{"426141":{"#nid":"426141","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Family Weekend 2014: Time for the parents to take note","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs AE undergraduates Aaron Blacker and Kevin Okseniuk took to the podium, the air in Guggenheim 442 got very still.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese students -- and their research mentors --\u0026nbsp; had lessons to give, and it was the parents who were all ears.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWelcome to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/img\/FW14_ProgramFINAL.pdf\u0022\u003EFamily Weekend 2014\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe annual event gives parents of all Georgia Tech students a chance to visit campus, where they can see their sons and daughters at work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore than 100 parents signed up to visit AE, where they spoke informally with faculty before taking in formal presentations by researchers from the Aerospace Systems Design Lab (ASDL) and undergraduates Black and Okseniuk.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst up were\u0026nbsp; ASDL research engineer Carl Johnson and masters student Tom Neuman, who gave a talk about\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.asdl.gatech.edu\/News.html#ASDL_Georgia_Tech_Team_Shines_at_International_Airplane_Design_Competitions\u0022\u003Emicro air vehicle competitions which ASDL teams have dominated for the last four years.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJohnson and Neuman have mentored undergraduates for 5 years in a row, helping AE competition teams to transition from paper designs to building micro air vehicles and flying them. Under their guidance, students have also developed associated ground stations, remote control techniques for keeping the vehicles in the air, and light aircraft fabrication technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOkseniuk and Blacker took their charge every bit as seriously as the more senior mentors who proceeded them at the podium.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe two spoke confidently about cubesats they are building, the future of air-breathing engines, and other adventures they are pursuing as undergraduates in the School of Aerospace Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00228\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Cem\u003EA\u0026nbsp;lot of pride, and a little bit of awe. Parents listening to Blacker and Okseniuk were attentive.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA beaming Kelly Blacker said she couldn\u0027t believe how well Aaron\u0027s experience has suited the New York sophomore, who is now president of the Ramblin Rockets Club.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We were nervous when we sent him so far away for school,\u0022 she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022But he is so engaged, so involved, so challenged here. He loves it. And so do we.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFresh back from a summer research project at NASA\u0027s Jet Propulsion Lab, Okseniuk gave listeners a gripping description of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/node\/1444\u0022\u003EProx-1 project\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;-- the first-ever Georgia Tech built space vehicle, which will be launched sometime in the next 18 months. Okseniuk, a junior, is working closely with the project\u0027s principal investigator (PI), Prof. David Spencer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00228\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWhen he took to the podium AE\u0026nbsp;sophomore Aaron Blacker explained his work like a seasoned professional.\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/img\/blacker.pdf\u0022\u003ECheck out his PowerPoint\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor a moment, Okseniuk had to humbly admit that some of what he was talking about had daunting implications. It\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ereally is\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;rocket science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut he regained his composure by quoting his roommate and fellow Georgia Tech student Nick Selby:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re Georgia Tech. We can do that.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow true.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/117948618@N08\/sets\/72157647525481932\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECheck out this slideshow\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003Efrom the Family Weekend presentations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As AE undergraduates Aaron Blacker and Kevin Okseniuk took to the podium, the air in Guggenheim 442 got very still."}],"uid":"27456","created_gmt":"2015-07-16 15:08:41","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:12","author":"Britanny Grace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-09-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-09-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"135641","name":"Aaron Blacker"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"135661","name":"Family Weekend 2014"},{"id":"135651","name":"Kevin Okseniuk"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["communications@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}