Huntsville, Ala.(October 10, 2011)- The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville) will host a propulsion research workshop on Friday, Oct. 14. The workshop will be held at the university's Shelby Center for Science and Technology (room 301) from 8 a.m., to 5 p.m. Co-chairpersons for the workshop are Dr. Shankar Mahalingam, dean, of the College of Engineering, and Dr. Robert Frederick, Jr., interim director of the Propulsion Research Center. Mahalingam and Frederick also hold the rank of professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. The workshop stemmed from UAHuntsville's invitation to be on the planning team for the new NASA National Institute for Rocket Propulsion Systems (NIRPS). The university accepted the task to coordinate issue identification among the academic propulsion community across the nation and provide that information to the NASA planning team. The propulsion workshop is the first step in the planning process. Select propulsion leaders from universities around the nation will gather to discuss: the state of industry, the state of the art in academia, and the future of the industry. Workshop presenters include: Dr. Robert Frederick, Jr.Int. Dir. Propulsion Research CenterProfessor MAERobert.Frederick@uah.edu Dr. Shankar MahalingamDean. College of EngineeringProfessor, MAEShankar.Mahalingam@uah.edu University Workshop Participants Auburn Dr. Roy HartsfieldWalt and Virginia Woltosz Professor of Aerospace EngineeringAuburn Universityrjh@eng.auburn.edu Georgia Tech Alan W. WilhiteLangley Professor of Aerospace EngineeringCo-Director, The Center For Aerospace SystemsEngineering, Modeling and SimulationGeorgia Institute of Technologywilhite@nianet.org Georgia Tech Prof. Mitchell WalkerAssociate Professor of Aerospace EngineeringGeorgia Institute of Technologymitchell.walker@ae.gatech.edu NASA AmesResearch Center Dr. V. N. SmelyanskiyPrincipal Research Scientist, Group LeaderNASA Ames Research Centervadim.n.smelyanskiy@nasa.gov Purdue University Dr. William Anderson Associate Professor of Aeronautics and AstronauticsDirector of Global Engineering ProgramPurdue Universitywanderso@purdue.edu Universityof Illinois Dr. Mark BrandyberrySenior Research ScientistUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaignmdbrandy@illinois.edu University of Maryland Dr. Kenneth YuAssociate Professor of Aerospace EngineeringUniversity of Marylandyu@umd.edu For more information and workshop registration, please contactco-chairpersonsShankar.Mahalingam@uah.eduor Robert.Frederick@uah.edu For more informationJoyce Anderson Maples256.824.2101maplesj@uah.edu">maplesj@uah.edu