Junior Achievement INSPIRE
April 2 - 4, 2025 8:30AM – 2:00PM
JA Inspire is a forward-thinking, career exploration event that focuses on the development of our local youth and workforce.
This three-day event allows us to introduce us to over 15,000 8th grade students in the Orange County School District.
We set up interactive (static models of rockets/spacecrafts) and informational (promotional items like paper handouts and handicrafts) booth to teach students about potential career opportunities in aerospace engineering and theeducational paths to get there.
In this talk, Dr. Elgohary will first introduce the astrodynamics, space, and robotics laboratory (ASRL) at UCF MAE highlighting the three main research thrusts of the lab. The talk will focus on the astrodynamics research where we focus on the scientific framework for a space surveillance network for space domain awareness (SDA) applications. He will highlight three research thrusts:
(i) a novel measurement model for multi-agent observation model,
(ii) coverage optimization for the network that transcends the state-of-the-art, and
(iii) rapid quantification of uncertainty to efficiently perform SDA operations.
SECME Glider Competition
Saturday, February 15, 2025 6:30am – 12:00pm
Saturday, February 15th, AIAA member volunteers are needed at 6:30 am at the UCF Student Union. You'll be helping to run the glider competition: setting up the course, doing check-ins, measuring/judging flights, and guiding people for safety. It's always a fun event with competitors enjoying a mixed bag of success and learning experiences.
Florida Tech Visit
Friday, 1/24/2025
AIAA Central Florida members spent the day reviewing research at the Department of Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences at Florida Tech along with Dr. Eric Swenson. It was a full calendar of technical interchange.
Join us for a joint dinner with the Cape AIAA chapter at the Courtyard by Marriott Cocoa Beach on Thursday, December 12, 2024, at 5:30PM.
Dan Dumbacher, former NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems 2010-2014, will discuss the systems analyses and how the decisions were made, leading to the initiation of the Space Launch System, the Orion capsule, and the Ground Systems efforts. These for the basis for what we now call the Artemis Program. Dan will provide insights and explanation, along with answering your questions, on how NASA put in place the foundation of returning humans to the moon and exploring beyond!
Presentation by Dave Hutchieson on how satellites are built, launched, deployed, and applying spacecraft engineering principles to the human body.
Dr. Tom Markusic describes his personal journey from an Ohio farm to landing on the moon. He highlights incremental accomplishments and lessons learned from academics, government civil service, and the commercial sector – culminating in starting his own “newspace” companies
Zoom meeting occurred of the updated local chapter Council to refine roles and plans for next year. Note that any and all chapter members were welcome to attend and contribute, not just officers and committee chairpersons.
How will you decide the next step in your career? This 30-minute talk by Benjamin Jiminez, Digital Engineering Lead at MITRE Corporation, will provide several frameworks to think through a career in the aerospace industry while using Mr. Jimenez’s personal example to demonstrate how his aerospace engineering background impacted his journey. He’ll also discuss how AIAA has played a role in shaping his professional trajectory. Ample time will be allocated for a question-and-answer session to provide attendees with career insights to guide their own professional path.
