Steven Schmidt, director of NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility at Edwards Air Force Base and a California State University, Fresno alumnus, will speak to students, faculty and staff from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, in Engineering East Room 120.
Schmidt, who kicks off the Lyles College of Engineering’s Pathways: Student Services Professional Speaker Series, will address students on the skills for a successful and productive life after graduation. His topic is “Changing Education into Income.”
Graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from Fresno State in 1977, Schmidt began working as an aerospace engineer at Dryden.
Schmidt joined NASA in November 1994, serving in a variety of positions, including several boards such as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board that reviewed the shuttle disaster that took the life of Fresno State alumnus Col. Rick Husband and his six fellow astronauts in 2003.
He was involved with various programs at Dryden, including the X-33, X-38, X-43A, F-15 ACTIVE and SR-71. Before joining NASA, Schmidt was employed by Rockwell International. He began there as an aerospace engineer in 1983 in the company’s Space Shuttle manufacturing operations facility in Palmdale. In 1984, he became a project engineer at Rockwell’s B-1B bomber facilities in El Segundo and was a qualified flight crewmember in the full-scale development, testing and acceptance flight-testing in the B- 1B program.
The Pathways: Student Services Professional Speaker Series is a component of the many services that Pathways provides to students in the Lyles College of Engineering. Every month, Pathways will invite professionals from the engineering industry and community to visit the Lyles College of Engineering and speak to students about topics relevant to the engineering and construction management industries.
For more information, contact Hernan R. Maldonado, director of Pathways: Student Services at 559.278.5408 or by e-mail at hernanm@csufresno.edu.
