AVweb’s search of what’s new in aviation found STEM projects announced by colleges and universities, winners of the National Rocket Competition, and a new quick-build program from Plane-Crafters. NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) has selected four minority-serving institutions for cooperative agreement awards totaling approximately $2 million to help strengthen science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curricula.The selected institutions are the University of Hawaii, Howard University, The University of Texas at El Paso and Elizabeth City State University. LeTourneau University signed agreements with Collin College and McKinney Independent School District that will expand the aviation education opportunities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The agreements were signed at LETU’s new educational center located at McKinney National Airport.
Three winners of the Reach for the Stars National Rocket Competition, Kalli Riemer, Emily Schmidtlein and Maya Watson, celebrated with their families at Space Camp in “Rocket City” Huntsville, Alabama. For the past 9 years, over 50 percent of the national winners have been girls. Girl Scouts have taken an amazing seven national wins. Based on similar well-established kitplane builder-assistance programs (i.e. Sportsman 2+2), Plane-Crafters now offers the ultimate accelerated plane-building experience for owners/pilots wanting to complete a new Zenith aircraft in record time. Three different Zenith Aircraft models can be assembled through this program: the CH 750 STOL and CRUZER models as well as the low-wing Zodiac CH 650.
