The Technological Excellence in Aviation, Missiles and Space (TEAMS) Week, sponsored by the Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS), is scheduled for the entire week of 8-12 April 2002 in the in the Von Braun Center of Huntsville, Alabama. The TEAMS Week 2002 General Chair, Ms. Nancy Archuleta, CEO of MEVATEC, the TEAMS Week 2002 Program Chair, Ms. Bobby Bradley, President of CST, and the HATS President, Mr. Joe Fitzgerald will continue to promote the foundation established by last year's venue, the E2TEAMS Conference 2001, held on May 15th and 16th, 2001.

During the May 2001 event, our three Federal agencies in Huntsville, Alabama, joined industry and academia at the Von Braun Center to host the Education and Employment for Technological Excellence in Aviation, Missiles and Space (E2-TEAMS) Conference. This was an important opportunity to address the future research and development (R&D) technology environment and issues affecting all our mission areas. We recognized how dependent both government and industry were on attracting and retaining employees with the requisite skills to keep our nation's advantage in space and defense. At the same time, the conference served to highlight this community's unparalleled technological capabilities through exhibits and panel discussions of key technological areas of special interest to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (USAAMCOM), National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA/MSFC), and U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC). With the full support of the Huntsville-Madison Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS), E2-TEAMS focused this high-technology-dependent region on building for the future.

TEAMS Week 2002 will not only center around workforce development and education - to include a continuation of the technical grant competition among universities via the E2TEAMS Conference, but will also include many additional conferences, meal functions and social events, such as: the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Tennessee Valley Chapter's First Annual Southeastern Software Engineering Conference, the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Pathfinder Chapter Symposium and Exhibition, the Aviation Corridor of Excellence Mini-Symposium-Update, the AIAA/IAF Reusable Launch Vehicle Conference, a Small Business Session, the HATS Professional Of the Year Recognition Dinner, the North Alabama International Trade Association (NAITA) Luncheon, the U.S. Army Department of the Army Civilian of the Year Dinner, the National Space Club Von Braun Memorial Dinner, a career fair, and nightly networking socials.

Included in this package is information relative to all aspects of these events including: exhibitor and attendee registration, brief descriptions of each venue, timelines of activities, sponsorship information and contact information for lodging and transportation services. We encourage all companies and organizations to participate in this cost-effective event in an effort to not only enhance your knowledge of our area's technological resources, governmentally, institutionally, and commercially, but to also capitalize on numerous benefits we can provide to future business opportunities we have to offer.

Huntsville, Alabama is one of the premier high technology business centers in the United States. Every important aerospace and defense company of the Fortune 500 has a presence here, including major manufacturing facilities and internationally recognized research and development centers. The Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates (WEFA) placed Huntsville in second place for the highest concentration of high-tech workers in the United States. Huntsville's high ranking stems from strong employment in technology-oriented industries for Guided Missiles and Space Vehicles.

We look forward to a very successful TEAMS Week 2002 event this year and are confident that, working together, this community will create an annual event that serves us well for many years to come. Please join us. Go to http://www.hats.org/teams for more information.