by University of Pittsburgh Microgravity Team
Outreach
An important aspect of our project’s impact is the effect it has on our community. As such, we feel it is extremely important to present our research and share the experiences we have gained while conducting our research. We have approached several mediums throughout our community to help bring engineering to the forefront and perhaps aid our university in its recruitment efforts.
The primary focus of our outreach is to garner excitement and interest among Pittsburgh high school students for NASA’s operations and research in outer space and engineering in general as a possible career future. High school students are best suited to such an outreach; most of them have had exposure to basic scientific principles and, typically, they are an enthusiastic group. We have conducted a series of class presentations typically for physics classes.
A similar program was presented at the local library. Additionally, to reach different minority groups, and to increase awareness about this program at the University of Pittsburgh, we have presented to various engineering organizations.
Our first outreach session was with the students from Taylor Allderdice High School, a school in the Pittsburgh Public School district. Mr. Wharton, one of the high school's science teachers, was instrumental in scheduling the outreach event. The initial email correspondence between our team and Mr. Wharton can be viewed at the end of the outreach section of our proposal. An initial version of the presentation slides can also be seen at the end of the section.
For more information, please click here to download our proposal.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don't hesistate to contact us.