Area Colleges Hosting “Energy Camp Louisiana” Sessions

Northwestern State University will host a session of Energy Camp Louisiana July 9-13. The session is for incoming 10th, 11th and 12th grade students from DeSoto, Natchitoches and Red River parishes.

Two sessions for Caddo Parish students will be held June 4-9 and 11-15 at Southern University in Shreveport. Bossier Parish students can take part in Energy Camp Louisiana on June 18-22 and 25-29 at Bossier Parish Community College.

Energy Camp Louisiana allows students to spend a week on a college campus making new friends, learn about energy from some of thearea’s best science teachers and professionals and connecting with some of the area’s most successful business leaders. In the camp, students can also go on field trips and discover new job opportunties in the area and engage in funhands-on, web-based interactive multimedia exercises.

NASA Engineer Jason Dugas will be at Energy Camp Louisiana on July 12th. Dugas will discuss and demonstrate the use of energy in human spaceflight to campers which will include hands-on activities.

Dugas began his career with the NASA Johnson Space Center in 2001 as a specialist in spacecraft power system design and analysis. His first assignment was as lead test engineer for the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle. In 2003, he was directly involved with search and recovery in north Texas following the space shuttle Columbia disaster and the subsequent return-to-flight efforts.

In 2006, Dugas joined the JSC battery office where he has been intimately involved with design, development and testing of spaceflight hardware currently flying in orbit onboard the International Space Station. These hardware projects include the EVA space suit battery and charger and various power supplies used by astronauts.

Dugas has also led numerous advanced development projects, including an apparatus used for the wireless transmission of electrical power, a prototype battery-powered lunar rover and the electrical power system used on the Morpheus lander. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Engineering Technology and Computer Information Systems at Northwestern State.

Energy Camp Louisiana partners are Encana Natural Gas, Shell, CERT (the Consortium for Education, Research and Technology of North Louisiana), Northwestern State, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Bossier Parish Community College, Southern University at Shreveport, the City of Shreveport, American Electric Power, the United Way of Northwest Louisiana and CenterPoint Energy with participation from NASA.