Alongside me the day in 1992 when we launched, in the historical background, were others -- the African-American engineers, rocket scientists, physicists, administrators, technicians and life scientists who helped build the space program.

President Bill Clinton, Inventor Dean Kamen, White House Chief Technology officer Ken Park and Astronaut Leland Melvin were among the big name speakers at this year's by-invitation-only TRANS4M conference, held at the California Science Center in Los Angeles this past Thursday.