NASA, Carnegie Mellon, and NI: A Combination That's Out of This World


NIWeek 2013 is about to take off! One of the best parts of NIWeek is the keynote presentations. On Thursday, August 8, we’ll bring representatives from NASA, Carnegie Mellon, and NI together for the final keynote of NIWeek 2013.



Leland Melvin, Red Whittaker, and Ray Almgren will each present the ways they inspire the engineers and scientists of tomorrow. Since the world is facing a shortage of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), their work mentoring students and showing them the exciting professional options available with a STEM background is crucial.



After playing in the NFL and becoming an astronaut, Leland Melvin joined NASA in a professional role. As the Associate Administrator for Education at NASA, Leland develops and implements NASA’s STEM education programs. He proves students really can go from kindergarten to rocket science with STEM education.



Red Whittaker, a professor at Carnegie Mellon, will speak to his own experience in robotics. Besides designing the robots that cleaned up the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, he and his students won the DARPA Urban Challenge, DARPA’s driverless vehicle competition.



Ray Almgren, vice president of corporate and platform marketing at NI, will bring students and engineers from LEGO, FIRST Robotics, and leading universities onstage to show how they use STEM education.






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