Astronaut Garrett Reisman to Headline Signature Event of NAI Annual Conference

National Academy of Inventors reception is Mar. 19 in Los Angeles

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Mar 10, 2015, 08:35 ET

PASADENA, Calif., March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman will be the featured speaker for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) signature dinner event on Mar. 19, 2015, at the California Science Center, home of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Reisman will speak as part of the NAI Annual Conference, held Mar. 19-20 in Pasadena.

Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman (Photo courtesy NASA).

At NASA, Reisman flew on two space shuttle missions, logging more than three months in space, including over 21 hours of extravehicular activity in three separate spacewalks. He served with the Expedition-16 and Expedition-17 crews as flight engineer aboard the International Space Station. He traveled to both assignments aboard the Endeavour.

In his current role as director of crew operations at SpaceX, Reisman works with NASA to prepare SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to carry astronauts. An FAA certified Flight Instructor, Reisman earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

"We are proud to have a true hero help us celebrate American ingenuity and the spirit of adventure," said NAI president Paul Sanberg. "This same spirit animates the creativity and innovation that fuels our members in their pursuit of excellence in academic invention."

A detailed NAI conference agenda is available at http://academyofinventors.org/conference/program.asp.

About the National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization comprised of U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutions, with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 200 institutions, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. The NAI offices are located in the University of South Florida Research Park. The NAI edits the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation – Journal of the National Academy of Inventors, published by Cognizant Communication Corporation (NY). www.AcademyofInventors.org