July 29, 2008

Purdue College of Technology at Columbus sponsoring Space Camp

Sponsored by Purdue University College of Technology at Columbus, IMAX Theater at White River State Park, The Indiana State Museum and Indiana Space Grant Consortium, Space Camp will be offered 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 5-8 at Space Port Indiana, located at the Columbus Municipal Airport, 4770 Ray Boll Blvd.

It is open to students ages 13-18, as well as those in undergraduate and graduate school. The usual $100 fee for the week has been waived this year due to the hardships that many in the Columbus area suffered from this summer's floods.

Space Port Indiana provides military, commercial customers and educational institutions with low-cost access to airspace up to and including the near-space environment. It also offers educational outreach programs to students in K-12 and college an opportunity to explore engineering and aerospace sciences as a career choice. Technology Management Group Inc., based in Carmel, Ind., provides launch services and personnel to Space Port and has funded the Space Port complex in Columbus.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for students interested in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math to see how what they are learning in the classroom can be applied to real life," said Jack Head, assistant location director at the Purdue College of Technology at Columbus. "We are proud to be sponsoring this unique learning opportunity to students in the Columbus area."

Planned activities include:

* Presentations from engineers and scientists about the near-space environment, which is defined as a level above where a commercial airliner flies but below that of an orbiting satellite.

* Working in teams to research the near-space environment.

* Designing near-space payloads.

* Conducting a launch to near space.

* Tracking launches and gathering data from the payload students will design.

*  Meeting and talking with engineers from NASA.

To register or for more information, go to https://www.SpacePortIndiana.com and click on "Space Port News" to download the registration forms.

The Purdue College of Technology at Columbus offers bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering technology, computer and information technology, industrial technology, and organizational leadership and supervision. It is one of three educational institutions located at the Columbus Learning Center. Also at the center are Ivy Tech and Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus. The institutions share space at the center but are governed by three separate organizational entities.

Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu

Sources: Jack Head, (812) 314-8619, jhead@purdue.edu

Brian Tanner, chief technical officer, Technology Management Group Inc., (765) 606-1512, btanner@tmglabs.com

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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