New Frontiers; Educating Young Engineers & Using Recycled Materials

This past week Buzz Aldrin, MA B ’62, became the 154th aviator to have his wings enshrined at the Mission Inn’s Famous Flier’s Wall.

Aldrin also took the opportunity to speak to approximately 3,000 Riverside, CA, children at the 10th annual Science and Technology Education Partnership Conference.

He stressed the “importance of science and mathematics in education” and predicted that humans would travel to Mars within the next 25 years.

“The future of space exploration lies in the imagination,” he said. Read article for more, including video of speech.

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Raytheon and Disney are teaming up to offer children the opportunity to design their own theme-park ride, using math tools.

According to a blog post in The New York Times, visitors to Disney’s Epicot theme park will use a touch screen and engineering tools to design a roller coaster, bobsled, or jet ride. After completing the design, visitors can experience their ride in a robotic simulator designed by Raytheon and Disney.

Raytheon chief executive, William H. Swanson (CA M ‘72), discussed the importance of math education, “We need technical talent. So unless we fix the pipeline, we’re not going to be able to accomplish this,” he said. Read article

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Automakers in Detroit are developing new ways to use recycled materials in producing new vehicle parts.

Using plastic bottles, discarded clothes, and other durable materials, as substitutes. A representative from GM estimates that “about 5 to 10 percent of plastics in their vehicles are made of recycled content.”
Read the full article

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