NASA's Top Space Technologists Head Back To School

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Sep 28, 2012, 09:50 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck and Space Technology Program Director Michael Gazarik will be visiting some of America's most recognized universities next week. The NASA top technologists will meet with students and faculty to discuss the agency's current and upcoming new technology and innovation initiatives.

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Peck will be visiting Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., Wednesday, Oct. 3, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Thursday, Oct. 4. Gazarik will visit the University of Virginia in Charlottesville Tuesday, Oct. 2; Duke University in Durham, N.C., Wednesday, Oct. 3; and North Carolina State University in Raleigh Thursday, Oct. 4.

Peck serves as the principal technology advisor to the NASA administrator and is the agency advocate on matters concerning technology policy and programs. Gazarik manages the agency's space technology projects within the Space Technology Program.

In addition to giving an overview of the space program's renewed emphasis on technology and innovation as the underpinning of its current and future missions, Peck and Gazarik will brief students and faculty on NASA's Space Technology Research Fellowships Program.

Through the space technology research fellowships, NASA is providing the nation with a pipeline of highly skilled engineers and technologists to improve U.S. competitiveness while developing the intellectual and technological foundation needed for future science and exploration missions. The program accelerates the development of technologies originating from academia that support NASA, other government agencies and the commercial space sector.

NASA Space Technology Fellows perform innovative space technology research while building the skills necessary to become future technological leaders. Grants of as much as $60,000 per year provide funding for U.S. graduate students to perform research on their respective campuses and at NASA centers and nonprofit U.S. research and development laboratories.

NASA's Space Technology Program is dedicated to innovating, developing, testing, and flying hardware for use in NASA's future science and exploration missions. NASA's technology investments provide cutting-edge solutions for our nation's future. NASA is dedicated to ensuring the nation's intellectual capital pipeline remains the best in the world, and to bringing the brightest minds together with the best ideas to meet the challenges of NASA's future missions.

These visits are part of series of ongoing university tours by the NASA leaders to promote the agency's new technology and innovation initiatives. Recent visits have included the University of Colorado, Boulder and the University of Texas El Paso.

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, the Space Technology Program, space technology fellowships and complete biographies for Peck and Gazarik, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

SOURCE NASA