Fellow Academy Alumni,

The candidacy declaration period concluded on Monday October 25. The remainder of the election schedule is as follows:

• Candidate statements are published -- October 28
• Balloting Opens -- November 1
• Balloting Closes -- November 15
• Announcement of Election Results -- November 18
• New Executive Officers take office -- December 1

On November first a ballot will be sent to the news@nasa- academy.org, and this alone is to be returned to elections@nasa- academy.org. You are not required to vote for all positions on the ballot, but write-in votes will not be accepted and any included will be considered a null vote for that position.

We are fortunate to have very qualified candidates with outstanding visions for the future of the NAAA. Though there is only one candidate in each category, think of this as a confidence vote that will give the candidates the mandate to govern the organization. Thus, your vote is imperative for instilling the proper authority in our officers.

Finally, at issue on the ballot will be a final ratification of the NAAA Constitution. This document went through a nearly one year drafting and refinement period. Many iterations were carried out so that the document can serve as a legal testament to the existence and function of the NAAA. The document was given the blessing by those present at the founders meeting, and has been put to the test as a guide for the first executive council. It is now necessary to accept or reject the document as a whole by a vote from a quorum. Please take a moment to refresh your understanding of the document so that you may make an informed decision. You can find it at:

Please include a statement (100-500 words) of your qualifications for the office, your goals for your term, and your vision for the future of NAAA.

I want to be a part of the Executive Counsel of the NAAA for several reasons. If it was not for my experiences in the NASA Academy, I am not sure if I could be where I am today. I never really knew where I was going to end up, after spending one summer at Dryden in the Academy, everything just opened up and fell into place. After spending my second summer at Dryden, this time as the Director, I now have the confidence to undertake any goal and know that I have great support structure behind me. The NAAA was a great support network to have on call as Director. The Alumni are also a special group of people with related interests and experiences, that we are mysteriously connected to. This is a good thing.

Having seen both sides of the Academy program, I know I can contribute new ideas for the Alumni Association. I know how the Academy is supposed to work, how it actually works, and the successes it can claim. The Alumni Association should not be ashamed to claim those successes, or be to bashful to boast about our achievements. As members of the Alumni Association we share something in common with nearly 200 hundred other young professionals and students in aerospace and related industry and education across the country. We are responsible for upholding the reputation that has been built by those early founding RAs and for insuring the future of the Academy. As we continue on the leadership path that was started that special summer, one day an Academy Alumnus will be a Center Director, another will a Congressman, another an astronaut- there is nothing to stop us. Each of these achievements demonstrates how important the Academy program is. By having a strong Alumni Association, each of us will be able to call on that Center Director, astronaut, etc as a friend and say "So, When is the X-33 really going to fly?". You never know when you might need a friend at Lockheed, or JPL, or NASA Headquarters, or on Mars- the NAAA provides that connection.

As the VP of Operations I want to continue the outstanding work Mike Moreau has done in building the NAAA. With the foundation laid, I want to strengthen the network of Alumni and our involvement with the rest of NASA. Our attendance and participation at the 40th Anniversary Celebration appears to have been a great success and I am sorry I missed it. There are many opportunities for the Alumni Association to get involved in Aeronautics and Space related activities throughout the year. I believe that the NAAA can become an organization that not only promotes the Academy program, but also has the ability to influence the direction of aerospace/ aeronautics in the new millennium. We were originally chosen for our leadership potential, soon that investment will be realized outside our circle.

In conclusion, this position is an opportunity to play another important role in the Academy. I have my concerns about where the Academies are heading. As we roll into year 7, several transitions are underway and we need to provide the support and encouragement for the Academies. So as the end of the year is approaching, remember applications will be posted soon. There is nobody that knows a better candidate than an alum, so do a little recruiting (if you can) and provide ourselves a strong future.

Thank you,
Kyle Snyder
DFRC '97, '98 Director
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check the office for which you are declaring candidacy:
____ President
____ Vice President of Operations
__X__ Vice President of Finance

Name: Joseph B. Mueller
Address:

PERSONAL STATEMENT: Hello fellow NASA Academics. Allow me to tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Joe Mueller, I am attending the University of Minnesota, and will be getting my Bachelor's Degree this March in Aerospace Engineering. I'm one of the small handful of folks who actually spent ten weeks in the Mojave Desert to become a Dryden Academy Alum. This past summer I went back to California to work on staff at Ames in the Astrobiology Academy. And now, I hope to continue my involvement by serving as NAAA's Vice-President of Finance.

