The conference organized by ARCyTAN with Javier Gómez-Elvira and Elizabeth Córdoba, NASA project leaders, was a resounding success
On Tuesday, November 15, 2022, on the eve of the Artemis I mission, whose objective is to rehearse the expedition in which "the first woman and the first non-white person" will walk on the lunar surface within three years, according to NASA's plans, the Conference organized by ARCyTAN took place. This year, it is organized with the support of the Scientific Dissemination Secretariat of the University of Seville (US), and the direction of the ETS of Engineering (ETSi) of the US, with the title "NASA project leaders will talk about the present and future of space at the ETSi."
More than 400 people attended the Conference organized by ARCyTAN
The conference featured top-level experts such as Dr. Javier Gómez-Elvira, Aeronautical Engineer (CAB, associated with NASA's NAI) , and leader of NASA's REMS project on Mars; and Dr. Elizabeth Córdoba (NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL) , Engineer from MIT (USA), and Head of Systems for NASA's Mars 2020 Rover, one of the women with the highest responsibilities in this institution, who participated via videoconference.
The event is part of the ARCyTAN program, High Performance in Science and Technology in Andalusia, which, since 2015, under the coordination of Professor Manuel Toscano and the ETSi (School of Engineering), has worked with outstanding pre-university students, the future of our university. Several dozen high school students from across Andalusia visit the ETSi on some Friday afternoons throughout the school year to attend talks, workshops, technology visits, and pre-university guidance. Once a year, their activities culminate in this major conference, to which the entire Andalusian educational community is invited, and which draws hundreds of attendees to the ETSi Auditorium each year.
Following the opening remarks and before the start of the conference, diplomas were awardedto students who had entered the ARCyTAN Program. These diplomas, awarded with bronze, silver, and gold distinctions, were the result of tests conducted at the ETSi (School of Engineering) that same afternoon of November 15th. After the presentations, the usual and engaging question-and-answer session took place. Approximately twenty people (including professors, students, and administrative and service staff) participated in the various activities held throughout the afternoon.
In previous editions, leading experts such as the Secretary of State for Energy José Domínguez Abascal, Aníbal Ollero (Rei Jaume I Prize for Aerial Robotics), Juan Pérez Mercader (Harvard University-NASA), weatherman José Antonio Maldonado, Juan Ignacio Cirac (Nobel Prize candidate), or José Luis Manzanares Japón (founder and president of AYESA) have addressed major topics of interest to society, such as: Space, Energy and Climate Change, Robotics of the Future, Entrepreneurship in Engineering, and Quantum Supercomputing, all within the near horizons of 2030-2050.
