AIAA SF Precollege Outreach

Overview

The AIAA San Francisco Section has maintained a very strong Precollege Outreach program. The section itself sponsors an annual essay contest and administers the NASA Ames/AIAA SF Galileo Memorial Scholarship. The section also sponsors a local team in the MATHCOUNTS competition. Director Pallavi Shah was awarded the 2007 Keeper of the Flame award by the Silicon Valley Engineering Council.

In addition, the section participates in the NASA Ames Aero Expo program, the Sally Ride Science Festival. Members of the section are involved in the SVEC Discover "E" program and teacher workshops co-sponsored by NASA Ames.

The stated mission of the Precollege Outreach directorate is: Motivate students to take up Math, Science and Engineering, in the field of Aerospace

Annual Essay Contest

(left to right): Miranda Swineford, Charlotte Swenson, Daniel Judnick, Angela Amarosa, and Eric Mueller This competition for 7th and 8th graders is held each year to commemorate Apollo 11's first manned landing on the moon; 2009 contest topic is: How important is international cooperation for the growth of space exploration? Deadline for essay submission has been extended to April 3, 2009. Refer to Pallavi Shah's webpage for Entry rules

NOTE: The 2008 Essay Contest is now complete. Winners were recognized at the section Honors and Awards Banquet featuring former astronaut "Bo" Bobko.

Past Essay Topics and Winners

The topic for the 2008 contest topic was: If Space is the answer, what is the question? The winning essays are posted here.

The topic for the 2007 contest topic was: How big can passenger airplanes get, and what will they look like? Winning essays may be seen by clicking HERE.

The topic for the 2006 was: What steps can be taken to protect the earth from a major asteroid impact?

The topic for the 2005 was: With the success of SpaceShipOne, space tourism may be just around the corner.

The question for 2004 was: Should we send humans to Mars? Winning essays were published in the Section Newsletter.

(See also the winning entries from previous years: 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000.

Volunteers are needed each year to judge essays on originality and realism of ideas presented, soundness of logic used to develop ideas, and quality of composition and clarity of expression. Winners are honored at an Annual Awards Banquet where U.S. Savings Bonds, calculators, and AIAA seals flown in space were among the prizes.

Galileo Memorial Scholarship

Established as a collaborative effort between NASA Ames Research Center and AIAA San Francisco, this annual Scholarship Program is held as a memorial to the NASA men who perished on the Ames Galileo I aircraft on April 12, 1973. Scholarship is open to high school seniors who intend to pursue a career in engineering, mathematics, or physical or natural sciences.

See the Galileo Scholarship Announcement for 2009 application and information.

Previous year winners and information may be seen at Past Scholarship information.

To contribute to the Galileo Scholarship fund, make out your check to AIAA-SF and mail it to:
Galileo Scholarship
c/o AIAA-SF
P.O. Box 1548, Mountain View, CA 94042-1548

MATHCOUNTS

MATHCOUNTS is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory. The program is over two decades old, and is one of the most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors, and students.

The AIAA San Francisco Section sponsored the team from Miller Middle School, San Jose, during 2005, 2006.and 2007. In each case, the team placed highly in state competition.

MathCounts links are
http://www.geocities.com/moosecyn/index.html
http://www.mathcounts-ca.org/
http://www.mathcounts.org/

Sally Ride Science Festival

Dr. Sally Ride, America's first woman astronaut, invites 5th to 8th grade girls Reach for the Stars, that is, help keep them in the science, math, and technology pipeline. The Science Festival provides hands-on workshops. There is also a street fair where various science-minded organizations such as AIAA provide activities and information.
The Sally Ride Science Festival came to Santa Clara University in April 2007. It came to NASA Ames in 2006 and 2005 and the festival first came to Stanford in October 2004.

Discover "E"

The section supports annual Engineers Week activities including the ongoing program to send engineers into local classrooms. David A. Levinson is chairman of Discover "E" for the Silicon Valley Engineering Council. See the SVEC web page for more information.

Teacher Workshops

The Section continues with over nine years of Teacher Workshops co-sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center. Held at various sites in California, the workshops include hands-on science sessions, distribution of curriculum materials, facility tours, and presentations by AIAA members and Educator Associates.

For more information, or to volunteer for any of the above Precollege Outreach activities, please contact Pallavi Shah, Precollege Outreach Director: precollege at aiaa-sf.org

11/28/2007