Lockheed Martin project manager Sharon Eggleston of Brunswick, Maine received the prestigious Aerospace Awareness Award from Women in Aerospace at the organization's 19th Annual Awards Reception Tuesday, Sept. 21 on Capitol Hill. The national award recognizes Eggleston's "excellence in outreach and building awareness of aerospace programs and developments."

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Eggleston, who serves as a technical liaison on the AEGIS destroyer program in Brunswick, spends her off-hours planning educational space activities for children. Last year, she logged more than 500 volunteer hours coordinating Space Day events for 18 schools in Maine and for the International Space Station EarthKAM program for Brunswick Junior High School. The programs reached more than 13,000 students.

"It might seem funny that someone who works on surface ships spends her off-hours volunteering with space education, but there's a connection, because it's about inspiring children and encouraging them to be the best they can be," Eggleston said.

Eggleston also is a member of the Maine Space Grant Consortium, serves on the education committee for the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor, teaches at Southern New Hampshire University, and will share her story and talk about the importance of space education at a Space Symposium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in November.

"Sharon's receipt of the award is well-deserved," says Jim Ashe, superintendent of the Brunswick School District. "She has inspired so many of our students and has enhanced our schools by increasing students' motivation to do well in math and science."

Space Day, held annually on the first Thursday in May, is designed to excite children about math, science, engineering and technology. Among the many activities Eggleston planned were:

  -- Students and faculty from eight schools met with Maine Governor John
     Elias Baldacci, who declared an official Maine Space Day;
  -- Former astronaut Dan Brandenstein visited four schools and, at one
     location, launched rockets with the students and professional
     engineers;
  -- Maine astronaut Charles Hobaugh participated in a video teleconference
     from Houston, Texas; and
  -- Maine's first lady, Karen Baldacci, and NASA Administrator Sean
     O'Keefe's parents, who live in Maine, read space stories to elementary
     school children.

"Sharon and the programs she brings to the schools make science real for the kids," says Gil Peterson, curriculum director for the Lisbon School Department in Lisbon Falls, Maine. "She always goes the extra mile, and she has an innate enthusiasm, so she gets everyone excited about what she's doing. She's making a difference in the life of this community."

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2003 sales of $31.8 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin