National Engineers Week at Embry-Riddle

NEWS RELEASE

Communications and Marketing Office
600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900

For more information, contact:
Phone: 386-226-6157
Fax: 386-226-6158

Contact: Mary Van Buren
Phone: 386-226-6525

National Engineers Week at Embry-Riddle Features Astronaut Nicole Stott and SpaceShipOne Author Dan Linehan

Daytona Beach, Fla., Feb. 9, 2009 -- Embry-Riddle and its College of Engineering will celebrate National Engineers Week Feb. 16-21 with presentations by astronaut Nicole Stott, an Embry-Riddle alumna; Dan Linehan, author of SpaceShipOne; and Dr. James Ladesic, P.E., professor of aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle and an engineering consultant to the aerospace industry.

National Engineers Week is an initiative of the National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations, and governmental agencies that promotes a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing awareness of engineering and technology careers. Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers’ contributions to society. Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, it is among the oldest of America’s professional outreach efforts.

Additional events during the week include student competitions in gliders, water rockets, and bridge building; a display of student posters on engineering topics; a nerdy fashion show; and a charity event benefiting local homeless shelters. The week begins with a barbecue cookout and closes with a banquet.

Nicole Stott’s presentation takes attendees on a tour of the International Space Station (ISS) as she discusses its final phases of assembly and utilization.

As a mission specialist and ISS flight engineer, Stott is scheduled to make her first trip into space this summer on Expedition 19, launching with the Shuttle crew of STS-128 on a mission to the space station focused on station assembly and outfitting. She’ll return on a Russian Soyuz flight.

Stott, who graduated from Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus in 1987 with a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, is one of six current or former astronauts who are Embry-Riddle alumni. She is also an instrument-rated private pilot.

In another presentation, Dan Linehan will speak on the design, construction, testing, and operation of SpaceShipOne, the world’s first privately built and piloted manned spacecraft, which captured the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004 by reaching space three times.

A science editor with degrees in engineering and physics, Linehan is the author of SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History, which was published in 2008 with a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke. The book has garnered critical acclaim from such publications as Air & Space/Smithsonian and Ad Astra, the magazine of the National Space Society.

In his presentation Linehan will explain the innovative features that were key to SpaceShipOne’s success and will shed light on the development of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, the commercial, passenger-carrying version of SpaceShipOne.

All of the National Engineers Week events listed below are free and open to the public unless noted otherwise, and all events will be held on Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus at 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.

Monday, Feb. 16

National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Glider Competition
1 p.m., ICI Center.
Student team check-in: noon. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners. The teams should pay their registration fee and pick up their materials at the NSBE meeting Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m. in the Miller Instructional Center, room 203. Registration is required by Friday, Feb. 13.

Student Posters on Engineering Topics
The display starts at noon and runs through Friday, Lehman Center atrium.

Tuesday, Feb. 17

Kickoff Barbecue Cookout
5 p.m., Jack R. Hunt Aviator Park, next to the Student Center.

Guest Speaker: Author Dan Linehan
6:45 p.m., Miller Instructional Center auditorium.

Thursday, Feb. 19

Nerdy Thursday Fashion Show & Bridge-Building Competition
3:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Flight Deck in the Student Center.

Friday, Feb. 20

Charity House Event
Omicron Delta Kappa (National Leadership Honor Society).
Starts at noon Friday and ends Saturday, Jack R. Hunt Aviator Park, next to the Student Center.
This event will increase awareness for the homeless in Daytona Beach and raise money to support local homeless shelters. Each registered team will build a house out of cardboard and duct tape and spend the night in their house. The movie “Revenge of the Nerds” will be shown at midnight.

Guest Speaker: Astronaut Nicole Stott
6 p.m., Miller Instructional Center auditorium.

Saturday, Feb. 21

Water Rocket Competition
2-6 p.m., Spruance field.

Closing Banquet
Keynote Speaker: Embry-Riddle Professor James Ladesic
Topic: The Engineer of 2020.
6:30 p.m., Flight Deck in the Student Center.
Tickets are $10 for students, $12 for faculty and staff, and must be purchased in advance. Tickets are now on sale in the Lehman Center, room 227. Tickets must be purchased by noon, Tuesday, Feb. 17.

For more information, contact Professor Lisa Davids at lisa.davids@erau.edu or (386) 226-7057.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering, educating more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs. Doctoral programs in aviation and in engineering physics are pending approval by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) for the University to offer programs at the doctoral level. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 campus centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu