NASA visits FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

http://www.wctv.tv/content/news/NASA-road-tour-stops-at-FAMU-395173801.html


"Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering are showcasing their facilities to representatives from NASA.
NASA is taking a tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities to look at research being done at HBCUs to help with missions in the future.
Researchers in Tallahassee got to show off things such as a car built by students. Students explore how to change the structure of vehicles to make them perform better, safer, and cheaper.
Okenwa Okoli, Ph.D., a professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, said, "We also want to take the technology we have here and apply it to aero-structures from aero-planes to airplanes like a Boeing 787, to space vehicles, where your light weight is critical. What we're bragging about is wonderful."
Administrators say they're not just showcasing the students and research and work for bragging rights. This is also an opportunity to ask for funding.
"The federal government as a whole really doesn't spend a lot money looking into the research that's being done at HBCUs," said Glenn A. Delgado, Associate Administrator for NASA.

 

Delgado says it's now mandated to spend at least $5 billion of its $14 billion for research to help discover what's being done in labs at HBCUs.
Delgado said, "I'm just hoping that we can see something that we like and be able to utilize it in the future, so we can say that because of this road tour, we're able to put somebody on Mars because of the stuff we found at Florida A&M University labs."
The tour is also meant to encourage students, especially minority students, to get involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and math. "