SATURDAY: NASA's Kobie Boykins to Be Keynote Speaker at UC Science Fair

The University of Cincinnati has speakers for the Science and Engineering Expo who are out of this world — and this year is no different. A dynamic young engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

Kobie Boykins

is on the front line of Mars exploration. Boykins designed the solar arrays that power the remarkable Mars Expedition Rovers “Spirit” and “Opportunity.”

He is currently working at NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, preparing the actuators for the next mission. Boykins’ other projects have included working on the Mars Pathfinder mission and the Ocean Surface Topography Mission, making measurements by satellite of the Earth’s oceans.

In 2002, Boykins joined a team of young scientists for a public education tour — dubbed “Marsapalooza” — to raise awareness of the Mars Exploration Program. Four years later he was featured in the JASON Project Expedition “Mysteries of Earth and Mars,” bringing his passion for space exploration to students and teachers worldwide.

At the start of the closing ceremonies for UC's sixth Science and Engineering Expo, Boykins shares his passion for space exploration by telling about the design and construction of the rovers and the story of their missions. He recounts the challenges and triumphs of the Mars Exploration Rovers mission, sharing remarkable images and discoveries that continue to come to us from the Red Planet.

SEE Welcomes Kobie Boykins

UC's Warren Huff Gives Friday Evening Presentation on the Red Planet

More about UC's sixth annual Science and Engineering Expo

Boykins' talk is free and open to the public.

When:  3 p.m., Saturday, March 13, 2010
Where: Myrl H. Shoemaker Multipurpose Center, Fifth Third Arena