Thursday, April 9, 2009

Missile Defense Agency Hosts Math Challenge Week

Missile Defense Agency Hosts Math Challenge Week
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is preparing tomorrow’s workforce for careers in the fields of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics through educational outreach. On April 13-17, the MDA will host
Math Challenge Week at Lacey’s Spring Middle School and Huntsville Middle School. The MDA will provide
speakers along with engineers and scientists who have volunteered to educate students on math, science and
engineering as it directly relates to the MDA’s mission to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies,
and friends against ballistic missile attack. Volunteers from the Agency and local industry will mentor students
as they compete in classroom-based teams. Students will apply mathematical and scientific skills to determine
launch point coordinates of a rocket and ultimately to simulate intercepting a target.
The math challenge is only a small part of the Missile Defense Agency’s Educational Engineering and
Science Student Outreach (EESSO) program. The goal of this program is to increase student interest in the
fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. EESSO is a newly-implemented program within
MDA’s Advanced Technology Innovations directorate striving to assist the Agency in acquiring and maintaining
a world-class team of engineers and scientists to promote creative and innovative thinking and foster
partnerships with industry, academia, and other government agencies.
For more information on the Math Challenge Week, please contact Ms. Heather Reed at 256-450-1565 or
256-503-7802.