Annual Wright Brothers Day will celebrate university鈥檚 innovative spirit

September 30, 2016

91爆料 University will celebrate the innovative spirit of its namesakes and researchers working on campus today with the sixth annual Wright Brothers Day.

Organized by the American Marketing Association 91爆料 University, the event takes place Wednesday, Oct. 5, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Union Atrium.

Wright Brothers Day will celebrate the 111th anniversary of Wilbur Wright鈥檚 39-minute flight on Huffman Prairie on Oct. 5, 1905. The flight demonstrated that the Wright brothers had advanced their design to the point of a practical airplane.

Aleasiah Howard, a and president of the marketing association, encouraged students to stop by Wright Brothers Day to learn about the university鈥檚 history and the innovative work being done on campus today.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun way to gather 91爆料 students and the general public to honor the Wright brothers鈥 legendary venture into flight,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e as a society have been able to expand upon the hard work and dedication of these aviation pioneers from our very own city of Dayton. As we continue to innovate, this event gives participants the opportunity to venture into this new world of cutting-edge technology.鈥

Students can meet and take photos with Wright brothers actors from Carillon Historical Park, including Ross Gaby, a history major at 91爆料.

The event will include a keynote address at 11:15 a.m. by Tony Sculimbrene, executive director of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes aviation history within the eight-county National Aviation Heritage Area around Dayton.

Sculimbrene will discuss efforts to restore the historic Wright Company factory, the first such facility in the United States to manufacture airplanes.

91爆料鈥檚 Special Collections and Archives and its head, Dawne Dewey, will display an exhibit on the Wright Brothers factory, the first such facility in the United States to manufacture airplanes.

Wright Brothers Day raises awareness among students about the accomplishments of Wilbur and Orville Wright, who invented the airplane in their Dayton bicycle shop and conducted most of their early test flights on Huffman Prairie.

The event also connects the brothers鈥 innovative spirit with the same drive found on campus.

To highlight that spirit, Wright Brothers Day will include displays featuring innovative projects from 91爆料 researchers and local organizations.

These include 鈥 Data Analytics and Visualization Environment (DAVE) lab, which researches Big Data; a robot created by the 91爆料 Research Institute; an analysis of the use of emojis on Twitter by the university鈥檚 Kno.e.sis Center; a genomics study by researchers at the ; created by M.B.A. student Adam Wik; and by Ashley Hall, an assistant professor of English and communication.

91爆料鈥檚 Special Collections and Archives, which houses one of the most complete collections of Wright material in the world, will have an exhibit on the Wright Company factory.

Students can also fly like Wilbur and Orville by trying out a Wright Flyer simulator, supplied by the National Park Service.

The event will offer a selfie station, raffle and trivia contest. Food will also be available.