September will be busy with a Leadership Retreat on the 11th for your Executive Council.  We will focus on establishing the goals of the section for this year and on learning how we can bring the best of AIAA to you.  In addition we will start “Executive Tours” meetings with the management of the local aerospace industries to share with them the benefits of AIAA membership.

We do still have some openings on the Executive Council.  This is your chance to get involved in the leadership of AIAA.  The

If you are interested in any of these positions, or in volunteering to support one of the committees, please let us know.

I want to thank those of you that took the time to send in your survey from last month.  The council is already using the information to select activities that we think you will like.  And we are listening to you call for more variety in times and locations for the dinner meetings.  We will be bringing you at least one breakfast, lunch, and after work meeting to complement the traditional dinner meetings.  Our new Programs Chair, Rajni Andrews, has already developed a great list of locations and menus for our meetings.  I think you will like the variety!  Also, if you have an idea for a special AIAA sponsored event that you would like to participate in let us know!  This is your organization and we want to meet your needs and expectations.

AIAA National has started a new award this year called the “Sustained Performance Award”.  We are looking for your suggestions on an AIAA member who has shown years of service to AIAA and published several papers to nominate.  We will submit our Section’s nomination on October 1.  We will also submit nominations for the AIAA Engineer of the Year Award on October 1.  This is a very prestigious award that we would like to see won by someone in our area.  The nominee does not have to be a member of AIAA, but it is highly encouraged.  Again, let us know if you have a suggestion.

Of special importance for our membership is the council’s goal to reduce our newsletter mailings and rely more on an email note to check our website.  We currently mail over 1000 newsletters a month at a cost of about $500 each month.  If we could reduce that number even in half, it would be substantial savings to the Section that we could apply to other activities.  Included in this month’s newsletter is a form that you must return in order to stay on the paper copy distribution.  If we don’t receive this form back from you we will assume that you will be happy receiving an email notice to check the website.  If you are not already receiving AIAA emails from us, we don’t have your email address.  It will take several months for us to transition to a mixed technology distribution, but the savings will be worth it.  I do want to make sure that everyone knows that if you do want a paper copy, we are happy to continue sending one!  Just let us know.

Thank you all for your support of AIAA and I hope to see you at our events!

Merri Sanchez

Russel Aldrich, Igor Carron, Bernard Harris, Ralph Metcalfe, Ronald Newman, Nelson Thompson, Herman Vargas, Steven Yuan, Andrew Allen, Ali Aminian, James Buchli, William Capel, Howard DeCastro, Robert Dean, Michael McCulley, Michael Miller, Russ Turner, Koichi Wakata, Stephanie Wilson, Russel Baird, Roger Bilstein, Christopher Brown, Don Curry, Michael Oelke

Neil Johnson and Steve King, both Section Councilors, greeted Garret upon his arrival that morning.  He was given an overview of JSC, its mission, and the many career types that play key roles at the Center.  It was amazing to hear that Garret would be enrolling in a unique program this fall at the University of North Texas allowing him to complete both the last two years of his high school education and the first two years of college.  Wow!  He expressed an interest in computers and engineering, so a board sampling of JSC’s many activities was planned for his day.

After the introductions, Neil and Garret witnessed the real-time use of the Space Shuttle/Space Station mockups and robotics laboratories in building 9 and visited the TransHab mockups in building 32.  The two were later joined by Steve King and Joy Conrad, Section Pre-College Chair, at the building 11 cafeteria to get a taste of authentic “space worker” food.  Garret spent the remainder of the day with Steve King observing JSC’s manufacturing capabilities, the construction of X-38 vehicle 201 in building 220, crew survival and EVA training at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), and X-38 mating system testing in building 13.  I think he was most impressed with the scale and on goings at the NBL.  Throughout his day, Garret saw the dedication, teamwork, and complexities that makeup JSC’s varied activities.  It was an eye opening experience for him to explore possible career choices and talk to people in those fields, and for his mentors to see his youthful potential.  Hopefully one day we will see him return to JSC as one of our co-workers and AIAA Section members.

