Nerd Nite at the Depot/Studio 4 on June 18
Join your fellow nerds for an evening of laughs, learning, and geekiness. We’ll share three great presentations by local geeks that are sure to inform and build your knowledge.
Join us in the Studio 4, nestled in the basement of the St. Louis County Depot. Access the building from the first floor Michigan Street Entrance and take the elevator, or walk down the sidewalk to the Train Museum.
Doors open at 6:30, Show starts at 7! 5 dollars for entry, cash bar available. This month’s presenters are:
Andy Hilfers: “DAW: Judge a Book by It’s Cover”
Presentation Description: If you’ve ever perused a used book store, or the shelves of a charity shop, you’ve seen them. Thin, yellow spines lined up in the Fantasy and Sci-Fi sections, waiting for some curious nerd such as yourself to take a chance on the fascinating and awesome stories within. The deciding factor between coming home with you or staying on that shelf might just fall to the art on its cover. Come and discover the story behind the art and artists behind the good, the bad, and the simply insane covers of one of the world’s original Fantasy and Sci-Fi publishing houses.
Rachel Martin: Virginia, but not that one
Presentation Description: Ever wonder why the heck Virginia, Minnesota is named Virginia? Stay tuned to find out how a shiny rock changed the world…or at least mining in America.
Virginia, Minnesota is named after the state from which many minors came to continue their life’s work, though many people attribute it to 1600s maps, the home state of a few tycoons, and various other weird references.
Fun fact: there was one a backup on a road in Virginia (the state/commonwealth) that lasted as long as it takes to drive from Virginia to Virginia, Minnesota…
Jon Peterson: Good physics and bad spacecraft design–how to fix scifi’s vector problem
Presentation Description: Spaceships are one of the most iconic elements of the science fiction genre, but their design by artists rather than engineers is noticeable to anyone with a decent understanding of physics. Many of our favorite fictional vessels should not be able to fly in a straight line. A scifi-loving engineer will explain force vectors, thrust, and how poorly his favorite scifi vessels were designed around them so that you, too, may have your favorite starships ruined–and how you can design your own to avoid the same fate.
Bio: Jon Peterson is an accomplished science fiction nerd who occasionally dabbles in real engineering. A graduate of the Iron Range Engineering program, his greatest passion is flying machines, and he loves sharing his enthusiasm for both real and fictional aerospace projects with others. To that end, his professional life has been spent supporting undergraduate engineering education as a recruiter, project mentor, shop supervisor, and occasional instructor in design, professionalism, and aerospace subjects.