A three-day conference examining the possible establishment of an Aeronautics Center included participation by 42 aero alumni and presentations by eight alumni panelists, including HMC’s first astronaut George D. “Pinky” Nelson ’72 (pictured at right) and astronaut Stanley G. Love ’87 (by teleconference). At the conclusion of the meeting, enthusiastic alumni volunteered to continue planning for an aero center.

In 1962, Iris Critchell and her husband, Howard (“Critch”) developed and directed the HMC Bates Aeronautics Program, which introduced 250 Mudders to flight. The program ended in 1990. Since then, interest in aeronautics at HMC has continued through the Barn-stormers student club and through Bates alumni events.

Presentations and discussions at the conference were led by alumni with broad experience in aviation, aero education and academics. Key participants were Nelson, Love, Dan Davids ’71, Ken Orloff ’66, Michael Magras ’83, Ron Zasadzinski ’89, Nancy Smith ’76 and J. Kim Vandiver ’68 (pictured above, left).

They discussed topics ranging from the challenges that lie ahead to the educational benefits of an aero program. Nelson remarked on the usefulness of aeronautics and flight as educational tools and credited his Bates experience as a key reason he was selected by NASA. “It prepared me perfectly for the astronaut experience,” he said.

Love said, “If we start training Mudders in aerospace, the flexibility that they will add to the field will be absolutely crucial.”

A student panel was led by Barnstormer president Matt McKnett ’08 and included Autumn Petros-Good ’09, Tanya Lewis ’10, Claire Robinson ’11, Matt Hoss ’08, Scott Kimbrell ’08, Kyle Marsh ’09 and Natalie Durgin ’09. Also present was the E80 class, which had just come from the desert where they made their first rocket launch. Members of an Engineering Clinic team took advantage of the expertise present and consulted with Nelson and Love about their current project, the design of an emergency signaling device for an astronaut’s helmet.

The session with faculty, led by Zee Durón ’81 (engineering) and Richard Haskell (physics) also included faculty members from mathematics and computer science.

President Maria Klawe expressed her enthusiasm. “I’m really committed to the next steps,” she said, adding that she planned to talk with college trustees and other key players.

A six-person group of volunteers that includes Nelson and Vandiver developed a white paper outlining goals, policy and criteria for the aero center. The paper is available by contacting Iris Critchell at icritchell@hmc.edu.