| Past Outreach | Essay Contest | Scholarship | Volunteers | WWW Links |
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.
Former PCO 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 and 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. From time to time, the section attempts to track volunteer opportunities of groups that are closely aligned with AIAA SF PCO objectives.
The stated mission of the Precollege Outreach directorate is: Motivate students to take up Math, Science and Engineering, in the field of Aerospace
NOTE: The 2009 Essay Contest is now complete. Winners were recognized at the section Honors and Awards Banquet
This competition for 7th and 8th graders is held each year; originally it was to commemorate Apollo 11's first manned landing on the moon. Awards were given during a ceremony in July. However, the contest is now done earlier in the year so that awards can be given while school is still in session.
The essay topic for 2010 is: Next stop for human space exploration — a lunar base, near-Earth asteroid, or Mars? Deadline for essay submission is March 15, 2010. Entry rules can be found here.
Here are some of the essay topics from the past.
2009: How important is international cooperation for the growth of space exploration? (Winning essays to be posted soon.)
2008: If Space is the answer, what is the question? [ Winning essays ]
2007: How big can passenger airplanes get, and what will they look like? [ Winning Essays ]
2006: What steps can be taken to protect the earth from a major asteroid impact?
2005: With the success of SpaceShipOne, space tourism may be just around the corner.
2004: 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.
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.
Now accepting applications from high school seniors for thisScholarship. Click here for details.
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 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.mathcounts-ca.org/
http://www.mathcounts.org/
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.
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.
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 Samantha Infeld, Precollege Outreach Director: precollege(at)aiaa-sf.org.
| Past Outreach | Essay Contest | Scholarship | Volunteers | WWW Links |