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• Cal Poly SLO Students Tour Lockheed Martin, Sunnyvale
• NASA wants your input!
• How can celebrities help raise awareness of STEM careers?
• Sometimes Workforce Development Is Rocket Science
• Journey to Palomar
• A Hands-On Approach to Workforce Development
• Who Owns the Moon?
• Kennedy vs. Obama on Space
• Partnering with NASA
• Calling all Aerospace Industry Professionals

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Cal Poly SLO Students Tour Lockheed Martin, Sunnyvale

November 10th, 2008   By Thend   Filed Under Industry Space, Student Space  

The California Space Education & Workforce Institute arranged for 5 students from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo to visit Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale on Friday October 24, 2008. The students  received a warm welcome, luncheon presentation, and a mock up tour from the young professionals and staff that currently work there.

The students, accompanied by the Director of the Math Engineering Science Achievement Program (MESA) at Cal Poly SLO, were attentive with lots of questions for the Lockheed Martin employees about the aerospace industry. Most of the students in attendance were at the Junior level in college, and the majority had never visited an aerospace company before.  While all of the students were seeking a career in Aerospace prior to the tour, all felt that the tour sparked their interest even more.  When asked what they gained from the tour the following were some of their responses:

“Before this tour I had little to no prior experience with missiles and defense systems”

“Lots of information about jobs & opportunities”

“Talking with people that actually work in the fields I am considering to get an idea of what they do”

Sometimes Workforce Development Is Rocket Science

October 22nd, 2008   By Matt   Filed Under Industry Space, Student Space  

MOJAVE, CA – Learn by doing has long been the motto of many California State University campuses and at the Long Beach campus (CSULB), that’s just what they are doing. In conjunction with Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC) and the California Space Authority (CSA), 42 students from numerous campuses have successfully launched a 500 pound liquid-fueled rocket over the skies of the Mojave Desert. Funded by the US Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative, the project was heavily focused on demonstrating the effectiveness of ambitious hands-on opportunities in preparing the next generation of the nation’s technical workforce.

“The space enterprise community has expressed the need for hands-on lessons that will teach to the workforce issues it faces,” stated Andrea Seastrand, Executive Director of CSA. “This exercise is exactly the type of opportunity to provide real-life, real-time learning.”

The rocket, known as Prospector 12A (P-12A) and developed by GSC and CSULB, carried payloads that were designed and developed by students of CSULB, Santa Clara University, Saratoga High School and the University of Kentucky. Their mission was to collect data about the rocket’s aerodynamic performance, the rocket’s trajectory, and to record video for further study.

“It was an exciting experience and learning process for these students and their mentors,” said Professor Bob Twiggs of Stanford University. “The Saratoga High School students asked me to say ‘thanks’ to the WIRED program for this opportunity.”

Recognizing the activity as an experience the students will remember, Dr. Eric Besnard, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at CSULB, commented that “this launch represented the culmination of weeks of close collaboration between industry mentors, students and faculty and as a result its lessons about systems integration are all the more valuable.”

According to John Garvey of GSC, “this launch represents another important step in our long-term goal of developing a dedicated nanosat launch vehicle that can put these kinds of student payloads into orbit. The P-12A rocket reached an altitude of 3,000 feet before returning to earth.” All payloads survived the launch and returned intact and the student investigators were intensely focused on retrieving their hardware and data.

“To ensure we retain our leadership in the global space economy, it is imperative that we step up our workforce training efforts to fill the coming gap that will be caused by retirements from the existing workforce,” concluded Mrs. Seastrand. “It is exciting to know that CSA was instrumental in providing this highly relevant opportunity for students.”

Journey to Palomar

September 23rd, 2008   By Matt   Filed Under Meeting Space, Student Space  

There is a new documentary about the events leading up to the creation of the observatory at Palomar Mountain in San Diego County.  Astronomers were the first space explorers, and this documentary covers the work by George Hale and others on creating the first of the telescopes that started to give us the kind of data that changed our understanding of the universe.  If this doesn’t immediately strike you as an interesting story, it may help to note that Palomar was the biggest telescope in the world at the time and that it took over twenty years to complete it, starting one year before the beginning of the great depression.  The mirror itself took 11 years to finish, and moving it to its final location at the observatory was national news at the time.

