Celebrating National Engineers Week: MathAlive! opens Saturday, Feb. 23, at Space Center Houston

HOUSTON, Feb. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- MathAlive!™, a highly interactive traveling exhibition that allows visitors to experience math in action, opens Saturday, Feb. 23, at Space Center Houston. Presented nationally by Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and locally by the City of Webster, this featured exhibition debuts during National Engineers Week and runs through May 5, 2013.

The 5,000 square-foot exhibition is composed of 40 unique and interactive experiences that take math into the applied worlds of design, engineering, technology and science.

"NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, supported by Raytheon, is one example of how today's and tomorrow's engineers and innovators use math and science to provide training and simulation to customers worldwide," said John Harris, president of Raytheon Technical Services Company. "MathAlive! is designed to spark interest and show students that math and science are used in the world all around them, and especially in organizations like NASA." 

At MathAlive! visitors can:

• Design and play their own video games.
• Take the controls to master-engineer various aspects of a modern city.
• Race in a Boardercross challenge.
• Compete in a mountain bike race.
• Capture their image in a 360-degree freeze action photo.
• And control a simulated Mars rover.

"MathAlive! is a great addition to our out-of-this-world lineup of exciting things to see and do this spring," said Richard Allen, CEO of Space Center Houston. "This hands-on, minds-on exhibit will thrill kids and adults alike. MathAlive! fits right in with the unique, high quality family entertainment you will find only at Space Center Houston."

MathAlive! is the largest-scale initiative to date of Raytheon's MathMovesU^®, a national program inspiring students to embrace mathematics as a key to their future. The exhibition, produced by Evergreen Exhibitions, debuted at the Smithsonian in 2012 where it enjoyed record-breaking traveling exhibit attendance levels. MathAlive! went on to visit Phoenix, Ariz., and Huntsville, Ala., before coming to Houston. The exhibition is on a multiyear tour to science centers and museums in 15 U.S. and international cities, and is projected to draw 4 million visitors overall.

Institutional collaborators for MathAlive! include NASA, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Society of Professional Engineers, National Engineers Week Foundation, the Society of Women Engineers, and MATHCOUNTS^®.

MathAlive! is included with admission to Space Center Houston and is designed to appeal to visitors of all ages and levels of math ability, but with particular relevance to students grades 3-8.

About Space Center Houston

As the Official Visitor Center for NASA Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston (SCH) is the only place on earth that gives guests an out-of-this-world journey through human adventures in space. Since 1992, this $75 million, 180,000 square-foot complex has entertained and informed over 15 million guests from every corner of the globe. Space Center Houston features a multitude of permanent exhibits, attractions, theaters and exhibits. In addition, the venue presents an amazing array of traveling exhibits and astounding events created exclusively by SCH's own creative exhibit team. Space Center Houston is open every day of the year, with the exception of Dec. 25. Space Center Houston is located at 1601 NASA Parkway Houston, Texas 77058, approximately 25 miles south of downtown Houston in the NASA/Clear Lake area. Visit www.spacecenter.org.

About MathMovesU

Raytheon's MathMovesU^® program is an initiative committed to increasing middle and elementary school students' interest in math and science education by engaging them in hands-on, interactive activities. The innovative programs of MathMovesU include the traveling interactive experience MathAlive!™; Raytheon's Sum of all Thrills™ experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot^®, which showcases math in action as students design and experience their own thrill ride using math fundamentals; the "In the Numbers" game, a partnership with the New England Patriots on display at The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon; the company's ongoing sponsorship of the MATHCOUNTS^® National Competition; and the MathMovesU scholarship and grant program. Follow MathMovesU and other Raytheon community outreach programs on Facebook and on Twitter @MathMovesU.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2012 sales of $24 billion and 68,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 91 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems; as well as a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @raytheon.

Media Contact 
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SOURCE Raytheon Company