FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Students from area middle schools will have the opportunity to learn about the NASA missions that NASA’s Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Program has worked on and is currently working on when they visit the I-79 Technology Park Research Center for NASA’s Day in the Park on October 17th and 18th from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Day in the Park is an invitation-only event which invites approximately 600 7th and 8th grade middle school students to the I-79 Technology Park to experience Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers. Day in the Park’s primary objective is to mitigate the national trend of declining student interest in scientifically-oriented disciplines.
The event will be hosted by the NASA IV&V Program’s Educator Resource Center (ERC) and will feature carnival-style booths that provide students hands-on experience in STEM-focused areas, such as aviation, engineering, GPS, electricity, space weather, rocketry and the electromagnetic spectrum. NASA IV&V ERC Outreach Specialist Josh Revels says this event specializes in reaching middle school students and actively engages them in fun activities related to STEM fields.
“At this event, it is exciting to see students get interested about STEM careers and also gain the awareness of the STEM careers that exist in West Virginia,” says Revels.
This event will also feature guest speaker Dr. Don Ferguson, PhD, of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). Dr. Ferguson is a research engineer at NETL and has been engaged in experimental and computational combustion studies since joining the department in 2002. Dr. Ferguson is an active member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He also participates in a STEM activities, such as DOE’s Science Bowl and coaches for FIRST Lego League Junior.
Through a partnership with Fairmont State University, the ERC provides resources and training opportunities to prepare thousands of K-12 teachers and support the existing teacher workforce. The ERC staff also provides free workshops, both on-site and partner-hosted locations, as well as annual summer institutes for educators on a variety of topics to supplement the curriculum to help meet national and state educational standards. For more information about the NASA IV&V Program’s ERC, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ivv/education/index.html
If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call Bailee Miller at 304-367-8270 (work) or send an email to Bailee.R.Miller@ivv.nasa.gov.