The Alexander Kartveli STEM Speaker Series opening Reception
May 3rd, 2018 at 6:30PM
The Embassy of Georgia and Alexander Kartveli Association welcome you to the first in a series of speaking engagements. The speaker series commemorates the life and work of Alexander Kartveli (ალექსანდრე ქართველიშვილი) – a Georgian born aviation designer, entrepreneur and innovator. Using Kartveli’s own life story to inspire and create interest in the STEM disciplines, the Embassy and the Kartveli Association will host a series of speakers throughout 2018 on trending STEM themes including technology and innovation. In early February 2018, the Alexander Kartveli Association opened the Kartveli Learning Center at the Embassy of Georgia in Washington DC.
Relevant to Georgian history, each of the two Voyager spacecraft carried an iconic Georgian folk song ‘Charkulo’ on the Golden Record that has now reached interstellar space. The Golden Record contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on planet Earth. The spirit and effort of that mission are emblematic of Alexander Kartveli’s dedication to innovation, entrepreneurship and learning. For example, It is little known that Kartveli performed important preliminary design work on high orbital aircraft and advised NASA’s predecessor agency – NACA (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics).
John has been honored with several NASA awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal (NASA’s highest award). He has received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space System Award, the von Karman Lectureship, the National Space Club Astronauts Engineer Award, and the American Astronomical Society’s Space Flight Award. He is an Honorary Fellow of the AIAA and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Astronautics Academy. He received the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Trophy for Lifetime Achievement in 2009. He was recently celebrated in Tbilisi, Georgia when the Association sponsored the Golden Record documentary science film and the 40th anniversary of the mission. To learn more about event click here.
About the Alexander Kartveli Association is a not for profit entity registered in Georgia, which since 2014 has embarked on a major preservation effort to collect rare footage, images and artifacts about Alexander Kartveli and curate knowledge about his extraordinary life accomplishments for a growing community of followers in the science and educational fields. On exhibit from 2015 to 2016, the Association donated an exhibit to the Georgian National Museum to highlight Kartveli’s life and accomplishments, that helped create the platform for many of the Association’s current programs that continue to unfold today.