Professor James R. Arnold, former Director of the California Space Institute and founding Principal Investigator for the California Space Grant Consortium, passed away Friday, January 6, 2012 at the age of 88.

As founding PI of the California Space Grant Consortium, Jim contributed to the early National Space Grant Program under Julius Dash and was a mentor and best friend to the now-retired California Space Grant Director, Mike Wiskerchen:  ”I worked closely with Jim for over twenty years.  He was my mentor, a close colleague, and a dear friend. I learned a great deal from him and he will be missed by me and many others.”

“Jim was a fantastic research scientist and academic scholar who found the time to personally mentor over two dozen California Space Grant students. I will always remember our discussions of his vision to develop an equally strong space science and engineering program at the California Space Institute,” reflected John Kosmatka, the current PI and Interim Director of the California Space Grant Consortium.

Jim is survived by his lovely wife Louise, and their three sons Bob, Ted, and Ken.

For more information please visit:
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressreleases/jim_arnold_founding_chemist_at_uc_san_diego_dies_at_88/

The 2012 NASA Academy Application is now open: http://www.AcademyApp.com.

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The California Space Grant Consortium (CaSGC) is pleased to announce its 2011-2012 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) for Juniors and Seniors attending CaSGC affiliate member institutions.

Scholarships: Up to twenty $1,500 scholarships will be awarded to California college and university students studying Science, Technology, Engineering or Math.

Application Submission Period: December 5, 2011 – February 6, 2012. Read the rest of this entry »

NASA is seeking applications from graduate students for the agency’s second class of Space Technology Research Fellowships. Applications will be accepted from accredited U.S. universities on behalf of graduate students interested in performing space technology research beginning in fall 2012. Read the rest of this entry »

NASA’s  Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (Mission Doctorate) is accepting applications for summer 2012 faculty fellowships. These fellowships can prepare faculty members to enable their students to complete senior design projects with potential contribution to NASA Exploration objectives. The faculty will work for six to twelve weeks at a NASA field center on a selected Exploration project and incorporate the Exploration project into an exisiting senior design course or capstone course at their university in the 2012/2013 academic year. Read the rest of this entry »

The Girls Summer Engineering Experience (GIRLS SEE) is a five-day residential camp for female high school students aimed at increasing the number of female applicants into the different disciplines of engineering and to increase the retention of the current female engineering students. Read the rest of this entry »

NSRC is a forum for researchers, educators and other users to learn about the research and education and public outreach (EPO) capabilities of the next generation of space vehicles to suborbital space, their experiments and EPO integration processes. Hosted by NASA Ames Research Center, the Southwest Research Institute and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, NSRC is THE meeting for researchers and educators wanting to participate in, learn about and contribute to the new era of commercial, reusable suborbital flight. At NSRC-2011, over 350 people participated, and over 400 people are expected to attend this year.

Sessions range over topics from planetary science, atmospheric science and astro/solar physics applications of next generation suborbital vehicles for research, to how-to panels and talks on the various launch companies and NASA’s funding for research and education opportunities aboard these vehicles.

Important Dates:

• December 2, 2011: Abstracts due
• February 27-29, 2012: The conference takes place at the Crowne Royal Hotel in Palo Alto

Registration is open now!  Student participation is highly encouraged and students will receive discounted registration with a valid student ID.  Register here.

Fresno State campus director Dr. Ram Nunna (Interim Dean of the Lyles College of Engineering at Fresno State) provided support for a team of students that flew on a microgravity flight at Johnson Space Center this summer.