NASA Representatives to Discuss Mars Exploration Rover Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2004
Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Larry Wear or Henry Ma, Electrical and Computer Engineering
530-898-5343
NASA Representatives to Discuss Mars Exploration Rover Project
Representatives from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, will visit California State University, Chico on March 9 and 10 to recruit engineering students. On March 9, they will deliver a public lecture on the Mars Exploration Rover Project at 7:30 p.m. in the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium.
Richard Brace, deputy manager of Mars Exploration Rover Project; Kristan Evans, manager of the Electronic Parts Engineering Office; and Naomi Palmer, supervisor of Group 513 Reliability Engineering Office, will present a lecture titled “Mars Exploration Rover Project.” They will discuss how the two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were sent to Mars, and what is being discovered on Mars by the rovers.
NASA JPL was granted approximately a billion dollars to send the two rovers to explore the environment of Mars. The speakers are the experts who designed, made and finally sent the two rovers to Mars.
The group is coming to Chico at the invitation of Henry Ma, professor of electrical and computer engineering, who had a faculty fellowship at JPL this past summer. “The representatives from NASA were impressed with Dr. Ma’s work and will interview some of our students for internships this summer. CSU, Chico is the only school they plan to visit on this recruiting trip,” said Professor Larry Wear.
Ma intends to set up a business connection between NASA JPL and CSU, Chico. Five interns will be selected for the summer internships.
In addition to delivering the public lecture and interviewing potential interns, the NASA team will talk to graduate and undergraduate students, see the engineering school, look at engineering labs and equipment, and meet engineering faculty.
The progress of NASA’s Exploration Rover Spirit can be followed on the project Web site. Just past the halfway point of its three-month prime mission, Spirit has already achieved several scientific firsts, and scientists predict some of its best “Eureka!” moments are still ahead. The Web site features images and daily accounts.
Ma organized the visit with the help of Kenneth Derucher, dean of the College ECT; Larry Wear, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and student members of the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers, an international professional society for electrical and electronic professionals.
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