Greetings to all NCS members and best wishes for the new year. Your volunteer leaders on the Section council are busy taking input and making plans for the year. We have plans to begin regular speaker and networking activities, in participation with our student branches, and we'll be holding Council elections later this year. In addition to our usual need for judges for the regional scholastic science fairs, we're working to continue our engagement with our student branches, diversity, equity and inclusion and technical and policy communities of interest. If you are reading this and wondering what you may do to get involved, take a leadership role, or offer assistance, please write us at aiaanatcap@gmail.com.
The health and success of your professional technical society depends on volunteers, both at the National and local levels. Please join with your local Section in a toast to the new year and a recommitment to shaping the future of aerospace.
Get Involved at a Council Meeting!
The AIAA National Capital Section is inviting all members to attend our monthly virtual section council meetings as we work to continue to increase AIAA activity and engagement in the coming year. Meetings are held monthly on second Mondays from 8pm to 9:30. Members are invited to address the council for up to 2 minutes at the beginning of the meeting: 8pm-8:15pm. Members are then invited to listen to committee/officer reports and council discussion.
The next meeting is THIS Monday, January 8. If you would like to join us, please email Michael Barton by 7pm of the meeting date for a virtual meeting link.
Public Policy Opportunity: VA and MD Aerospace Days
Virginia Aerospace Day is coming up on February 7, followed by Maryland Aerospace Day on February 13. If you would like to participate in advocacy in Richmond or Annapolis, contact Michael Barton as soon as possible.
Call for Judges: Local Science Fairs Need Your Help!
Each spring, volunteers from the AIAA NCS judge aerospace-related projects at regional secondary school science fairs and award recognition and opportunities for winners. Over the past decade, NCS has maintained connections with six regional fairs.
With a return to in-person judging for final decisions, the fair coordinators will provide students’ documents to allow for down-selection prior to on-site teams engaging with the students. We need judges for both tasks- at least 3 for asynchronous review prior and at least 4 for onsite.
For 2024, AIAA-NCS is seeking judging support for each of the following fairs (note that 3 fairs are the same day, March 16th):
- Northern Virginia Regional Science and Engineering Fair (Falls Church, Arlington & Alexandria) – March 2, 2024
- Prince William-Manassas, Virginia- Regional Science & Engineering Fair – virtually March 7-13, 2024; onsite March 16, 2024
- Fairfax County, Virginia- Regional Science and Engineering Fair – onsite March 16, 2024
- Prince George's County, Maryland- Area Science Fair – onsite March 16, 2024
- Loudoun County, Virginia- Regional Science and Engineering Fair – onsite March 20, 2024
- Montgomery County, Maryland- MontSCI Fair – onsite April 6, 2024
NOTE: The above calendar dates are subject to updates. Access to projects’ titles and abstracts for downselection asynchronously will occur a few days to a week prior to the onsite date.
Please consider spending a few hours of your time to help inspire the future generation of the nation's best and brightest scientists and engineers in STEM fields. And, of course, we welcome volunteers who can support more than one fair. If you have judged with us in the last 3 years, it is possible that the fairs have already reached out to you. Please do not sign up or reply; we will coordinate the teams and we apologize for any inconvenience.
Those interested or with questions should contact: Susan Bardenhagen, AIAA NCS K12 STEM Committee Chair: smb4steam@gmail.com. Please reply by COB January 31, 2024
Note also that Science Fair award sponsorships (especially in-kind giveaways for our winners) are available. Please contact Susan if you are interested in supporting.
Section Opportunity: Section Elections
National Capital is seeking candidates for officer positions, committee chairs, the 2024 Nominating Committee and 2024 Election Committee. To find out more, please contact Steve Brunetto.
NCS Honors and Awards
Start putting your nominations together, local section awards are back in 2024!
- AIAA-NCS Outstanding Educator of the Year Award
Local science and math educators
- AIAA-NCS Hal Andrews Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year
Members under 35 that have shown demonstrable impact on or leadership in Aeronautics and Astronautics
- AIAA-NCS Engineer or Scientist of the Year
NCS Member with recent contributions leading to a significant accomplishment or event worthy of national/international recognition with Aeronautics and Astronautics
- AIAA-NCS Piers Sellers Award
Our top award given to a local individual, team or organization nationally recognized for advancement of the aerospace industry
Look out for full requirements and nomination forms very soon! If you have questions or want to help, please contact Andrew Tidwell.
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Michael Barton
Space Systems Engineer
a.i. solutions, Inc.
Washington DC
(901)485-1464
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