On 21 November, the AIAA Mid-Atlantic Section held its annual Young Professionals, Students, and Educators Conference at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL). The conference – a flagship event for the section that represents parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia – brings together high school, undergrad, and graduate students, as well as educators and young professionals from all over the East Coast and beyond. Presenters shared their research and networked with professionals from a wide variety of aerospace specialties and disciplines.
Attendees were welcomed with a morning keynote by Dennis Woodfork, mission area executive for National Security Space at the JHUAPL. During the event, attendees heard from AIAA Region I Director Kyle Zittle about the importance of professional networking events and presenting research, as well as AIAA’s Director of Membership Brian Calvary on the value of involvement with a professional association throughout one’s career lifetime. The day featured a live flight demonstration of Dragonfly, an autonomous relocatable rotorcraft lander that will assess the surface composition and chemistry of Saturn’s moon Titan in the mid-2030s.
After concurrent presentations and touring the expo hall, the day concluded with a technical keynote from Jason Kalirai, the mission area executive for Space Formulation within the Space Exploration Sector at JHUAPL.
A Maryland high school participant shared that having the opportunity to attend was incredible. They didn’t realize that there were spaces where students could actually be treated like professionals and get such a good headstart on the career they eventually want to pursue. They found the conference “really energizing.”
