Rockets Rock & Rockwell

Learning how companies attract students to aviation maintenance and engineering always captures my attention, and I was delighted to see a female aviation maintenance science student on the winning team of the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition. The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University team created their rocket and flew it 10,310 feet to capture first place. Way to go team!


Members of Embry-Riddle's winning rocket team pose with their 10-foot Pathfinder III rocket in the Utah desert after the competition. From left to right: Dustin Koehler, Anthony Astrologo, Alex Manasseh, Ben Wallace, faculty adviser Eric Perrell, Kaysha White (the team's aviation maintenance science member), and Matthew Ellengold.

Last weekend at a town festival, I saw the 525 Swartdogs and their cool robots. This one zips around and hangs inflatable objects. (Here's a short video to see what they do and show how fast they move.) It was inspiring to see what these high school kids built and how their robots drew in people of all ages to the Swartdogs' tent. Heck, I couldn't walk past it.

Keep up the great work in Iowa!

Speaking of kids, engineering and Iowa, Rockwell Collins has a huge, eye-catching banner displayed at the Cedar Rapids airport, right before you descend the stairs from the gate area to the terminal.  Its message: "Inspiring tomorrow's innovators." It's impossible to miss, and every person landing at the Cedar Rapids airport sees pictures of active kids engaged in science and aviation activities. What a super idea!

(I took this with my Blackberry, so it's not the best picture, but you can see what it looks like when you're leaving the gate area to descend to the terminal)

Tags: om99, students, innovation