DANBURY, CONN. — As part of the university’s Hubble Week celebration, Western Connecticut State University will host a discussion about “Women in Science and Engineering.”

The breakfast will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 20, in the lobby of the Science Building on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. A panel discussion will follow at approximately 9 a.m. in Room 125 of the Science Building. Both the breakfast and the discussion are free and open to the public, but registration is required. The panel will provide information for girls and women about careers in science and technology.

Among the featured speakers will be Kerri Cahoy, an astrobiologist working with NASA Ames to design a new spacecraft with a powerful telescope that will take pictures of even small Earth-sized planets around nearby stars. Panelist Valentina Lugo is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a mechanical design engineer with Hamilton Sundstrand.

Other panelists include Suzanne Woll, manager of the systems department at United Technologies Research Center, and Rachael Manzer, a science coach in the Suffield School District who is in training as a NASA teacher astronaut.

For more information or to register for the breakfast and discussion, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.