Don’t Stay Co-Oped In Your Room:Students Spend Their Summer With NASA

INTRODUCTION
As the internship fair has just passed around the corner, some students are still deciding what they’re trying to do this summer. From civil engineering to physics to computer science, students generally say that co-oping with a company can offer many perks, ranging from an understanding of professionalism in the workforce to job opportunities with top companies after graduation.Two undergraduates, Michael McDonough, a second year electrical engineer, and Taylor Dacko, a third year aerospace engineer, co-oped with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) this past summer. Here are Michael’s and Taylor’s separate thoughts on their co-op with NASA.
 
WHAT AREAS DID YOU WORK IN AT NASA?
Michael: Most of the stuff I dealt with was hands-on. Generally, NASA engineering oversees the engineering aspects of the Kennedy Space Center. Electronic ground support, monitoring vehicles, and testing happens in the Kennedy Space Center. I got to see the launch control centers, vehicles, and the equipment that they were working with.
 
Taylor: I worked with safety and mission assurance for the space shuttle, mainly mission assurance.This is the department which puts everything together by controlling the overall flow of the mission. Kennedy’s space center safety and mission logistics are some of the aspects that mission assurance looks over.
 
COULD YOU GIVE US AN OVERVIEW OF THE TYPES OF PROJECTS YOU WORKED ON?
Michael: I actually worked on two projects. I created a software prototype to take data that was coming in from a rocket.The software took information from the rocket and placed it in a database.The information needed to come from the database and get translated into a different type of “language,” so that another group could use if for a different purpose. My work involved translating the existing code into the new code. I used Java to convert between the languages. My larger project involved helping the team that I was on to create displays that engineers would use in the launch control systems. I was helping to prototype the software that would run in the launch control systems.
 
Taylor: When a space shuttle launches, we have to direct smoke away from beneath the launch pads. Debris liberation occurs, and Fondu Fyre, a special type of heat resistant concrete, spews all over the place. Earlier, a chunk of factory concrete hit a pneumatic line and bent it inward. If the line had ruptured, the entire unit wouldn’t have worked.There has never really been an issue where something important had been hit, and we decided to investigate. I worked with one of the world’s leading acoustical engineers.We tried to draw conclusions to see the correlations between the amount of Fondu Fyre jettisoned and the various properties of the Fondu Fyre.After continuously searching, we were able to narrow down the causes of Fondu Fyre spew.
 
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOU GAINED FROM THE EXPERIENCE?
Michael: Professionalism for sure.This is the first professional job I’ve really had. I got a lot of experience, got to see many presentations. Generally, when something exciting was going on, we got to take breaks to attend these events. For example, my supervisor thought it would be cool for me to see the presentation on the Columbia disaster, so I got the chance to learn more about that.
 
Taylor: I’d definitely have to agree with professionalism.This was my first professional environment. I was also able to network greatly and look at other aspects such as bureaucracy.You don’t really have a “job” per say… their real goal is to give you an exposure to everything. I had a lot of freedom because of that.
 
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ASPIRING CO-OPS?
Michael: We have all sorts of resources for co-ops here at Georgia Tech.All the NASA’s centers usually have a co-op website.When I was applying, the co-op advisor from Johnson space center was here. Doing things such as researching which center I wanted to be in really helped me. Leadership helped too; I was the president of the robotics team in high school. In high school, I also had an internship with an engineering company for robotics.A good GPA also helps, though this isn’t the most important thing.They’re really looking for diverse engineers. Getting a co-op is a really good idea… at NASA, employees are primarily chosen from students who have co-oped earlier.
 
Taylor: Keep your GPA up and get experience around campus. I asked my supervisor why I was chosen. I’m in a fraternity, so I’ve really been able to get executive positions in my frat like that.They want smart engineers, but the problem is that everyone is smart. Because of this, they’re looking for a new grade of experience. Leadership and volunteering really help. It was my leadership experience which really helped me. As the semester progresses, students will still be searching for that killer co-op or internship. Keep up the search, and don’t give up! Co-oping can give you a strong competitive edge whether you’re applying for a job or you’re applying to graduate school.After all, little can beat solid experience in the work force. What are you waiting for? Don’t stay cooped in your room this summer… go and co-op with a company!