Sweet Briar’s Wyllie Program to host Engineers Week dinner
Posted on February 13, 2016 by Jennifer McManamay
The Margaret Jones Wyllie ’45 Engineering Program will host a buffet dinner in celebration of National Engineers Week on Thursday, Feb. 25, at The Elston Inn & The Conference Center at Sweet Briar College. Former NASA astronaut Kathryn Thornton will be the guest speaker. The event is open to area engineers, educators and members of the business community.
Thornton, now a professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at the University of Virginia, made four space flights between 1989 and 1995 — one on Space Shuttle Discovery, two on Endeavour and one on Columbia. She is the recipient of numerous awards, among them the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement. She was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2010. Read more about Thornton’s career and her space travels here.
The National Society of Professional Engineers established National Engineers Week in 1951 to celebrate the difference engineers make in the world. Its goals include increasing awareness of the need for engineers and generating excitement for the profession among young people, their parents and their educators. This is the Sweet Briar engineering program’s first time hosting the local banquet.
The evening will kick off with a cash bar and opportunity to socialize at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6. The cost per person is $20. Please click here to make reservations by Feb. 17. For more information, contact Paulette Porter at pporter@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6447.
Thornton, now a professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at the University of Virginia, made four space flights between 1989 and 1995 — one on Space Shuttle Discovery, two on Endeavour and one on Columbia. She is the recipient of numerous awards, among them the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement. She was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2010. Read more about Thornton’s career and her space travels here.
The National Society of Professional Engineers established National Engineers Week in 1951 to celebrate the difference engineers make in the world. Its goals include increasing awareness of the need for engineers and generating excitement for the profession among young people, their parents and their educators. This is the Sweet Briar engineering program’s first time hosting the local banquet.
The evening will kick off with a cash bar and opportunity to socialize at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6. The cost per person is $20. Please click here to make reservations by Feb. 17. For more information, contact Paulette Porter at pporter@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6447.
