X Prize Founder Is Congress Keynoter

Peter H. Diamandis, founder of the $10 million X Prize competition for private-sector spacecraft, will present the keynote address at the 2008 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition next month in Boston.

Diamandis, a leading advocate of commercial space travel and champion of programs that spur technical innovation and ingenuity among young people, will speak on Sunday, Nov. 2, from 5:30–7:00 p.m. at the Boston Sheraton Hotel. “Engineering a Better World” is the theme of this year’s Congress, which will take place Oct. 31–Nov. 6. A reception marking the opening of the Exposition floor will follow Diamandis’ keynote speech.

Peter H. Diamandis

Widely recognized as a pioneer and leader in the commercial space arena, Diamandis has long been innovative by creating contests that get entrepreneurial innovators and inventors to help create and break open new markets and thinking. He is chairman and chief executive officer of the X Prize Foundation, just one of a number of space-related programs and organizations he has been involved in for more than 25 years.

He is also the chairman and co-founder of the Rocket Racing League, and serves as the CEO of Zero Gravity Corp., a commercial space company developing private, FAA-certified parabolic flight utilizing Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Diamandis is a co-founder of Space Adventures Inc., the company which brokered Dennis Tito’s and Mark Shuttleworth’s flight to the International Space Station.

In 1987, Diamandis co-founded the International Space University (ISU) and today serves as a trustee of the university, which is based in Strasbourg, France. Prior to ISU, Diamandis served as chairman of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), an organization he founded when attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980. SEDS is the world’s largest student space organization.

In addition to the keynote address, the 2008 ASME Congress will include a number of presentations on new advances in engineering. Experts will speak on aerospace technology, transportation, bioengineering, energy and the environment, and fluid mechanics, among other topics.

Among the special events at the 2008 Congress will be the Second Annual ASME Innovation Showcase (IShow) on Friday, Oct. 31, the ASME Student Design Competition on Sunday, Nov. 2, and the Honors Assembly on Monday, Nov. 3.

For more information, or to register for the Congress, visit www.asmeconferences.org/Congress08.

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