Cornell science is on view for enthusiastic NYC high school students

At the NASA in New York Day at CCNY April 8, Cornell undergraduates show off robots being developed for the next world cup of robot soccer this summer. They are, from left, Michael Babish (computer science), Nok Onlamai (electrical engineering), Nan Kong (operations research) and Chin Hong Tong (electrical engineering). Photographs by Philip Carvalho

By David Brand

More than 1,100 highly vocal and enthusiastic high schoolers, their parents and their teachers crowded into Aaron Davis Hall at the City College of New York (CCNY) in Manhattan April 8 to hear and see Cornell science and technology research at work. They learned about theories of the nature of the distant universe, and they saw highly advanced robots that play soccer using artificial intelligence.

It was the second NASA in New York Day (the first was held in 1998), a celebration of science and space attended by 10th- and 11th-graders from more than 90 schools in the five boroughs of New York City. All of the students had to compete in an essay contest to attend. The event is organized by the New York Space Grant Consortium, of which Yervant Terzian, Cornell's David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences, is director, and Cornell's Susan Sullivan is the assistant director for education. The sponsors included Cornell and CCNY.

The space grant program is supported by 10 universities in the state, including Cornell, to enhance education in space-related fields through graduate fellowships, undergraduate internships and outreach to elementary and high schools.

The event was a chance for budding researchers to hear and be inspired by successful people in their fields, like astronomer Terzian and astronaut Mario Runco Jr. It also was an opportunity for them to learn from undergraduates from universities such as Cornell, SUNY Geneseo, Syracuse University and Polytechnic University, who were present to discuss and demonstrate their work.

The day's theme was set by Terzian in his opening lecture about observations and understanding of space, both historical and modern, when he told the students, "I invite you to join learning about nature and the universe."

He said: "Superstition has faded away in most parts and I am asked by people all the time, why study sciences? I think the explanation of nature is beautiful. The universe is beautiful. It is the romance of discovery. It is to understand how nature works and to use this result in a useful way -- to build new tools to survive, to solve problems of security, of environmental dangers, and in general to have a comfortable life."

But Terzian cautioned the students, "In spite of our amazing understanding of nature and all the advances we have been able to make, most people are not friendly with the sciences. It saddens me to hear people not having critical thinking at work in their minds."

Cornell Professor Yervant Terzian with astronaut Mario Runco Jr. in front of a model of the space shuttle at the NASA Day event.

He was followed by Charles Liu, an astrophysicist at the Rose Center for Earth and Space of the American Museum of Natural History, who offered a tribute. Liu recalled that when he attended Ithaca High School, he was inspired by hearing one of Terzian's lectures. "Please continue your encouragement of high schoolers. You clearly have as much energy now as you did then," he said.

The NASA event also included demonstrations of cutting-edge research at a number of universities, including Cornell. Present to demonstrate their robotics research were undergraduates Michael Babish (computer science) from Acton, Mass.; Chin Hong Tong (electrical engineering) from Singapore; Nan Kong (operations research) from China; and Nok Onlamai (electrical engineering) from Thailand. Last year, a Cornell team won the Robot World Cup Initiative, the world cup of robot soccer, in Sweden. The four students are competing to be in this year's event, at which Cornell will defend its title in Melbourne, Australia.

Also present to demonstrate a more static piece of hardware was Cornell graduate Paul Bartlett (B.S., Mech Eng. '99), with a full-scale, wood-and-plastic model of the Mars Athena Rover vehicle that he helped build during the spring 1999 semester under the guidance of Steven Squyres, Cornell astronomy professor. The vehicle was designed and built by Cornell engineering undergraduates for just $1,800 for a Mars exhibit at the South Florida Science Museum, using actual blueprints for the Mars surface exploration vehicle from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The museum exhibit closed last October and the model now is used in education and outreach at Cornell. Bartlett works for Honeybee Robotics in Manhattan, which has a NASA contract to supply drills for a future Mars surface exploration vehicle.

The CCNY organizer for the event was Shelly Weinbaum, CUNY Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering. The event also was sponsored by NASA and the New York City Board of Education, among others.