FOTC PRESS RELEASE 8/20/13 Yates to Deliver NASA Keynote 8/21/13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Keynote Speaker Chip Yates to Inspire Students and Educators from Around the World at the 2013 Spirit of Innovation Challenge Live from NASA

 

Yates, the first human in history to exceed 200 MPH in an electric airplane, will speak to the future of innovation and how today’s youth can drive it

 

HOUSTON – August 21, 2013 – Chip Yates, founder and CEO of Flight of the Century, Inc.(www.flightofthecentury.com), and his ongoing mission to ‘make science cool’ today announced that he has partnered with the Conrad Foundation (www.conradfoundation.org) to harness the power of social media and online technology by engaging students and educators from around the world to help launch the 2013 Spirit of Innovation Challenge.  As the keynote speaker, Yates will focus on why he thinks it is important to ‘change the world’ and what it takes to do so.  The speech will be held at the Space Center Houston and will be streamed live around the world –http://ustre.am/WrjT.

The Spirit of Innovation Challenge is a program where teens are invited to address global sustainability by creating products and services for the benefit humanity.  Interested participants were invited to attend the live event virtually on the website or host their own viewing party including a follow-up reception or brainstorm session in order to start generating innovative solutions to be entered as an idea for each identified challenge.  For more information please visit http://www.conradawards.org/pages/launch-event.

“I’m so excited to be a part of what is a global brainstorming session with the next generation of innovators.  In fact, I feel so strongly about this that I am currently taking time out of my preparation for setting five world records to be a part of this important launch,” said Chip Yates.  “There’s so much yet to be discovered and the youth of today have endless opportunities ahead of them, they just need to know it.  I want students to know that there will be setbacks and even failure, and that’s okay.  I’m the perfect example of that; just last week I suffered several set backs in my world record attempts, but I’m living proof that if you can dream it, you can build it.”

As part of Yates speech, he will also reveal a three-minute video of an emergency landing from last week.   While Yates was in the middle of attempting five official FAI World Records in his electric airplane at 200 MPH and just 200 feet over the ground a freak CAN bus network failure (not related to speed or power) occurred, which killed his fly-by-wire system and forced an emergency landing.   Yates will use the video as a teaching tool to show that failures will happen but can always be overcome. To view the video click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKE1yEyuNkk).

 

About Chip Yates

At only 13 years old, Yates was destined to utilize his education to push the current limits of technology.  He saved $50.00 and convinced his parents to invest an additional $50.00 in order to buy and rebuild his first motorcycle.  Since then, Yates has become a highly dynamic and proven leader who is recognized worldwide as an electric vehicle pioneer and green technology innovator.

Yates quickly set his sights on aviation and adapted his water-cooled 258 horsepower electric motor and controller system to an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan (famed aerospace engineer, best known for the design of SpaceShipOne, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, and Voyager); but Yates had one problem – he was not a pilot.  He earned his pilot’s license in two months and had only 58 hours when he flew on July 18, 2012, where he established a world speed record for his self-built electric powered aircraft of 202 mph.

For more information about Chip Yates, his latest invention or Flight of the Century please visitwww.flightofthecentury.com or you can follow him on Twitter @chipyates89.

Click to view the presentation video