Last Updated: 02/05/2010*

Larry Wasielewski is a systems engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems. He is involved in several local educational community outreach efforts, including the University of Arizona’s Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program; the Lunar and Planetary Lab Kuiper Science Board; and the Raytheon MathMovesU initiative.

Wasielewski helped create the groundwork behind this year’s MathMovesU Day and shares his thoughts on the day’s event.

When I was a young student, I was fortunate to have parents who were interested in science and math, and they shared that spirit with me. Unfortunately, many students today don’t appear to share that same enthusiasm that I had when I was their age. We have a huge deficit in engineering students at the college level, which makes it difficult for companies like Raytheon to find local engineering talent. What better way to fix that problem than to grow the engineers locally? If a local student gets hooked on science, goes to the University of Arizona, and gets hired by Raytheon, they will most likely stay in Tucson. This would deepen the community bond with Raytheon by providing economic stimulation through well-paying jobs, lowering attrition rates, and creating a better community in general.

I believe that students are our future. I have already seen this successfully demonstrated in the MESA Program as some former MESA students are now Raytheon employees. It is important to make an impression on these students before it is too late.

The idea of building telescopes as part of a MathMovesU (MMU) initiative all started as a meeting with Stephen Pompea, Ph.D., from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) approximately a year-and-a-half ago. Pompea was looking for funding to purchase a plastic injection mold for a telescope kit that he was developing. He was also looking for people to purchase these telescope kits once they were available. The goal was to put affordable telescopes in the hands of 1 million people, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first look into outer space. I took the idea to several groups and showed how the idea could be made into a MMU event. I submitted a proposal to Raytheon to purchase 500 telescope kits so that 500 middle school students could build them as part of MMU Day.

Today — after hundreds of hours of careful planning, teleconferences and meetings — my dream became a reality. We couldn’t have done it without the partnership among Raytheon, the MESA Program, the Lunar and Planetary Lab, the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA), and NOAO. We started something from scratch, looking for a way to hopefully make a difference in a student’s life. I would be ecstatic if one of the students today decides to pursue a path in engineering because of the Galileoscope build event, and even more so if, some day, they became a Raytheon employee.

The students were engaged and excited to be there. They knew that they were getting an opportunity to build a telescope, and then take it home to keep. Approximately 500 students working with engineers in the Leadership Development Program, teachers, chaperones, parents and volunteers enjoyed the wonders of science. They got to experience firsthand the Raytheon engineering process — independent telescope assembly, with detailed step-by-step inspections. The best part was the pride I saw when they succeeded in their builds and took their creations home. What more could I ask for? It was my perfect day.

This year’s MMU Day was one of the more memorable highlights of my engineering career. I am appreciative to Raytheon for providing the funding to make MMU Day 2010 possible. I’d also like to thank the RMS Engineering department for their support too. When they heard what we were doing, they wanted to help make an impact by providing 500 tripods for the students. These tripods allowed students to be able to use their telescopes immediately, and soon, they will have the opportunity to attend a TAAA-sponsored Star Party at their schools.

The next step is to use the success of this event and propagate the concept to other Raytheon facilities. Nothing would make me prouder than to see Raytheon Company take the event today and use it as a template for other MMU events nationwide.