Their will be a webcast for students and educators to take place on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.  Participants in the interactive session will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to a panel of leading scientists inlcuding Nobel Laureate Dr. John Mather, Science Director for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope; Carnegie Observatories Director, Dr. Wendy Freedman on the Giant Magellan Telescope; and Caltech Optical Observatories Director Emeritus, Dr. Richard Ellis on the Thirty-Meter Telescope.  The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Derrick Pitts, television personality and Chief Astronomer at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.  This will be a great opportunity for any young student interested in space science or astronomy.

Calling all Aerospace Industry Professionals

July 10th, 2008   By Thend   Filed Under Industry Space, Student Space  

The California Space Education & Workforce Institute would like to personally invite you to participate in our new virtual mentoring program!!!

Our goal is to encourage current university students to choose a career path in aerospace, and to offer them guidance on their pathway to success from an industry professional.
We have partnered with an organization called Icouldbe.org to bring you a virtual mentoring website that will provide you with a CONVENIENT yet effective way to make a positive impact on a university student’s life.  You can mentor a university student via email- requiring up to only 1 hour of your time per week.

STEP 1

Please register as a CSEWI MENTOR through our secure website below:
www.icouldbe.org/csewi

Cal Poly Pomona visits Kelly Space & Technology

June 26th, 2008   By Thend   Filed Under Industry Space, Student Space  

The California Space Education & Workforce Institute arranged for 11 students from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona  to visit Kelly Space & Technology in San Bernardino. The students received a 2 hour tour from the Program Managers there. The tour was held from 3:00pm-5:00pm on Friday May 23, 2008.

In spite of the rainy weather, the students, accompanied by the Director of Maximizing Engineering Potential (MEP) at Cal Poly Pomona, were there with lots of questions for the program managers. In fact, they remained after the tour ended asking questions and listening to the experiences and stories of the engineers there. The group consisted of the full range of students from freshmen to graduating seniors. For less than half of these students this was a 1st time visit to an aerospace company. Every student stated that the tour was excellent and sparked their interest even further in the aerospace industry. When asked what they gained from the tour the following were some of their responses:

“Good insight into how a real aerospace company works & what to look for in my first job”

“I experienced a work environment”

“Enlightening towards idea of what engineering is really about”

“Showed me how propulsion and rocket testing worked which was something I’ve always considered”

“Interesting look at R&D”

“I obtained a better understanding of an engineer’s duties and responsibilities. Also, I received advice on what types of education to pursue”

“Very real information and experience from engineers and life stories that were very beneficial to my career choices”

“I received very helpful insight to what direction I will take in the next few years in school as well as my career”

University of California, Irvine tours Northrop Grumman Space Technology, Redondo Beach

June 26th, 2008   By Thend   Filed Under Industry Space, Student Space  

On May 23, 2008 CSEWI set up innovation tours at 2 aerospace companies for university students from Cal Poly Pomona University and University of California, Irvine to encourage them to seek a career in the Aerospace Industry.

5 students from UC Irvine visited Northrop Grumman Space Technology and received a tour from the University Relations & Recruiting Manager there. The tour was held from 11:00am-12:30pm on a very rainy day. In spite of the weather the students, accompanied by the Director of the Center for Opportunities and Diversity in Engineering (CODE) at UCI, were there on time and excited to see what Northrop Grumman had to offer.

The group consisted of a couple sophomores, one senior and a couple of juniors. For one of the students this was a 1st time visit to an aerospace company. All five of them agreed that the tour sparked their interest even further in the aerospace industry. When asked what they gained from the tour the following were a couple of the responses:

“Acquired knowledge of past/present/future outer space technology & its objectives”

“It gave me a perspective on the diverse opportunities offered at this company”

“Showed different applications for my chosen degree/career path”

First LOX-Methane Rocket Launch

May 6th, 2008   By Matt   Filed Under Student Space  

An fantastic example of what can be accomplished with cross-sector collaboration.

Student Space

February 11th, 2008   By _randall   Filed Under Student Space  

Having problems passing your aeroelasticity class?  Have a question regarding astrodynamics, electrotechnology or some other course ending in “ics” or “ology?” Are you excited about researching an interesting space related problem? This is where you network with friends, enemies and everyone in-between.  Discover your inner mentor.