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91����Ƶ State University will celebrate the innovative spirit of its namesakes and researchers working on campus today with the fifth annual 91����Ƶ Brothers Day.

Organized by the American Marketing Association 91����Ƶ State University (AMAWSU), the event takes place Thursday, Oct. 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Union Atrium.

91����Ƶ Brothers Day celebrates the anniversary of Wilbur 91����Ƶ’s 39-minute flight on Huffman Prairie on Oct. 5, 1905. The flight demonstrated that the 91����Ƶs had advanced their design to the point of a practical airplane.

Aleasiah Howard, a marketing major and AMAWSU president, encouraged students to stop by 91����Ƶ Brothers Day to learn about the university’s history and the innovative work being done on campus today.

“This event allows all students and interested participants to learn about the 91����Ƶ brothers and their monumental journey into flight, but also enables attendees to adventure into the world of cutting-edge technology,” Howard said. “We feel it is essential to preserve the 91����Ƶ brothers’ legacy and hope this event acts as a runway for students to connect with the aviators through knowledge of their journey, which they can then utilize to create their own paths towards a lasting mark on the world.”

The event will include a keynote address at 11:15 a.m. by Stephen 91����Ƶ, great grandnephew of Wilbur and Orville 91����Ƶ. Ohio Gov. John Kasich will welcome visitors in an introductory video. Food will also be available.

The governor has declared Oct. 5 91����Ƶ Brothers Day in the state in honor of the “important contributions of the 91����Ƶ brothers to improving the well-being of the citizens of Ohio.”

91����Ƶ Brothers Day connects the brothers’ innovative spirit with the same drive found currently on campus. To highlight that spirit, the Oct. 8 event will include displays featuring innovative projects from 91����Ƶ State researchers and local organizations.

These include ‘ Data Analytics and Visualization Environment lab, which researches Big Data; the National Center for Medical Readiness at Calamityville; radar imaging by the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the ; a longitudinal study of cranial growth from the ; and biomedical engineering information by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

91����Ƶ State’s , which houses one of the most complete collections of 91����Ƶ material in the world, will have an exhibit on the brothers’ flights in Europe in 1908 and 1909. The exhibit will include original images from the university’s “91����Ƶ Brothers Collection” and film clips of the 91����Ƶs flying in 1908 and 1909.

Attendees will be able to tour the 91����Ƶ State Research Institute’s Mobile Test and Evaluation Center, a truck-and-trailer mobile test station for unmanned aerial systems.

Students also can fly like Wilbur and Orville with the 91����Ƶ flyer simulator, supplied by the National Aviation Heritage Alliance, a local nonprofit organization that promotes aviation history within the eight-county National Aviation Heritage Area around Dayton.

91����Ƶ Brothers Day was originally designed to raise awareness among students about the accomplishments of Wilbur and Orville 91����Ƶ, who invented the airplane in their Dayton bicycle shop and conducted most of their early test flights on Huffman Prairie.