Location
Howard Johnson Plaza-Hotel, Columbia/ Enterprise Rooms
Start Date
26-4-1990 1:00 PM
End Date
26-4-1990 4:00 PM
Description
A Master of Science in Space Technology is offered to engineering and science graduates at the Spaceport Graduate Center which is an off-campus teaching center of the Florida Institute of Technology. Courses are offered in the evening at Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force Base so that space professionals can continue their education. The goals of the program are to prepare students for broader responsibility and more rewarding careers in astronautics and space, as well as to contribute to improvement in defining and implementing national and international space goals. It has been endorsed by NASA, the USAF, and large aerospace companies.
This paper describes an education program which removes interdisciplinary barriers in accepting a spectrum of students with different engineering and scientific backgrounds. Topics addressed include course curricula, the composition of the students and faculty, program successes and challenges, as well as plans for the future. Emphasis is given to the progress that has been made since Dr. Angelo described the program to the 23rd Space Congress in 1986. Over 70 students have graduated with an MS hi Space Technology and are advancing in their careers. The faculty has been expanded to include a full-time program chairman and twenty adjunct professors, seven of these holding Ph D's in physics or astronomy and eight holding Ph D's in engineering disciplines.
An important objective of this paper is to solicit inputs to make the program even more valuable. An Industry Advisory Council is being set-up for this purpose, consisting of the Chief Executive Officers of local aerospace companies and government. Future developments will include research activity in conjunction with the Space Research Institute and a Space Engineering supplement. It is fundamental that better understanding of the technical aspects of all phases of space activity will foster improved coordination among, and better decisions by, the future leaders of Space and Astronautics.
Paper Session III-B - Space Technology Graduate Program for Engineers and Scientists
Howard Johnson Plaza-Hotel, Columbia/ Enterprise Rooms
A Master of Science in Space Technology is offered to engineering and science graduates at the Spaceport Graduate Center which is an off-campus teaching center of the Florida Institute of Technology. Courses are offered in the evening at Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force Base so that space professionals can continue their education. The goals of the program are to prepare students for broader responsibility and more rewarding careers in astronautics and space, as well as to contribute to improvement in defining and implementing national and international space goals. It has been endorsed by NASA, the USAF, and large aerospace companies.
This paper describes an education program which removes interdisciplinary barriers in accepting a spectrum of students with different engineering and scientific backgrounds. Topics addressed include course curricula, the composition of the students and faculty, program successes and challenges, as well as plans for the future. Emphasis is given to the progress that has been made since Dr. Angelo described the program to the 23rd Space Congress in 1986. Over 70 students have graduated with an MS hi Space Technology and are advancing in their careers. The faculty has been expanded to include a full-time program chairman and twenty adjunct professors, seven of these holding Ph D's in physics or astronomy and eight holding Ph D's in engineering disciplines.
An important objective of this paper is to solicit inputs to make the program even more valuable. An Industry Advisory Council is being set-up for this purpose, consisting of the Chief Executive Officers of local aerospace companies and government. Future developments will include research activity in conjunction with the Space Research Institute and a Space Engineering supplement. It is fundamental that better understanding of the technical aspects of all phases of space activity will foster improved coordination among, and better decisions by, the future leaders of Space and Astronautics.
Comments
Space Education
Session Chairman: Norm Thagard, NASA Astronaut
Session Organizer: James Ragusa, University of Central Florida