of aerospace. For students unable to come to
NASA Ames for the event, Jacobsen will be the featured guest for a
one-hour Web cast about the past, present and future of aerospace on
Dec. 12, at 10:00 a.m. PST. Also participating will be Nick Engler,
director and chief builder of the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company.
After the presentation, students will tour several NASA facilities,
including FutureFlight Central, the Vertical Motion Simulator, the
80-foot by 120-foot wind tunnel, the 20-G centrifuge, and the fluid
mechanics, neuro/robotics and air traffic management laboratories.
The expo experience will culminate at Aero Village in NASA Ames’
Hangar N-211. In the hangar, various NASA Ames technical programs and
educational organization such as the Tech Museum of Innovation, San
Jose, Calif., and the Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos, Calif.,
will have interactive and hands-on activities to stimulate and
motivate students to pursue further education in math, science and
technology.
“Hosting an event like this is an exciting challenge and takes the
support of many. The staff at NASA Ames takes seriously the
opportunity to share with students and teachers NASA’s research and
programs. As the day progresses, seeing the faces of students
‘light-up’ like a full moon is priceless,” said Laura Shawnee, of
NASA Ames’ Education Office. “Centennial of Flight activities like
Aero Expo III are a great way to reach out to students; they are
NASA’s next generation of researchers and engineers.”
NASA’s Airspace Systems Program continues its long tradition of
supporting aerospace education with Aero Expo III. NASA’s Airspace
Systems Program benefits air travelers by conducting research that
reduces delays, allowing more air travelers to fly safely and
efficiently. NASA Ames Research Center has been a leader in air
traffic control research and development since the mid-1980s.
For more information about Aero Expo III or to participate in the
Dec. 12 Web cast, visit:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/aero/centennial/expo3/index.html
More information about NASA Airspace Systems Program is available at:
