Subaru Of America Partners with The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program to Aid Advanced Education for Schools in Need
Subaru Continues to Help the Scientists, Astronauts and Engineers of Tomorrow through Renewed Two Year Commitment
CHERRY HILL, NJ, March 3, 2015 /3BL Media/ –Subaru of America today announced its continued commitment to the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), through a two-year national partnership with the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education in Washington, D.C. Through the partnership, Subaru will donate $50,000 to the program to support schools in communities across the country that are in need of funding to participate in this education initiative. As a national partner for the past two years, Subaru has already made it possible for nine schools to participate in the SSEP, including middle schools in Pennsauken, NJ; Chicago, IL; Downingtown, PA; Highlands Ranch, CO; Oakland, CA; Rockwall, TX; and San Marino, CA. More than 3,000 students have engaged in and nearly 750 student team proposals were submitted due to Subaru’s commitment.
“Subaru is proud to be a national partner of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program,” said Sandra Capell, philanthropy and corporate responsibility manager, Subaru of America, Inc. “At Subaru, we encourage innovation and believe that engaging students in unique learning opportunities, such as the SSEP, are important in helping to prepare and inspire the next generation of leaders.”
Each community participating in SSEP conducts a local Flight Experiment Design Competition, with their student teams vying to fly in low Earth orbit in a real research mini-laboratory reserved just for their community. Mirroring how professional research is done, student teams across the community submit formal research proposals, which go through a two-step proposal review process to select the flight experiment for the community. The design competition runs a minimum of nine weeks.
“Over the past two years, Subaru has been a great partner and helped us to support many communities and innovative students across the country. We are very excited to continue to have them as a national partner for the next two years,” said Dr. Jeff Goldstein, SSEP National Program Director. “SSEP is dedicated to fostering creativity and ingenuity in our youth. Working with a brand like Subaru that not only helps to support the effort financially, but truly understands the significance of our program and aligns with our goals is unmeasurable.”
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) was launched June 2010 by the National
Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC. It is a remarkable U.S. national Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education initiative that gives typically 300+ students across a community the ability to design and propose real experiments to fly in low Earth orbit, first aboard the final flights of the Space Shuttle, and then on the International Space Station – America’s newest National Laboratory.
About NCESSE
The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) creates and oversees national initiatives addressing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, with a focus on earth and space. Programs are designed to provide an authentic window on science as a human endeavor. Central objectives of the Center’s programs are to help ensure a scientifically literate public and a next generation of U.S. scientists and engineers – both of which are of national importance in an age of high technology. NCESSE is a Project of the Tides Center. http://ncesse.org
About The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP)
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC, working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and Subaru of America, Inc., are National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit media.subaru.com.
