ASME Congress Exposes Engineers, Middle School Students to Space Commercialization

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December 13, 1999 Huntsville, AL The 1999 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Expostition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers presented the Space Product Development Program to two very different audiences: mechanical engineers and middle school students.

The engineers, along with undergraduate student members of the organization, were in Nashville, Tennessee attending the congress. These members provided a steady stream of visitors to the NASA Microgravity Research Program Office pavilion, located in the center aisle of the exhibit hall. Once there, the engineers could learn about space commercialization and microgravity research, while getting hands-on experience with hardware and products associated with the programs. In addition, a special session was held at the conference on space commercialization that featured the directors of several Commercial Space Centers.

The students were part of an educational outreach activity sponsored each year by the ASME. This year, students from several schools in and around Nashville heard a variety of speakers and took part in a competition, with SPD pins and patches being part of the prizes and general "goodie" bags provided. Random groups of students had to design a structure meeting height and size requirements that was then subjected to a crush test. The teams were judged on best overall performance, teamwork, and innovative design.