     It's called "Future City," but the non-profit competition asks middle school students to create models of real, working cities that must deal with all the benefits-- and problems -- of a modern metropolis.  As young people learn the importance of engineering, they also learn the rigors of making a city work.

        For the past seven years, junior high and middle school students from across the country, including the Houston area, have designed their versions of a city of tomorrow for the National Engineers Week Future City Competitionä.  The Houston regional coordinator, Dr. Zafar Taqvi, recently joined in the launch of the 2000 competition at a training session at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on June 24-26, along with 19 other coordinators from across the nation.

        The competition asks seventh- and eighth-graders to design, first on computer and then in a large three-dimensional model, a city of the future.  The students work with their teacher and a volunteer engineer from the community who serves as a mentor.  Though the cities may sound like fantasy, the designs are very much down to earth.  Students must take into account real city problems such as pollution, crime, traffic, and unemployment, and then solve them.  Students from the Houston area begin work on their future cities at the start of the school year, exploring a wide variety of scenarios via a computer program, SimCity 2000.  This lets them experiment with where and how to use factories, parks, transportation systems, housing, schools, and other components of the urban fabric.

        Besides group sessions where coordinators discussed fundraising, securing schools, volunteer engineers and judges, and other competition details, the coordinators heard from business and education representatives.   They included Kendall Starkweather, Ph.D., executive director of the International Technology Education Association (ITEA), Douglas Kaempf of the U.S. Department of Energy, John Mankins from NASA, and Patrick Natale, executive director of the National Society of Professional Engineers, sponsors of National Engineers Week.  Workshop attendees also discussed integrating the competition with the Mars Millennium Project, a White House Millennium Council youth initiative challenging children across the nation to design a community on the planet Mars.

        The National Engineers Week Future City Competition began with five sites in 1993.  This year, 21 sites will host contests: Buffalo, Chicago, Denver, South Florida, Hampton Roads, Virginia, Houston, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Milwaukee, New York City, Ohio, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and Washington State.  Sponsored by the National Engineers Week Committee, a consortium of engineering associations and major U.S. industries, co-chairs of National Engineers Week 2000, February 20-26, are the American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC), a national organization of private consulting engineering firms, and CH2M HILL, a global engineering company specializing in water and wastewater, environmental management, transportation, telecommunications, industrial facilities and related infrastructure.

        Last year, more than 550 schools and 8,000 students from across the nation participated in the Future City Competition.  National finals, held at Washington's National Building Museum, was won by Our Lady Help of Christians School in Abington, Pa., representing the Philadelphia competition.  Second place went to St. Francis of Assisi School in North Tonawanda, N.Y., from the Buffalo competition, and in third place was the St. Paul Lutheran School in Grafton, Wis., winner of the Milwaukee competition.  The Al-Hadi School of Accelerated Learning located in Southwest Houston won the Houston Regional competition.

        Students at schools wishing to sign up for the Houston Regional Future City Competition and engineers interested in volunteering as mentors or judges, should contact Dr. Zafar Taqvi at Z.Taqvi@ieee.org, (281)-244-4436  or at 9874 Sageaspen, Houston, TX 77089.

Details of the Future City competition can found at the website address http://www.futurecity.org

Early registration deadline:

As we enter the new millennium many challenges face us in our quest to explore space.  Please join Lockheed Martin Astronautics for the Human Space Transportation and Exploration Workshop in Galveston, Texas, 29 February – 1 March, 2000 to discuss some of the issues involved.  The workshop forum is designed to provide industry, government and academia participants the means for interactive discussion and consensus building on the needs, requirements, and issues revolving around a variety of human-in-space topics.

Technical and Programmatic Paper Topics

Technologies and Issues

· Automation, Autonomy, and Crew Involvement

For further information contact Pat Langley, conference coordinator, in Denver at (303)977-6761 or email at pat.langley@lmco.com

July 1999

7/7 Lunch and Learn:  “Role of Human Habitability Study in Space Facility and
Vehicle Design”  with Constance Adams
7/16 Region IV RAC meeting in Dallas
7/17 Regional Leadership Conference in Dallas
7/17 “The Magic of Physics” at the Education Fair at the Lunar Rendezvous Fun Run
7/20 Executive Council Meeting
7/23 Newsletter inputs due

August 1999

TBD  Lunch and Learn
8/1 Section Insurance Form due if we want it (council voted against it)
8/6 Mentor Day for winner of TAMU sponsored high school essay contest
8/9 Mail out newsletter and notice of August meeting
8/12 Executive Council Meeting
8/18 Newsletter inputs due
8/26 Honors and Awards Banquet and Program w/ AIAA Distinguished Lecturer Dr.
Kenneth Cox speaking on “A ‘Futurist’ Perspective for Space”

September 1999

TBD Lunch and Learn
TBD Telecon to Australian Section
TBD RAC Telecon
TBD Executive Tour with Boeing management
TBD Executive Tour with USA management
TBD Executive Tour with Lockheed management
TBD Executive Tour with Muniz management?
TBD Executive Tour with Hernandez management?
TBD Executive Tour with Oceaneering management?
9/1 Submit Distinguished Lecturer request to National
9/11 Executive Council Leadership Retreat
9/15 Newsletter inputs due
9/30 Dinner Program,TBD

October 1999

TBD Lunch and Learn:  “Vestibular-Autonomic Interactions in SpaceFlight” with Dr.
Todd Schlegel
TBD Executive Tour with Johnson Engineering management?
TBD Executive Tour with LinCom management?
TBD Executive Tour with DynCorp management?
10/1 Sustained Performance Award nominations due to National
10/1 Engineer of the Year Award nomination due to National
10/7 Executive Council Meeting
10/13 Newsletter inputs due
10/21 Dinner Program
10/30 Section Programs calendar due to National
10/30 Regional visit support request due to National

November 1999

TBD Lunch and Learn
TBD Telecon to Australian Section
11/4 Executive Council Meeting
11/10 Newsletter inputs due
11/9 RAC Telecon, 4 pm
11/18 Dinner Program

December 1999

TBD Lunch and Learn
12/2 Executive Council Meeting
12/8 Newsletter inputs due
12/16 Dinner Program or Holiday Party

January 2000

TBD Lunch and Learn
1/6 Executive Council Meeting
1/12 Newsletter inputs due
1/10-13  38th AIAA Aerospace Science Meeting and Exhibits in Reno
1/20 Dinner Program

February 2000

TBD Lunch and Learn
TBD Telecon to Australian Section
TBD Congressional Visits Day
TBD Physics is Fun Day
2/3 Executive Council Meeting
2/9 Newsletter inputs due
2/17 Dinner Program
2/20-26  Engineer’s Week
2/29-3/1 Human Space Transportation and Exploration Workshop at Galveston
(Lockheed Denver conference, AIAA will help support)

March 2000

TBD Lunch and Learn
3/2 Executive Council Meeting
3/8 Newsletter inputs due
3/16 Dinner Program
3/25-27  Houston Science and Engineering Fair

April 2000

TBD Lunch and Learn
TBD Telecon to Australian Section
4/6? Executive Council Meeting
4/6-7 Student Paper Competition
4/6-7 Annual Technical Symposium
4/12 Newsletter inputs due
4/15 Associate Fellow upgrade nominations due
4/27 Dinner Program

May 2000

TBD Lunch and Learn
TBD Workshop on Automation and Robotics and Innovations 2000
TBD Clear Lake City Technical Societies Annual Awards Banquet
5/1 Houston Section Spirit of Apollo scholarships applications due
5/4 Executive Council Meeting
5/10 Newsletter inputs due
5/10-12   Global Air and Space 2000 International Business Forum and Exhibits in
Washington, DC
5/18 Dinner Program

June 2000

TBD Lunch and Learn
TBD Telecon to Australian Section
6/1 Executive Council Meeting
6/7 Newsletter inputs due
6/15 Fellow nominations due
6/22 Honor and Awards Banquet
6/30 Section Reports due to Regional and National

July 2000

TBD RAC meeting and Regional Leadership Conference, location TBD
 
 

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Please return to Merri Sanchez via email at merri.sanchez1@jsc.nasa.gov, or via interoffice mail at OC/Merri Sanchez, or via US mail at PO Box 57524, Webster, TX 77598.