The 2013 Galaxy Forum, at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center on Saturday, July 27 from 1-3 p.m. This free educational event is sponsored by the Ad Astra Kansas Foundation to enrich science education in Kansas.
Purpose: To provide teachers with current information in the areas of physics, astronomy, and space science, with ways to incorporate this information into their classrooms.
Seminar topics are
FROM UNDERSTANDING BASIC PARTICLE PHYSICS—to exploring the Universe
VOYAGER (Are We There Yet?)
EXPLORING SPACE WEATHER: the Van Allen Probes
Open to both students and teachers for ages middle school on up.
The Ad Astra Kansas Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on promoting science in Kansas, especially the space sciences.
Climate Change and You
Speaker: Mary Knapp
Date: Monday May 13
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: The Donut Whole 1720 E Douglas
What is climate change? What are the myths and the facts? How does it affect me? Come interact with a climatologist to better understand this issue affecting us.
As the state climatologist, Mary Knapp occupies a unique position in the Department of Agronomy. She is responsible for establishing and maintaining a statewide network of equipment for gathering of weather data, and answering questions on climate and weather matters. She also maintains the web site that provides a constant update and complete archive of weather-related data for Kansas.
Her degree is in Agronomy from K-State, but her career path back to the department was not entirely straightforward. The Weather Data Library started at K-State in 1976 in the Physics Department. Mary started working at K-State after a stint in the Peace Corps in Dominican Republic as a rice specialist. After a number of years as a research assistant in Entomology, she joined Computer Information Systems in Extension, working with the State Climatologist Dean Bark. When Dr. Bark retired, she became acting state climatologist. The Weather Data Library moved to Agronomy in 2002.
The best part of being state climatologist is being able to travel the state frequently, checking on weather data collection stations and giving talks. She also enjoys the interaction with other weather and climate specialists in the region and nationwide. She is especially proud that K-State recently received a 50-year recognition from the National Weather Service for continuous weather observations during that time.
She advises students interested in meteorology or climatology to take as many courses as possible in mathematics and statistics, and in communications. The courses in math and statistics will help students interpret and understand data throughout their lifetimes, she says. And the courses in communications are vital to any professional position, and always will be, she adds.
This month, the Cosmo After Hours meeting features Cosmosphere President and COO Jim Remar, who will be discussing their current conservation project, commissioned by Bezos Expeditions, the preservation of Apollo F-1 engines. Cosmo After Hours is a monthly lecture series at the Kansas Cosmosphere.
This event is FREE to the public, no advanced reservations required.
In March 2013, Amazon.com Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced that he and his team of undersea experts had recovered many prime pieces of the historic F-1 engines from Project Apollo. The expedition recovered enough major components to fashion displays for two flown F-1 engines, and shortly after their recovery, the Cosmosphere’s conservation team, SpaceWorks, began the process of stabilizing the engine pieces.
The Apollo F-1 Conservation Project will be, arguably, the most complex and difficult conservation of a space artifact performed to date.
“Breaking Through the Clouds”- a fundraising movie, dinner and auction
Sunday, April 28 at the Warren Theater Downtown and Caffé Moderne from 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm. The documentary is about the first women air race called, “Breaking Through the Clouds, The First Women’s National Air Derby.”
This is a fundraising event to send low-income girls to space camp. For many of the Women in Aviation members, their first love of aviation happened through attendance of space camp. We wish to pass our love of aviation to the next generation.
Tickets are $50 per person. (Tickets purchased before April 12 are $40 each; so buy now!)
“Breaking Through the Clouds, The First Women’s National Air Derby” is an inspiring true story of 20 women who raced across America in 1929.With just a compass and a road map to guide them, Amelia Earhart and 19 other brave female pilots defied convention by taking to the skies and racing across the country for the first Women’s National Air Derby. The women navigated through rough weather, mechanical failures, public scrutiny, cultural stereotypes and rumors of sabotage.
Be sure to RSVP for the upcoming Wichita Council of Engineering Societies Annual Engineers Week Banquet.
Place: Marriott Hotel
9100 East Corporate Hills Drive, Wichita, Kansas
Date: Thursday, February 21, 2013
Times: 5:30 p.m. — Social & Engineering Mini-Fair
6:30 p.m. — Dinner
7:30 p.m. — Program
Tickets: Two ways to purchase Cash or check payable to WCES $35 – call/email contacts below. Eventbrite: $35 + $1.50 transaction fee. Go to www.eventbrite.com/directory Deadline 5 PM Friday, February 15, 2013.
National Wear Red Day is Feb 1, or any day throughout American Heart Month in February. Learn more at www.GoRedForWomen.org/wearredday
There is a kick-off event in Wichita on Wednesday January 23 at Wesley Medical Center’s Cessna Room, 500 N. Hillside, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. This event is to raise awareness for heart disease. RSVP to 316-265-4238. See what else Wesley is doing at http://wesleymc.com/your-health/go-red.dot
This year’s WCES (Wichita Council of Engineering Societies) banquet is on Feb 21, 2013. This annual event is always a good time with an interesting speaker. Mark your calendars now.
The speaker is Lawrence Skelton–titled “Well Fracturing – Bane or Blessing?”
Larry has B.A. and M.S. degrees in Geology. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 21 years, primarily in the field of petroleum logistics and energy management. He retired as a lieutenant colonel. After his military career, he was employed for 25 years by the Kansas Geological Survey as an assistant director. He has authored over 50 papers on geologic and historical topics. In 2001 he received the Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies Distinguished Achievement Honorary Award and in 2002 he received the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Public Service Award. He is a past-president and honorary member of the Kansas Academy of Science.
Do you like to play Poker? Help support the Susan G. Komen at the 3rd Annual Cards for the Cure Poker Championship! This event will start at 10am on Saturday, Jan 26. See flyer for more information! Email wichitaSWE if you want to join a SWE team.
Alice through the Looking Glass: An Adventure into the Quantum Realm
Date: Monday, November 19
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: The Donut Whole
1720 E. Douglas
Speaker: Elizabeth Behrman, Ph.D.
Physics Professor, WSU
I’ll take you down to the land of the very small, where everything is governed by probability, it is physically impossible to know anything with complete certainty, and things can effect changes over distances faster than light could travel. I’ll also show you how I use these cool and spook quirks of reality in the largest revolution ever in computers.
Prof. Behrman earned her Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A Sigma Xi speaker, she has taught nearly every physics course on the books, but her favorite is still quantum mechanics. When not physics-ing, you will find Prof. Behrman reading mountains of books and spending time with her daughter and her dog.
Come and enjoy the company of other science fans as you learn about the spooky, mysterious realm of quantum physics.
2012 Society of Women Engineers Wichita Area Section I05 PO Box 1096 Wichita, KS 67201 E-mail: Wichita@swe.org
This non-profit organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
