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Mars invasion coming to UH

If you see a pack of tiny martians on campus, don’t fear. They come in peace, but they’re here to compete.

Hundreds of Houston-area elementary and middle school students dressed as Martians and rocket scientists will invade the University of Houston’s 13th Annual Mars Rover Model Celebration and Competition to showcase Mars Rover models they built from scratch over the course of the fall semester. Rocket Scientist Randii Wessen from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will serve as the ceremony speaker and presenter.

“Children are naturally curious, and this just helps ‘fire up’ their imaginations and keeps them exploring their universe around them,” Wessen said. “Events like this show them that not only are these careers exciting but that they can to it too.”

UH Professor Edgar Bering started the citywide event after his children participated in a classroom version of the program.

“As a parent, I saw the impact this program had on my children’s engagement in science, and I wanted to make sure other students received the same opportunity,” Bering said. “This year, nearly 700 students and their families will come to UH for the celebration.  I hope the experience ignites their interests the way it did for my kids.”

The models, which are made under a $25 budget, will be judged based on creativity, scientific accuracy and quality of presentation. According to a press release, “the students were required to do basic research on Mars to determine the operational objectives and structural features of their rovers.” The top five models will be awarded a UH branded trophy.

“The Mars Rover Celebration is important because it gives kids a chance to apply what they’ve learned about space to see if they like it,” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Chair Michael Martin said. “(This) takes them out of the classroom and puts them in touch with space professionals and even a former astronaut.”

The competition is one way to introduce more students to science, technology, engineering and math education in fun ways that garner more attention from kids. Considering fewer students are pursuing careers in STEM fields today, Bering said this event is critical to changing the current status of STEM graduates.

“Increasing the number of STEM graduates is the biggest national security challenge currently facing the U.S.,” Bering said. “Programs like the Mars Rover Model Celebration give students the opportunity to feel what is like to be a scientist or engineer, (and) we think this will help these students see themselves working in STEM careers later in life.”

Martin is one of the judges at the competition and said he is grateful for Bering’s devotion to the program and increasing STEM learning.

“STEM education is very important to our country’s future because it is our new inventions and creative ideas that fuel our economy and make us competitive on the world stage,” Martin said. “If we don’t introduce students to science and engineering, we lose our ability to compete.”

For Wessen, he hopes he can inspire students to pursue careers in space exploration and feels that as this year’s speaker, it is his responsibility to ignite their interests.

“I want the students to find something they love,” Wessen said. “For me, science and more specifically space exploration is a very exciting field to be involved with and I love being involved with it.”

The event is open to the public and kicks off at 9 a.m. and lasts until 6 p.m. on Jan. 31 at the new Student Center’s Houston Room. Following the contest, Wessen will be speak about his experiences with real Mars rovers at a talk and dinner hosted by the Houston chapter of the AIAA, at 6 p.m.in the Student Center’s Space City Room. More info can be found at http://www.aiaahouston.org/event/13th-annual-mars-rover-celebration/.

Volunteers can still sign up at www.marsrover.org.

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