I think most of us learn quite a bit about NASA during our ten week stint. We see its politics, policies, abilities, shortcomings, financial status, hiring status, and its miles and miles of red tape. When I returned as a staff member this past summer, I learned more about NASA than I thought was possible in ten weeks. As a result of some of my recently added insight into NASA, the Academy, and their relationship, I have some very crucial concerns that I feel need to be addressed immediately.

CONCERN: The academies' complete dependence on government money leaves them susceptible to great loss. We have no way of ensuring from one year to the next that the money exists for 1) the state to sponsor the RA's and for 2) the center to sponsor the academy itself.

SOLUTION? Work towards making the NAAA self-sufficient within three years. The NAAA will partially fund the Academy at each center, and will sponsor as many students as possible. This will reduce our dependence on unreliable government money and will impress the worth of the program to those who make funding decisions.

CONCERN: Currently we are unable to secure experienced NASA employees to act as Deans to the academies.

SOLUTION? Hire professors (summers off) or retired NASA officials that are charismatic, connected, and eager to get involved with young, budding NASA hopefuls.

CONCERN: In the past, PI's have had a tendency to expect more out of the RA's than they can deliver concurrent with their academy obligations.

SOLUTION? Extend the role of the RA to include returning as a Co-op if an undergrad, or under the GSRP if a grad student.

The most important aspect of what I do as VP of Finance will be working towards making the NAAA a self-sufficient organization. Within three years, I want the NAAA to fund all Academy Group Projects, sponsor summer travel between academies, award scholarships to competing alumni, and possess a distinguished, professional relationship with NASA and the aerospace industry. During my term I want begin establishing our contacts with industry in a more professional manner, schedule a few main fundraising activities for the year, work with the executive council to create a 5- year financial plan, and start a trust-fund with donations from industry.

This last item I see as potentially our best ticket to financial independence. This would involve compiling a hard-copy professional presentation detailing the NAAA goals and objectives, and showing off our alumni's accomplishments.

October 15-17th, 44 NASA Academy alumni and their guests from all over the country gathered in Washington, DC to celebrate NASA's 40th Anniversary and to discuss the future of the NASA and the NAAA. To find out more about what you might have missed during this great weekend, please check out the slide show at:

Time for more editorial ramblings ... gotta fill up some space, since it appears that GSFC 96 was a poor year. Oh well, I guess that group simply does not live up to the true nature of NAAA - an outstanding, outgoing group of young leaders who are willing to become a vocal and outspoken part of the aerospace community (with the exception of Jeff Munson, of course :).

Anyways, I went up to Boulder for a NAAA reunion on Sep 26th. See last month's newsletter for information on this outing. Anyways, we had 9 of the 16 Colorado NAAA members attend, a great ratio. This month, I attend the Colorado School of Mines homecoming, and visited my old frat house. I think we had a total of nine alumni show up. Now, you live in the frat house for 2-4 years per person, and we had normally 20-25 people in the house each year (about the same size as a NASA Academy), and the house has been in existence since 1901. What does this show? That a single summer with a NASA academy will inspire more loyalty and more connections (even with other Academians you have never met before) that even an entire college experience. This endearing quality of NAAA is great basis to build on.

I greatly appreciate all of the hard work that the first set of NAAA officers have put in this first year ... simply building momentum for a new group can be a very arduous task. I hope the next set of officers are just as dedicated and help keep the momentum of the NAAA going; this is a great organization and is showing a lot of potential!

For future issues, I would suggest the following format for the submissions:

Name:
email:
Home contact info:
Work company (or school):
Work title:
Work contact info:
Major work project(s):
Discussion (2-3 paragraphs, can be either or both personal and work related)

So here they are, GSFC Academy 4 (1996), in their own words:

Jeffrey Eric Munson

E-mail: jmunson@mit.edu

Home info:

Work info:

Brief history since Academy days:

• Graduated from the University of Virginia in May 1997 with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics
• Employed for a year at GRC International in Washington DC as an Aerospace Engineer - worked on a systems integration tool for International Space Station and several DoD contracts
• Spent summer of 1998 in LARSS (Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars) program at NASA Langley - research assistant for Hyper-X Hypersonic Flight Research Program
• Started graduate school at MIT in Fall 1998 - MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MS in Technology and Policy - research assistant for the Lean Aerospace Initiative working on expendable and reusable launch systems

Issue deadline: 23 Nov 5 PM MST
Planned articles:

• Officers messages
• Other article submissions (it is your newsletter!!)
• Where are they now - MSFC Academy 3 (1996)

Contact Information

The following is the way to contact the officers of the NAAA:

THE NASA ACADEMY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION