Category Archives: Announcements

The UP Experience

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The UP Experience

Legendary aerospace vehicle designer Burt Rutan is one of the presenters at The UP Experience in the Houston area at the Stafford Performing Arts Centre (just 15 minutes from the Galleria area in Houston) on Thursday, October 25, 2012. Mr. Rutan’s presentation will be, “Inspiration for Innovation and the Race for Space.” Below is a description of this annual Houston event, The UP Experience, from the web site (www.theupexperience.net).

The UP Experience – Unique Perspectives from Unique People – is an engaging and intellectually stimulating event that brings together 16 of the world’s most extraordinary thought leaders, creators, and innovators for one exceptional day. These are the people behind the technologies, the trends, the ideas, and the global movements that shape our existence. The only event of its kind in Houston, UP is a learning opportunity, a creative conference, a think tank, and an entertainment event all in one. During 20-minute onstage presentations, each of our 16 guests discusses his or her work, passion, and ideas for the future; offstage, attendees experience up close and personal Q&A sessions. Designed for both personal and professional application, UP is an infusion of exceptional people, exceptional thinking and exceptional advances.

One day a year, in Houston, Texas, we now have a way to learn “What’s UP”.

A few more presenters are noted below:

Donald R. Sadoway, an MIT Professor, “The Liquid Metal Battery- The Missing Link to Renewable Energy.”

Wade Adams, a Rice University Professor, “Nanotechnology and the Future of Energy.”

Koen Olthuis, founder of a Dutch architectural firm, “A Sustainable Future on the Waterfront.”

Boaz Almog from the superconductivity group at Tel-Aviv University, “Quantum Levitation” or “Quantum Locking.”

Registration is $1,000, $1,500 for a registration with a VIP package, or $4,000 for five people with a Corporate Package.

Any additional information about the event will be posted on the event page.

Space Settlement Design Competition – Volunteers Needed

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The Space Settlement Design Competition-International Finalist Round is taking place at the JSC Gilruth Center Saturday 28 July through Monday 30 July, and we are looking for volunteers to help create the usual wonderful experience for the high school student participants. We are looking for Technical Experts to conduct Technical Sessions Saturday 28 July (1:00 -2:30 p.m.), to “rove” and answer student questions Saturday afternoon/evening and/or all day Sunday, to serve as “Red Team Reviewers” Sunday 29 July afternoon and evening, and/or (if not Red Team members), and to serve as Judges on Monday 30 July. The four “technical disciplines” for the Competition basically encompass:

Structural Engineering-includes overall conceptual design of the settlement exterior, construction materials, and sizes/locations of interior facilities.

Operations Engineering-includes infrastructure, e.g., electrical power, internal and external transportation, communication, water, waste handling, and agriculture.

Human Engineering-includes determination of human needs (e.g., food, air, water, sewage, radiation protection), and also designs the community and residences.

Automation Engineering-includes design of computers and robots for construction, service to the settlement’s population, and conducting the community’s business

The 16 teams participating in this year’s Finalist
Competition represent high schools in California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Texas, Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, Pakistan, Romania, and the UK (including students from Botswana). Their challenge will be to design the first settlement on Venus, where you know we will concoct challenges and surprises.

If you are interested in volunteeting please contact Jack Gafford at jack.c.gafford@boeing.com. We look forward to seeing some of you at the Gilruth Center in a little over a week!

RSVP for the Annual Awards Dinner

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Happy July 4th, all! Hope you are enjoying the day with loved ones.

The RSVP form for the Annual Awards Dinner is available. Please RSVP at the event’s page to select the applicable options and pay via PayPal.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, July 25, 2012.

If you are experiencing any difficulties with using the form, please contact Irene Chan at webmaster2012@aiaahouston.org.

Questions about the event? Contact Alan Sisson at councilor8-2012@aiaahouston.org.

We look forward to seeing you on the 31st!

Traversing New Horizons – 2012-2013 Executive Council, Latest Issues of Horizons Available, Awards+Robonaut2, and Website Status

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2012-2013 Election Results

It is our pleasure to announce the 2012-2013 elected council members:
Chair: Daniel Nobles
Chair-Elect: Jonathan Sandys
Vice-Chair, Technical: Brian Banker
Vice-Chair, Operations: Michael Frostad
Secretary: Robert Plunkett
Treasurer: Clay Stangle
Councilors: Shirley Brandt, Larry Friesen, Sarah Shull, Christopher Davila, Alan Sisson
(One year term left) Ellen Gillespie, Matt Johnson, Melissa Kronenberger

We will also be interviewing candidates for appointed positions for next year’s AIAA Houston Executive Council very soon.

