The University of Tennessee Space Institute’s brand new Assistant Vice President for Research and Development Dr. Angie Bukley is leaving UTSI to teach in China. But don’t worry; she’ll be back in three weeks. Dr. Bukley will be teaching at the International Space University’s Space Session Program this summer, a nine-week intensive space studies program. The host for the Space Session Program this year is Beihang University of Aeronautics & Astronautics in Beijing. The program is broken into three phases: Core Lectures, a review of the fundamentals to ensure all participants have a general understanding of the many aspects of space exploration and utilization, Advanced Lectures, when more difficult topics will be tackled, and the Team Project, in which students will be divided into four teams to address space-related topics in a more in-depth manner. In the Space Systems Engineering Department that Dr. Bukley chairs, competitions will be held to challenge students to design their own robots to perform a certain task, and to build and launch their own rockets. Dr. Bukley will be teaching during the Advanced Lectures and competitions portion of the program.

While new to UTSI, Dr. Bukley has taught with ISU since 1994 and is currently a member of ISU’s Board of Trustees and their Academic Council, which she currently chairs. While in China, Dr. Bukley will be giving advanced seminars on various space topics including space debris, space failures and recoveries, and lessons learned. She will also lead a series of workshops where students will assess the best way to design a remote sensing system to support fighting forest fires. Students will have to debate and decide what type of satellite system would best suit the application and the best orbit in which to put it.

There are 121 students from 25 different countries enrolled in this year’s summer space program. Those students will join Dr. Bukley and their other instructors on a tour of China’s Astronaut (Taikonaut) Training Center, and the vehicle assembly building, where the Chinese assemble their rockets.

Dr. Bukley’s just had her first day at UTSI on June 18, but has already settled into her new position here at UTSI and her new home in Estill Springs. “I am thrilled to finally be here and look forward to working with everyone here to advance the research programs of the Institute. Developing a strong relationship between UTSI and ISU will yield positive results for both parties. I sincerely appreciate having this opportunity to expose a broad range of leaders in the space world and 121 exceptionally bright and energetic young people to UTSI.”

DR BUKLEY WITH ISU’S SPACE SESSION PROGRAM FACULTY—The faculty of this summer’s International Space University Space Session Program are shown above during their visit to Beihang University of Aeronautics & Astronautics in November 2006. UTSI’s Dr. Angie Bukley is shown in the center. From left to right: Isabelle Bouvet (France, CNES – Policy & Law), Ozgur Gurtuna (Turkey, Turquoise Technology – Business & Management), Mike Simpson (USA, ISU President), Scott Madry (USA, Univ. of North Carolina – Satellite Applications), Jim Dator (USA, Univ. of Hawaii – Space & Society), Angie Bukley (USA, UTSI – Space Systems Engineering), Jeffrey Hoffman (USA, MIT & former NASA Astronaut – Core Lectures), Gary Martin (USA, NASA – ISU SSP Director), Gilles Clement (France, CNRS – Space Life Sciences), Sandra Podhajsky (Austria, ISU – SSP Academic Director), and Mikhail Marov (Russia, Keldysh Inst. for Applied Mathematics – Space Physical Sciences).

 — Photo Provided