<BR There's one hanging right over your head in the entry room at the Smithsonian's Cosmosphere branch in Hutchinson Kansas. Truly is a magnificient machine.
Posted on 03/13/2004 2:44:51 PM PST by BenLurkin
LANCASTER - It's all about "thrust" and "drag." That which makes you go, and that which holds you back.
Steve Justice, from Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, essentially told more than 100 high school students Friday that the way to get ahead is to minimize drag and use everything they have to succeed.
"Don't be bound by the limits of current knowledge," Justice said at the 24th annual Mathematics Field Day at Antelope Valley College.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics jumped on board two years ago in hopes of piquing interest in the fields of engineering and aerospace.
Justice, who has been with Lockheed since 1994, has worked on programs responsible for the F-117 and the YF-22 as well as classified programs.
His hourlong presentation Friday gave an overview on the history of the SR-71 Blackbird using recently declassified data.
The Blackbird is considered one of the greatest aeronautical engineering achievements in history with the ability to fly 2,100 mph at the edge of space.
This reconnaissance aircraft was invented between 1958 and 1963 and was used by the U.S. military for more than a quarter-century, through six presidencies, Justice said.
The presentation was a breather for the mathletes who had just competed in a math challenge prepared by one of the college's mathematicians.
It was also a chance for them to see how they might one day apply their mathematical skills.
"This is just the kind of (student) we are interested in getting into aerospace," Lockheed spokesman Gary Grigg said.
What's more, the industry needs them.
"You really are strategically important to our community," said Les Uhazy, dean of mathematics and science at the college. "You are the wave of the future."
Students from 17 area schools traveled from as far away as Ridgecrest and Santa Clarita for the challenge that left some of them mentally drained.
Kicking back with his classmates in the college choral room, Cameron Martz said the event was harder than any math meet he had ever attended.
"I personally believe they make these competitions to humble you," Martz said. "I am very humbled."
Developed by a mathematician at the college, the challenges came in two levels; one for freshmen and sophomores and another for juniors and seniors. Some were team challenges and others individual.
The students who participated are the best of the best at their respective schools, said Fenggang Zhang , a math instructor at the college.
Zhang said although the only technical math skills required to solve the problems are algebra and geometry, the task goes far beyond math.
"The questions are very tricky," Zhang said. The problems were challenging, even for himself, he admitted.
Students from Paraclete, Quartz Hill, Desert and Antelope Valley high school ranked in the contest.
Paraclete High students David Stachnick, Domenic Donato and Nick Faino, who finished second in the Newton League competition for small schools; Quartz Hill High School students Raj Vaghiani and Brian Mercer, who took second place in the Leap Frog Relay; an Antelope Valley High School team of Alex Chin, Diane Santos and Connor Paulson, who finished second in the Leibnitz League junior-senior competition for large schools; and a team from Desert High of Kaitlin Kirk, Stefan Bock and Chris Simpson, who walked away with first place in the Newton League competition for small schools for the second year running.
Justice, who has worked in the aerospace since graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1978, ended his presentation with a few words of wisdom for the students:
"The difference between a career and a job," he said, "is passion."
Keep that attitude kid. You'll go far.
There is always someone who knows more then you. Learn from him and then mop up the floor with him next time.
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