Nerd Nite Orlando XXX: Gaming & Space Nite

Join us for our 30th consecutive Nerd Nite in Orlando. We will be hosting a special gaming and space themed event at the Orlando Science Center to get you excited for the upcoming Indie Galactic Space Jam. Nerd Nite Orlando is an evening of entertaining yet thought-provoking talks across many disciplines – all while the audience drinks along in a casual bar atmosphere. Speakers present for 15-20 minutes each on a fascinating subject of their choice, often in an uncanny and unconventional way. Following each presentation is a brief Q&A with the audience. Come meet up, drink, and learn something new! EVENT INFO: When: Thursday, August 13th, 7:00pm Where: Orlando Science Center 777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803 ** Juice Bike Share will be setting up a temporary bike share station outside the Orlando Science Center so that new (and existing users) can park their bikes at the event for free. AND If you sign-up to Juice Bike Share and use the promo code: NERDNITE30, you get a $10 credit to your account. ** PRESENTATIONS: “My-Oh-Maya: The Astronomy of the Yucatan” by Michael McConville Description: The Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula were one of the most advanced civilizations in the world during their heyday more than a thousand years ago. Although best known for their impressive calendar system – and an apocalypse that never happened – the astronomy of the Maya was amazing in both its scope and detail. We’ll walk through history and travel through the Universe to examine a view of the cosmos centuries ahead of its time. Speaker Bio: Michael McConville has been bridging the gap between the humanities and the sciences for most of his career. Deeply passionate about teaching, Michael has woven together the stories of history and the Universe for more than a decade. He serves as both the planetarium coordinator at Seminole State College and a professor of history at the University of Central Florida, and these two very different responsibilities have resulted in unique perspectives in both the dome and the classroom. He is also a long-suffering fan of the New York Mets, and will remain so until at least the next Mayan apocalypse. ------- “Resource Reutilization: “The Martian” in not all fiction...Let me tell you about NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization and how that’s my job!” by Anne Caraccio Description: Discussion about one of two awesome technologies NASA is developing: Tech 1. Conversion of the Mars atmosphere into fuel and water! Speaker Bio: Anne Caraccio, “Annie” is from New York and joined NASA as a student in 2011. She supports NASA as a chemical engineer on several projects that support deep space exploration and resource reutilization for human spaceflight. Her main projects involve developing a system for recovering logistical waste from long duration space missions to produce usable gases for propulsion, environmental control, and life support systems as well as a system for converting the Martian atmosphere into fuel and water. As a crew member of the 2014 HI-SEAS Mars analog simulation, she took part in a 120 day psychological study and performed various research projects while living in an isolated Mars-like habitat with an international crew. She is a graduate of the 2012 NASA FIRST leadership development program and also a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of South Florida. Ms. Caraccio is passionate about human space flight and developing systems for future deep space exploration. She carries her passion of the space program out into the world by volunteering with numerous educational outreach events. If she can convince one student, child, parent, skeptic, etc. to appreciate science or develop curiosity and appreciation of this universe, she feels a huge accomplishment has been made! ------- “Lessons Learned From a Year of Jamming” by Adriel Wallick Description: This talk will explore the lessons learned from an entire year of continuous weekly game jams. Adriel will discuss methods of rapid brainstorming and prototyping as well as cover common mistakes made when first participating in a game jam. Speaker Bio: Adriel Wallick is an independent game developer most recently based out of The Netherlands. Originally a programmer on the next generation of weather satellites, she decided to explore gaming as a developer instead of just an avid gamer. She is best known for having made a game a week for an entire year as well as organizing the annual Train Jam game jam. ------- “Look, No Hands! Gaming with and for the Brain” by Max Jackson Description: The game controller of the future won't be one that you hold - not with your hands, anyway. It'll be one that senses the states of your brain and turns that information into commands for a machine and shapes the gaming experience, and maybe directly stimulates your brain in return. This talk will explore some of the many possibilities for brain tech and gaming, exploring the relationship between art, technology, and our fundamental humanity. Speaker Bio: Max Jackson is a graduate student at UCF, working at the Hickman 'Body-on-a-Chip' lab where he develops software to automate the production, collection, and analysis of electrophysiological signals. He is a co-founder of Cortex, a company that works to develop neurotechnology which empowers makers, artists, the medical community, and everyday people alike. ------- For questions about the event, email Ricardo at ricardo.williams@nerdnite.com