A free Zoom event - Donations to the SEC or our Scholarship Fund are welcome!
Wednesday, January 13, 2021 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM PST

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The Perseverance Rover and the Search for Ancient Life on Mars

Our January Presentation: The Perseverance rover, developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, is on its way to Mars. It will attempt to land on the Red Planet on February 18, 2021. Come hear about the rover and its mission to seek signs of ancient life on Mars. Matt Heverly will share what we have learned about Mars with past missions, give an overview of the Perseverance rover and its mission, and talk about the future Mars Sample Return mission, which will attempt to return rock samples collected by Perseverance to Earth for further study.

Our Speaker: Matt Heverly is a robotics engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California. Matt earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a master’s degree from Boston University with a focus on medical robotics. He has spent the majority of his career working on robots to explore Mars. He helped develop research robots for planetary exploration, operated the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars, and was the Mobility Systems Engineer and Lead Driver for the Curiosity rover, which is still exploring Mars today. Currently Matt is the Surface Phase Lead for the Mars Sample Return, Sample Retrieval Lander mission.

To RSVP: Simply press the "Register Now!" button below. You'll receive a Zoom invitation by email prior to the event.

This meeting is free, but please consider a separate donation to our
Scholarship Foundation fund (tax-deductible) or an optional donation to the SEC
when you register (to help cover our ongoing administrative expenses).

Our Sponsors:

This meeting is sponsored in part by Community West Bank, by Bengal Engineering, and Toyon Research Corporation

From our Co-Presidents Tim Murphy and Gary Kravetz:

We have restarted our monthly meetings on Zoom! Join us for the presentation on January 13, and join SEC as a member when you register.
Do you have an idea for a future meeting? Contact program chair Yvonne DeGraw.

Plan now for upcoming SEC meetings:

February 10: "Decarbonizing California's Transportation Sector" with Dr. David Lee from UCSB's Department of Earth Sciences and the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
March 10: "Smart Cities" by Eyai Amir from Al Incube

The Perseverance Rover and the Search for Ancient Life on Mars

This meeting is free, but please consider a separate donation to our Scholarship Foundation fund (tax-deductible) or an optional donation to the SECwhen you register (to help cover our ongoing administrative expenses).

Our Sponsors:

This meeting is free, but please consider a separate donation to our
Scholarship Foundation fund (tax-deductible) or an optional donation to the SEC
when you register (to help cover our ongoing administrative expenses).