National Institute of AerospaceSTEM Initiatives

Harla SherwoodJuly 2007

National Institute of Aerospace

• An Independent Non-profit Research and Graduate Education Institute formed in 2002 by a Consortium of Six Universities and the AIAA Foundation

• Conceived by NASA Langley Research Center and established to serve as LaRC’s Collaborative Partner

• Conducts Collaborative Research in Engineering and Science relevant to Aerospace

• Offers Full- and Part-time Resident Graduate Education in Engineering and the Sciences from Member Universities

• Leads and Participates in a wide range of Outreach Programs to enhance the nation’s Science and Technology Workforce

Member Universities

Georgia Tech

Hampton University

North Carolina A&T State University

North Carolina State University

University of Maryland

University of Virginia

Virginia Tech

The College of William & Mary

Old Dominion University

Research Thrusts at NIA

• Experimental and

Computational Aerodynamics• Aviation Safety• Air Traffic Management• Small Aircraft Systems• Aircraft and Space Structures• Synthesis, Modeling and

Simulation of New Materials• Performance, Cost and Risk Analysis• Systems Design and Assessment Tools• Aircraft and Space Vehicle Flight

Controls• Planetary Science and Engineering• Earth Atmospheric Sciences

NIA Graduate Education Program

To provide a truly outstanding graduate education program in engineering and the sciences based on an unprecedented

collaboration between six major research universities

• M.S. and Ph.D. offered from all six founding universities

• Courses on-site at NIA; research in LaRC laboratories

• Faculty advisors in residence or on home campus; research mentors at NASA

• Outstanding courses from member universities; new courses in emerging disciplines

• Up to 50% of coursework from other member schools

• Full Assistantships for Exceptional Students

NIANASA LaRC

NIA’s Primary Collaboration is with NASA Langley Research Center

NIA, NASA LaRCUniv of Maryland

Hampton Univ, Old Dominion UnivWilliam & MaryNorth Carolina StateGeorgia Tech

AIAA

NIA’s 10 Member Institutions offer graduate and continuing education in Hampton Roads

North Carolina A&TVirginia Tech

Univ of Virginia

UVa

RTINC A&T

GA Tech

NIA Collaborates with Universities and Industrial Partners Nationally …

Washington DC areaNASA HQ

NASA GSFCDoDDoENSF

Univ of MDAIAAGMU

MITRE

Cert Services, Inc Boeing Aerojet

FL Atlantic

DraperLab

Brown Univ

USC JPL SAIC

UC BoulderBYUUCAR

Santa Fe Inst

Purdue

Ole Miss

Princeton, GFDLUniv of DEUMES

Texas A&MAuburn

Vanderbilt

Pratt & WhitneyClarkson Univ

CessnaGE Aircraft

Hampton VA areaNIA NASA LaRCHampton UnivODU CNUWilliam & MaryNorfolk State U.

Gulf Stream

SRIWright State

NCSUVa Tech

ICF

LM SkunkworksCSC

LM Aeronautics

Boeing Phantomworks

RITA

… and Internationally

AsiaTechnionTel-Aviv UnivWeizmann Inst.KolonInha UnivHanyang UnivKyoto Univ.

AustraliaUniversity of Queensland

Imperial CollegeUniv. Manchester

Cardiff Univ.Univ. Limerick

Von Karman InstitutePolitecnico di Bari

Ecole Central De LyonEcole Polytechnique

Univ. Paris SudUniv. Tubingen

Delft UnivUniv of Porto

CNRSINRIA

Uppsala Univ Univ of BristolUniv of GironaUniv of Sevilla

Univ of Ulm

Hampton VANIA NASA LaRC

Europe

AfricaUniversity of the Witwaterstrand

South AmericaUniversidade de Brasilia

Outreach to the Region and the Nation:NIA’s Continuum of Education

• Illustrates NIA's Holistic Approach to Addressing Long-Term Workforce Development Needs

• Links K-12, Undergraduate, Graduate, Teacher Professional Development, Faculty Development, Workforce Training and Public Awareness

• Connects the Steps in the Pipeline for the Aerospace Workforce

• Highlights Specific Needs at Each Step of the Pipeline

– e.g., Grades 6-8: "Sustain and Grow Competency in Mathematics"

• Focuses on the Goal of Improving the Quantity and Quality of the Input to the Next Step in the Continuum

• Identifies NIA and Partner Programs that Directly Address the Need at Each Step

• Reinforces Value through Teaching, Parenting, and Mentoring Feedback Loops

© 2006, National Institute of Aerospace

NIA’s Continuum of Education

•ATTRACT AND RETAIN STUDENTS IN STEM DISCIPLINES by engaging students in STEM education programs to encourage their pursuit of educational disciplines critical to the Nation’s future engineering, scientific and technical missions; and by developing innovative approaches to enhance the competence and confidence of K-12 teachers to master and teach STEM material.

