West Virginia State University to Host NASA Space Day, Research Symposium April 28

4/24/2017

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Contact: Kimberly Osborne
(304) 766-3363
kosborne@wvstateu.edu

   
INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- West Virginia State University (WVSU) will be hosting NASA Student Partnership for the Advancement of Cosmic Exploration (SPACE) Day on Friday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot adjacent to Hamblin Hall on the University’s Institute campus.

An exhibit featuring WVSU alumna Katherine Johnson, whose accomplishments at NASA were the basis for the film “Hidden Figures,” will be on display inside Hamblin Hall as part of the day’s activities.

The event is free and open to the public and will feature a variety of hands-on activities designed to learn about science and space exploration.

The day will feature NASA Langley’s travelling exhibit and will include a robotics station, rocketry station, a flight simulation and an exhibit on journeying to Mars. There will also be a station where participants can build their own satellite out of Legos, and an exhibit on the science of cycling that includes a wooden bike, fat tire bike and electric bike.

In addition, NASA’s IV&V facility will be hosting bottle rocket launches as part of SPACE. Day.  More than 400 students from eight area elementary, middle and high schools are expected to attend.

Inside Hamblin Hall from 8:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics will be hosting its annual Research Symposium. The symposium will feature a keynote address from Dr. David Atkinson of NASA’s Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of Hamblin Hall. Following from 10:10 a.m. to 11 a.m., WVSU Research Rookies and NASA West Virginia Space Grant research students will be giving poster presentations.

“We are very excited to host NASA SPACE Day alongside the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics 22nd Annual Research Symposium day,” said Dr. Naveed Zaman, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “NASA's interactive displays and engaging activities, and WVSU students’ research presentations will inspire the younger generation of scientists. I am also very thankful to our College students who are always ready to volunteer for these events.”

NASA SPACE Day at WVSU is sponsored by the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium in collaboration with WVSU, the NASA IV&V Facility and NASA Langley.

For more information, contact Dr. Naveed Zaman at (304) 766-4248 or zamanna@wvstateu.edu or Candy Cordwell at (304) 293-3927.

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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.