On Tuesday, Dec. 2 at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, retired engineer Darrel Tenney will present “Coming of Age – NASA’s Role in Lightweight Composite Structures” at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center.

The former chief of the Materials Division and director of the Vehicle Systems Program at NASA Langley, Tenney will discuss the major obstacles in developing composites for advanced flight vehicles and future challenges for the next generation of materials.

Tenney will be available to answer questions from the media during a news briefing at 1:15 p.m. that day. Media who wish to do so should contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786, or by e-mail at chris.rink@nasa.gov, by noon on the day of the talk for credentials and entry to the center.

That same evening at 7:30, Tenney will present a similar program for the general public at the Virginia Air & Space Center in downtown Hampton. This Sigma Series event is free and no reservations are required.

The development of improved materials has historically had the greatest impact on tools and transportation. Progress in the use of materials started with wood, a natural composite material, transitioned to metals and has come full circle to composite materials such as fiber-reinforced plastics, metals and ceramics.

NASA engineers have played a major role in the development of advanced composites for aircraft and space launch vehicles. The driver has been the desire to reduce weight and increase performance by embedding ultrahigh strength and stiffness fibers into weaker materials.

During his 30-year NASA career, Tenney received two Presidential Rank Awards for outstanding technical leadership and contributions to NASA. He holds a doctorate in materials science from Virginia Tech and is the principal author of “Structural Framework for Flight” that examines the many contributions NASA has made to the development of advanced composite materials.

For more information about NASA Langley’s Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit:

http://colloqsigma.larc.nasa.gov