August 2006 Dinner Meeting

August 31, 2006; 6:30pm-9:00pm
Michael's at Shoreline, Mountain View

18th Annual Essay Contest Awards Banquet

The AIAA San Francisco Section is proud to announce the winners of its 18th Annual 7th- and 8th-Grade Essay Contest. The students were asked to respond to the following essay question: What steps can be taken to protect the earth from a major asteroid impact? The winning essays were selected from a pool of 300+ entries by a panel of volunteer judges comprised of teachers, aerospace engineers, and AIAA SF Section council members. The Winners 7th Grade First place: Sameen Karim, Challenger School (San Jose), Mr. Aaron Schiffner (teacher) Second place: Aditya Majumdar, Miller Middle School (San Jose), Mrs. Shah Third place: Pablo Ali Alba, Herbert Hoover Middle School (San Francisco), Mr. Hesketh 8th Grade First place: Armeen Ghafourpour, Bernal Intermediate School (San Jose), Mr. Dan Judnick Second place: Justine Yan, John M. Horner Junior High School (Fremont), Ms. Cheryl Chiu Third place: Anjali S. Menon, Challenger School (San Jose), Mr. Aaron Schiffner [Read the winning essays.] On August 31st, the winning students and their teachers will be recognized at a special AIAA dinner meeting in their honor. Speaking at the event and helping to present the students with their awards will be U.S. Congressman Hon. Mike Honda, a former science teacher himself, and NASA Astrobiologist Dr. David Morrison, a leading authority on the hazards presented by near-earth asteroids.

Above: Artist's concept of a catastrophic asteroid impact with the early Earth. An impact with a 500-km-diameter asteroid would effectively sterilize the planet. The Earth may have experienced such gigantic impacts in its youth, but fortunately today there are no projectiles this large to threaten our planet. [larger image] [more info] (Source: NASA Ames Research Center. Artist: Don Davis.)

About the Speakers

Hon. Mike Honda represents the 15th Congressional District of California in the U.S. House of Representatives. His district encompasses the area known throughout the world as Silicon Valley, the birthplace of technology innovation and the leading region for the development of the technologies of tomorrow.

Mike earned bachelor's degrees in Biological Sciences and Spanish, and a master's degree in Education from San Jose State University. In his career as an educator, Mike was a science teacher, served as a principal at two public schools, and conducted educational research at Stanford University.

Mike was elected to the California Assembly in 1996 and was re-elected in 1998. As an Assemblymember, Mike worked with Governor Gray Davis to draft landmark education reforms - including smaller class size and increases in teachers' benefits. In 2000, Mike was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he serves the House Committee on Science, and on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

Mike is married and has two grown children. His wife, Jeanne, was a teacher at Baldwin Elementary School in San Jose before her untimely passing in 2004. His son, Mark, is an aerospace engineer and Michelle, his daughter, is a public health educator.

Dr. David Morrison is the Senior Scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute, where he participates in a variety of research programs in astrobiology -- the study of the living universe. Dr. Morrison received his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University, and until he joined NASA he was Professor of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. Internationally known for his research on the solar system, Dr. Morrison is the author of more than 135 technical papers and has published a dozen books.

Among his honors is a NASA Outstanding Leadership medal for his contributions to dealing with the hazard of asteroid and comet impacts. He is currently President of the International Astronomical Union working group on near-earth asteroids, and asteroid 2410 Morrison is named in his honor.

Dinner Meeting Reservations

It is preferred that you pay AIAA-SF for your dinner reservation on-line. Click buttons below to use this method. [More on this]

Note: Reservations are now closed (9am, August 31).

We thank you for your interest; however, we are unable to accept additional reservations within 24 hours of this program. Please re-visit the AIAA SF website for information on future programs.

Meeting Details

Registration and no-host cocktails at 6:00 pm; buffet dinner at 6:30 pm; program starts at 7:30 pm; program ends at 9:00 pm. This meeting is open to the general public.

Point of Contact

For more information about this meeting, contact
Todd Farley at: chair(at)aiaa-sf.org.
(Replace "(at)" with commercial at-sign.)

Dinner Meeting Location

Michael's at Shoreline
2960 N Shoreline Blvd
Mountain View, CA,94043
650-962-1014

Map: Google