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*********NASA Space and Technology Forum Coming February 8, 1996*********

The Georgia Tech Student Branch of IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers) is sponsoring the NASA Space and Technology Forum on
Thursday, February 8 at the Georgia Tech Center for the Arts.  The program
will begin at 6:45 p.m. 

The forum features Alan J. Parrish, associate director of NASA's Kennedy
Space Center (KSC), and John W. Young, NASA astronaut and special assistant
to the director of the NASA Johnson Space Center for Engineering,
Operations, and Safety.  Admiral Richard Truly, a former NASA administrator
and astronaut, will introduce the speakers and will serve as host.  Adm.
Truly is currently director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and a
vice president of Georgia Tech.  All three men are Georgia Tech alumni�Mr.
Parrish an EE '60, Mr. Young an AE '52, and Adm. Truly an AE '59.

Mr. Parrish will talk about technological spinoffs from NASA and how they
affect and apply to engineering, and Mr. Young will speak about his
experiences as an astronaut.  For more information about the event, please
contact Mr. John Elmore, IEEE chair, at gt7571b@prism.gatech.edu or at
770-259-7495.  Below are abbreviated bios on Mssrs. Parrish and Young and
Admiral Truly. 


Mr. Alan Parrish

As associate director at KSC, Mr. Parrish provides a centralized management
advisory service to all levels of the Center's management and to the Center
Director and Deputy Director.  He has also served as a director of safety,
reliability, and quality assurance for KSC and performed similar duties at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Dryden Flight Research Center, and
Vandenberg Air Force Base. During his career at NASA, Mr. Parrish has
received numerous awards, including earning the Sustained Superior
Performance Award five times and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal
twice�one for his work in association with the checkout and launch of the
first Space Shuttle and the second for his management of the Ground
Engineering Return-to-Flight activities for STS-26R.

Mr. John Young   

Mr. Young was selected as an astronaut in 1962 and participated in Gemini
3, the first manned Gemini mission, with Gus Grissom on March 23, 1965.  He
is the first person to fly in space six times from Earth�seven times
counting his lunar liftoff�and has logged more than 12,800 hours flying
time in props, jets, helicopters, rocket jets, and spacecraft, including
835 hours in those six space flights.  In January 1973, Mr. Young was made
chief of the Space Shuttle Branch of the Astronaut Office, providing
operational and engineering astronaut support for the design and
development of the Space Shuttle.  From January 1974 until May 1987, he
served as chief of the Astronaut Office.  During his tenure in that
position, astronaut flight crews participated in the Apollo-Soyuz joint
American-Russian docking mission, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Approach and
Landing Test Program, and 25 Space Shuttle missions, including the very
first shuttle flight in April 1981.  In his current position, Mr. Young
helps to define and resolve issues affecting the continued safe operation
of the Space Shuttle; he also provides counsel on engineering, operational,
and safety matters related to the Space Station, Shuttle upgrades, and
advanced human Space Exploration Programs.  As an active astronaut, Mr.
Young is still eligible to command future Shuttle astronaut crews.

Admiral Richard Truly

Adm. Truly was the eighth administrator of NASA from July 1989 to March
1992, before coming to Georgia Tech.  Before becoming head of NASA, he led
the rebuilding of the Space Shuttle program after the Challenger accident
in 1986.   This renewal was signified by NASA's celebrated
"return-to-flight" on September 29, 1988 when Discovery lifted off from
KSC, the first Shuttle mission in almost three years.  Adm. Truly also won
the approval for the building of the new Endeavour to replace Challenger. 
Under his leadership as NASA administrator, the agency matured the
successful operations of the Space Shuttle, solidified development plans
for Space Station Freedom, and began new space science and aeronautics
research programs.  He continually placed a very strong emphasis on NASA's
math and science education programs.  Earlier in his career as a naval
aviator, test pilot, and astronaut, Adm. Truly flew over 7,500 hours in
numerous military and civilian aircraft and spacecraft.  In 1965, he became
one of the first military astronauts chosen for the Air Force's Manned
Orbiting Laboratory program, transferring to NASA as an astronaut in 1969. 
Adm. Truly was capsule communicator for all Skylab missions in 1973 and the
Apollo-Soyuz docking in 1975.   He was pilot for the 747 Space Shuttle
Enterprise approach and landing tests in 1977.  His first spaceflight was
November 12-14, 1981 as pilot of Columbia (STS-2), the first shuttle to be
reflown in space.  Adm. Truly also commanded Challenger (STS-8, August
30-Sept. 5, 1983), the first night launch and landing mission.