NASA, Morgan State Educational Project Will Open Skies to Students

Sonja Alexander

Headquarters, Washington, DC
Nov. 5, 1999

(Phone: 202/358-1761)

Lori Rachul

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH

(Phone: 216/433-8806)

Wiley A. Hall

Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD

(Phone: 443/885-3022)

RELEASE: 99-132

NASA, MORGAN STATE EDUCATIONAL PROJECT WILL OPEN SKIES TO STUDENTS

Under a NASA educational program, Baltimore students will be
using the latest computer software and hardware to discover the
world of science and technology, including how to design an
aircraft and plot its flight.

NASA’S Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, and Morgan State
University, Baltimore, have established a Science, Engineering,
Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) for underserved middle-
school students. SEMAA’s purpose is to enhance the students’
success and motivate greater numbers of young people to pursue
careers in science, math and related fields.

“Using NASA technologies and the educational expertise of
Morgan State University, we will inspire a new generation of youth
to explore the space frontier,” said NASA Administrator Daniel S.
Goldin. “Who knows, the first person to set foot on Mars could be
inspired because of participation in this program.”

“These youngsters are the new generation for the new
millennium,” said Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. “This is
the generation that will grow up to become astronauts, engineers,
researchers and computer experts. SEMAA will plant the seed of
inspiration for our young people to study math and science and
gain the skills they need in our increasingly high-tech economy.”

The program will feature an Aeronautics Education Laboratory
(AEL) in Morgan State’s school of engineering. AEL is a leap in
classroom technology, a state-of-the-art, electronically enhanced
computerized classroom that puts cutting-edge technology in the
hands of students in grades six through nine. At 10 workstations,
SEMAA students will explore satellite global positioning, remote
sensing, amateur radio and aircraft design, and collect weather
information in preparation for flight. The experience culminates
with a virtual flight using a cockpit simulator or head-mounted
display.

“I applaud Morgan State University and NASA for their shared
commitment to this SEMAA academy — the power and promise of young
minds in pursuit of a very old dream. Their struggles for
scientific achievement and educational opportunity arise from the
same source: our shared humanity,” said Congressman Elijah
Cummings of Baltimore. “When we offer everyone a place in our
shared quest for the stars, the light of our own best nature will
guide us along our way. When we walk together toward the
starlight, everyone gains from the quest, however long our journey
may take.”

A vision of former Congressman Louis Stokes of Cleveland,
SEMAA was established in 1993 by Glenn and Cuyahoga Community
College in Cleveland to foster understanding and enthusiasm in
school-age children for science, math and technology fields.
Since 1993, SEMAA has grown from a single location to multiple
sites reaching thousands of children from kindergarten through
high school and their families.

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