A much noted Vietnamese -American aerospace scientist and educator is visiting the Vietnamese community in Melbourne.

Retired professor Vinh Xuan Nguyen is a leader in the global Vietnamese community.

Nguyễn was formerly a pilot for the French Air Force in the 1950s and held high rankings as member of the South Vietnamese Air force, before he emigrated to the United States.

He is also an author, with a number of books under his belt and over 100 technical papers in mathematics, astrodynamics and trajectory optimisation.

His novel titled “Pilot’s Life” was awarded the Republic of Vietnam’s National Presidential Literature Prize.

Professor Vinh told TiVi Tuan-san, he believes in a brighter future for Vietnam.

“I’m always Vietnamese and I want to just visit my friends. I want to visit the real Vietnamese – the Vietnamese who still think of a bright future for Vietnam,” he said.

“And especially, I’m close to the United Nations. I like to use my one experience… if I have a chance to talk to them, that even now if you’re Australian, American or you have a French citizenship, but you still come from Vietnam and still want for the country to become famous and have a good relationship for it to grow up.”

Professor Vinh holds the 2007 Dirk Bowwer Prize for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of space flight mechanics and astrodynamics.

He’ll be at Footscray’s Rama restaurant tomorrow night from 8.30 to 10.30-pm, in an event dedicated to his life and work.

– TiVi Tuan-san