Talk at Laboratory Jan. 23 to focus on contributions of Africans, African Americans to technology

Contact: Steve Sandoval, steves@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9206

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Jan. 17, 2001 -- The "Contributions of Africans and African Americans to Technology" is the subject of a talk by Aprille Joy Ericsson-Jackson Jan. 23 at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The talk in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3 is sponsored by the Diversity Office and the Laboratory's African American Diversity Working Group as part of Los Alamos' Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance. The talk begins at 11 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

The Laboratory was closed on Monday (Jan. 15) in observance of the national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.

A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ericsson received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1986. During her undergraduate study at MIT, Ericsson-Jackson was involved in many projects geared toward manned space flight. These projects included working on developing a fiber-optic gyroscope and participating in a simulated manned Mars mission as the crew systems specialist for an interplanetary vehicle.

After graduating from MIT, Ericsson-Jackson attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she received a master's degree in engineering and a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering, with a focus on aerospace.

Much of Ericsson-Jackson's work has centered on trying to initiate more minorities and females into the fields of math, science and engineering. As a result, Ericsson-Jackson has participated in mentoring and career-advisement programs at the elementary, junior high school, high school and college levels. In addition, she is a member of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Speakers Bureau and the Women of NASA.

In May 1998, Ericsson-Jackson was recognized as the best female engineer in the Federal Government and received the "Women in Science and Engineering" award. She has also been touted by the National Technical Association as "being among the top 50 minority women in Science and Engineering," in both 1996 and 1997.

Ericsson-Jackson currently is a aerospace engineer at NASA-GSFC in the Guidance, Navigation and Control Center. She is working on one of NASA's medium-class Explorer (MIDEX) projects called Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP).

The Albuquerque Umoja Drummers will perform before Ericsson-Jackson's presentation. A reception will follow the talk, during which Laboratory personnel can meet with Ericsson-Jackson informally.

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