Every
day is an adventure at ECHO! ECHO Encounters, our brand
of daily hands-on activities, changes regularly with new
exhibit installations, new, dynamic volunteers willing
to share their expertise, and outside partners adding
their talents and knowledge to program events.
Café Scientifique: The Next Frontier: VT in Space
Thursday, January 12, 2012
From 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Topic 23: The Next Frontier: VT Higher Ed in Space! Join us in conversation with Carl Brandon, Professor, Science and Aeronautical Engineering Technology, Vermont Technical College. With a grant from the Vermont Space Grant Consortium, a part of the NASA Space Grant program, a group of students from four Vermont colleges and universities, are making significant contributions to the development of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) workforce by developing a CubeSat, a new space technology. Come to ECHO's After Dark Cafe Scientifique program to join in the dialogue about this major cooperative endeavor! Suggested donation $5. Event for 21+ with cash bar and themed drinks opens at 6.30 p.m., discussion begins at 7 p.m.; free light hors d’oeuvres sponsored by VT Sigma Xi, Scientific Research Society.
A bio about Carl: Carl Brandon received his BS in Physics from Michigan State University, where he designed part of their first cyclotron, along with his PhD and MS in Zoology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked for IBM as a Junior Physicist and Researcher, designing their first memory chip . For the last 35 years Brandon has been a faculty member at Vermont Technical College. He teaches physics and spacecraft technology. He has developed a new degree program in Aerospace Engineering Technology at VTC and is the chair of the Aeronautical Engineering Technology Department. Recently Brandon has been working with his VTC students on a NASA sponsored CubeSat due to be sent into orbit December 2012, to test navigation technologies to be used in a follow up CubeSat to be self propelled to the Moon. In his spare time Brandon is on the board of Opera North, in which he is the videographer, and has sung in the chorus. He is an airplane, instrument and glider instructor and a published chef, excelling in the art of hazelnut cooking.
Questions to ponder: What is the importance of CubeSats to the space program? How are advancements in nanotechnology transforming Aerospace Technology? What changes will we see with the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle program? How can small education programs affect the vast spectrum of Aerospace Technology? How can CubeSats travel to the Moon?
