Afshin Beheshti, director of Pitt's Center for Space Biomedicine, represented Pitt Space at the second annual Aerospace Day in Harrisburg on May 6.
Beheshti — also associate director at the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine and a professor of surgery and computational and systems biology — joined government officials, representatives from NASA and industry leaders to discuss Pennsylvania’s future as a national leader in aerospace, aviation and defense.
The group was convened by Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, chair of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Aerospace States Association. They focused on a number of issues, including workforce development and training, also a mission of Pitt’s Space Biomedicine program, which aims to establish a robust educational environment to prepare the next generation of researchers.
In addition to the roundtable, Aerospace Day featured astronaut and Pennsylvania native Warren “Woody” Hoburg, and a hands-on lunar lab, courtesy of Pittsburgh’s Moonshot Museum.