Speaking at TFAWS

Yesterday I was the keynote speaker at the 2005 Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. It was a three and a half hour drive each way, but that gave me lots of time to talk on the phone :-) I haven't ever been a featured speaker at a real conference before--it was fun! And I think I was the most exciting thing to happen that day. Middle-aged guys talking about fluid analysis just doesn't strike me as a hopping party (though I heard they loved the open bar the night before!). I got my first ever speaker award too--a Galileo thermometer with a "TFAWS 2005" plaque on it. It went straight to my desk at work!

While I was in Orlando I also met up with Will Pomerantz of X Prize and SpaceAlumni.com to talk about writing a proposal to have the Space Generation Foundation administer the Quest level prizes for NASA's Centennial Challenges program. We spent several hours going over the details and ended up dividing it up and taking parts home. I only have until tomorrow to get my half finished--yikes! Better get started...