•STRENGTHEN THE NATION’S FUTURE WORKFORCE by contributing to the development of the Nation’s aerospace workforce of the future through a portfolio of educational initiatives that target America’s college students and existing workforce, including those in traditionally underserved and under-represented communities; and through faculty development programs that provide relevant real-world experiences

•ENGAGE AMERICANS through hands-on, interactive, educational materials. NIA and its partners will engage students, educators, families and the general public to increase America’s science and technology literacy.

Educator Professional Development:In-Service Teachers Program

– Teacher’s spend one week at NASA being exposed to NASA technologies and educational resources

– Second week spent making local connections to university faculty and resources and space grant activities

– Materials tied to national and state standards

– 2007 program to involve VA, NC, MD and GA teachers

– 5th annual workshop July 8-20, 2007 with 32 middle and high school teachers

– Workshop to focus on NASA enhancement materials in STEM content with integrating technology component (Nortel MCS)

– Related activities include 1) Center for the Advancement of STEM Education; Durham County Public Schools, Virginia Math/Science Partnership

• Partnership: NIA, NASA Education, NIA Universities and Space Grants (NC, VA, MD and GA)

• Funding: NIA for stipends and travel for 32 teachers• Objective: Provide motivational and content material based on NASA technologies for

use by middle and high school math and science teachers

Educator Professional Development:NASA/NIA Pre-Service Teachers Program

• NIA managing program for NASA since June ‘05. Subcontract to UMd-ES• Objective: Improve pre-service teacher preparation at minority serving institutions

through an annual national conference and summer institute– Supports elementary and middle-school pre-service teachers from underserved populations;

Reaches pre-teachers in 35 states– Provides opportunities for pre-service teachers to develop confidence and skills to effectively

teach mathematics and science using technology– Supports increase in underserved students entering the field of education– NASA enhancement materials in math and science with integrating technology component

(MCS) provided by Nortel– National conference held Feb 15-17, 2007; 450 participants from over 55 institutions

representing 32 states and 94 congressional districts– Institute to be held July 15-27; 25 participants at NASA Langley Research Center– Institute to be held August 12-17; 25 participants at NASA Ames Research Center

Career Experiences: LARSS

• Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars• 10 week summer intern program at LaRC for rising juniors, seniors and grad students;

bridge program for 1st, 2nd year students from SHARP (high-school program)• AE, ME, MSE, CS, Atm Sci, Astro, Phys, Chem and support disciplines (business)• 100-150 students per year; stipends $4500-5000• Program funded through NIA CA, effective June 1, 2006

Career Experiences: LFFP

• Langley Faculty Fellowship Program• 10 week summer program at LaRC for faculty members• Similar to ASEE program for DOD and DOE• Program funded through NIA T/O since June 2006 • NIA to exploit synergy with other NIA activities, such as NIA summer visitor program to

revitalize and enhance program to make it attractive to research faculty at top-tier universities for ‘07 program

• Educators-in-Residence Program– 3 teachers at NIA ‘07-’08

Media Communications: Discovery Now

• Discovery Now Radio show (90 second interstitials) launched on 1/22/07 – 240 shows to be aired annually (120 shows completed)– Information sources: AIAA, NASA, FAA, NAIC, Department of Defense, US Air Force, NIA and its

member universities

• Broadcast on WHRV/WHRO (Hampton Roads) during “All Things Considered” (5:32pm) • PBS distribution and marketing in collaboration with WHRO and the Public Radio Exchange

(discoverynow.us)– Commercial and satellite distribution in collaboration with DTC (audionewsfeed.com)– Stations representing EVERY state in the nation have requested information and/or downloaded

programs– Marketing blitz to be implemented summer 2007

• Discussions underway with NASA regarding use of DN programs to support NASA’s 50th Anniversary and 50th Anniversary of the Space Age, 50th Anniversary of the FAA

Media Communications: NASA 360

• 30-minute pilot program developed for television broadcast program focusing on the Vision for Space Exploration and funded by LaRC Office of Public Affairs

• Target audience 18-34, both male and female• Format is transferable to VHS, DVD, Internet (web streaming and downloads), Audio

(podcasting), downlinking via satellite (TV station use), and printing (printed materials). • Station commitments as natural follow-on to NASA’s Destination Tomorrow to include

Voice of America which broadcasts over 6 satellites to 1200 stations with a potential viewing audience of 93 million

• NASA’s Destination Tomorrow is currently being broadcast in re-run format. Contract runs out September 2007, which creates a sense of urgency to produce new programming to maintain existing station base and time slots. Existing station base includes 852 US stations and 10 International stations.

• Seeking funding from government and others to produce an annual series of five shows

Informal Education Initiatives

• STS 118 http://www.nianet.org/events/STS-117– Partners: NIA, NASA, Nortel and ACTUA – Engaging 200,000+ students during the summer of 2007 to promote awareness of STS 118 and

the education activities developed to support the mission – Canada-wide workshops to include Johnson Space Flight Center/ESMD 21st Century Explorer

materials (with ACTUA)

Informal Education Initiatives

• Greenland Space Science Symposium– NIA providing the education and outreach component for the Greenland Space Science

Symposium (www.gsss-2007.org).  Including: taping and broadcasting opening sessions of the conference; working with students and teachers to interview participating scientists and researchers developing web casts and synchronous training opportunities in collaboration with NASA

Langley Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Sun Earth Connection, and the Denmark National Space Center 

– Resources available through an open source platform being developed in collaboration with Nortel LearniT.

http://www.nortellearnit.org/Greenland_Symposium

Informal Education Initiatives (continued)

• National Competition Promoting STEM Literacy– Sponsor: Dictionary.com, Partners: NIA and Nortel– International Word-of-the-Day Competition– supports teachers and parents, and enhances K-16 STEM learning using 21st century classroom

technologies– Students, working in teams with a teacher or mentor will choose a STEM word and associate

it with how it will impact the future related to earth science, space science, aerospace, space exploration, or information technology

– Students will research their STEM word and write a script for a 60-second word-of-the day video.  – Videos will be reviewed by our team of experts with winners selected and prizes awarded for each

level of competition: elementary school (grades 3-5), middle school, high school, and undergraduate. 

– Videos/words will be tied to STEM careers (workforce pipeline – NASA and others) for use by educators.

Video Word of the Day

Informal Education Initiatives (continued)

• Exploration Systems Mission Directorate activities– geospatial technology/ geocaching educational outreach campaign– interactive 3-dimensional website promoting NASA spin off tech– NASA 101 print version w/ interactive web site featuring 3-D animations

• Americas Competitiveness Forum– U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez to host inaugural Americas Competitiveness Forum

on June 11–12, 2007 in Atlanta– NIA and partner Nortel LearniT to provide education and outreach support– ACF will provide a venue for government ministers from the Western Hemisphere to come

together with leaders from the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations, to explore cutting edge ideas and best practices in several key areas of competitiveness. The ACF’s main tracks are:

sparking and sustaining innovation creating solutions in education and workforce development designing successful global supply chain strategies fostering small business development and growth

Informal Education Initiatives (continued)

• Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Back-To-School Outreach– Master The Science…Master The Game!– In support of continued Pokémon Diamond and Pearl branding, this back-to-school effort will

launch in September 2007 and promote to students, educators and parents the science and fun featured in the game and how it enhances student learning.

– Focusing on science topics found in the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl game, NIA will develop an online education resource which will be featured on the Nintendo website with hosting by NIA and its supporting web partners

– NIA’s educators will select areas of content and develop education activities aligned to national science and technology standards keyed to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

– Back-To-School education activities will include: Educator resource guides and teaching units Best practices for educators on how to use activities in the classroom setting Student activities Links to related NASA content and other activities for enhanced use Competition for students to ask intriguing questions and pose some of these questions to

subject matter experts: Students suggest questions regarding space and time travel. Experts including astronauts, educators, astronomers, doctors, engineers, scientists, etc. are contacted to answer the questions. The answers are videotaped and posted and one student wins a grand prize.