If you are interested and would like to be considered for any of positions with a red border or without any border on the 2011-2012 org chart, please contact the chair, Daniel Nobles, at chair2012[at]aiaahouston.org.

Congratulations to all! The 2012-2013 year will be another fantastic year with these leaders serving the council!

Horizons

The AIAA Houston Section is proud to present its latest issues – including a special edition highlighting the section’s 50th Anniversary gala – of Horizons, the award-winning bi-monthly newsletter publication.

  • May/June 2012 Issue (PDF, 13948kb)
    Volume 37, Number 7

    • Cover story: Morpheus, by Dr. Jon B. Olansen, NASA/JSC
    • Dinner meeting of June 6, 2012, the 50th anniversary of AIAA Houston Section
    • The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport
    • The Annual Technical Symposium (ATS 2012) at NASA/JSC
    • Planetary Resources: Flight of Fancy or Real Wealth?, editorial by Shen Ge
    • Will Europe Participate in the Orion MPCV Project of the USA?, by Philippe Mairet, 3AF MP
    • Ellington Field, Airport, Spaceport & The Lone Star Flight Museum
    • Yuri’s Night Houston 2012: The 5k Fun Run and Space Day
    • Space Fighter: 1963, by Scott Lowther, Aerospace Projects Review
    • Rest in Peace, John Llewellyn, Apollo era engineer
  • 50th Anniversary Edition (PDF, 14884kb)
    Volume 37, Number 6, Special Edition, June 6, 2012

    • The 1987 twenty-page booklet celebrating the 25th anniversary of AIAA Houston Section
    • More than twenty news pages extending that 1987 for our 2012 celebration of the 50th anniversary of AIAA Houston Section
  • March/April 2012 Issue (PDF, 14731kb)
    Volume 37, Number 5

    • Cover story: Develop Cislunar Space Next, by Paul Spudis
    • Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC 2012), by Shen Ge
    • Commercial Cargo, by Carl Walz of Orbital Sciences Corporation
    • Leading the Next 50 Years of Exploration, by Douglas Terrier, NASA/JSC
    • NASA GRAIL Lunar Mission, from the Lunar and Planetary Institute Cosmic Explorations lecture series
    • Dream Chaser for NASA Commercial Crew Development (CCDev), by John Curry of Sierra Nevada Corporation
    • Book review by Daniel R. Adamo, Astrodynamics Consultant, 50 Years on the Space Frontier by Robert W. Farquhar
    • Astronaut Training in Star City, by Philippe Mairet, 3AF MP
    • International Cooperation, by Philippe Mairet, 3AF MP
    • Virtus, by Scott Lowther, Aerospace Projects Review (APR)
    • The Conquest of Space and The Ugly Spaceship, by Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV

AIAA-Houston Section Annual Awards Banquet

Featuring guest speaker, Nicolaus A. Radford, Robonaut 2 Deputy Project Manager, who will give us an update on the latest developments of Robonaut 2

Please join us in honoring fellow AIAA Houston Section members that are celebrating their 25th, 40th, 50th, and even 60th anniversary as AIAA members! We will also be recognizing outstanding members that have gone above and beyond to enrich our section’s programs and technical endeavors.

Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Time: 6:00pm
Location: NASA JSC, Gilruth Center, Alamo Ballroom
$15 – Members; $20 Non-members
Public welcomed
Come meet the 2012-2013 AIAA Houston Section Council!

AIAA-Houston will also be presenting a charitable donation to the Challenger Center from Yuri’s Night’s proceeds.

Details on how and when to RSVP will follow.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Speaker Biography:

Nicolaus A. Radford currently works for National Aeronautics and    Space Administration at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in the Dexterous Robotics Laboratory. He serves as the Deputy Project Manager and Chief Electrical Engineer for NASA’s Robonaut 2, an anthropomorphic humanoid robot. He is also the Principal Investigator for NASA in DARPA-funded advanced electric machine research for robotics. He also leads NASA efforts in exoskeleton research for crew exercise and mobility assistance.  He specializes in inverter design for brushless DC motor control. He graduated with a B.S.E.E. (’00) and a M.S.E.E (’12) from Purdue University and is currently pursuing a PhD absentia with Dr. Steven Pekarek in Optimal Design of Variable Flux Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines at Purdue also.

Website Status

Migration of the data from the old website to this site is coming along steadily. What you see now is not the final product. Stay tuned for a new look and feel and more updated content (especially under the Technical Committee page).