In the morning of the 8th of June 2016, ten young women, members of WIA-E (Women in Aerospace – Europe) had the chance to meet at Villa Pinciana, in Rome, Dr. Ellen Stofan, a planetary scientist, STEM (Pre-Service Teacher Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) advocate and Chief Scientist at NASA, whose studies include the geology of Venus, Mars, Titan and Earth. The WIA-delegation responded to the formal invitation of the United States Embassy in Rome, in the person of the Deputy Chief of Mission Kelly C. Degnan.
In a lovely and quite location, a very enjoyable talk took place, focused on Dr. Stofan’s studies, discoveries and working experience at NASA. She dedicated most of the discussion to sharing the lessons learned during her career with the guests, and to listen to their opinions and experiences.
During the meeting, representatives of the winner team of the “International Space Apps Challenge 2016”, the competition sponsored by NASA and ESA at global level, had the chance to describe their L.I.V.E. (Live Ice Velocity Estimation) Glacier Project, which won the first Global Award in the Galactic Impact category.
Moreover, several WIA engineers and representatives of the most important Italian space industries and institutions, expressed their points of view and actively participated to the discussion, also supporting the Dr. Stofan’s message.