I Want That Hair

So I (and every other persian I know) have been overflowing with pride after Bobak Ferdowsi, the Mars Curiosity Flight Director, helped land the rover. I've had the international satellite hooked up while I've been home and every one of my home channels have been raving over him. I personally cannot get over that hair . After the event he has apparently become an overnight heartthrob.

"Instant fame led to a NASA Needs More Mohawks  Tumblr dedicated to him, a rash of online marriage proposals , a string of meme photos of Ferdowsi at mission control, and loads of adoring fan art. " (source)

My favorite meme of these being:

So I just wanted to say how happy I am seeing someone from my country involved in the same field making history. Kudos to you Bobak and best of luck in the future; hopefully that'll be me someday. 

Cheers,

N. Riazi

Senior Design Materials

As some of you know, I'm having my Senior Design Project Sponsored by NASA GSFC. Basically, they pay for most of the materials.  So my team's job is to create an "Ultra-Stable Thermal Enclosure"...basically we have to maintain a temperature of +/- 0.1 Celsius.  Never mind the difficulty, look at the toys we got! 

So last week, our mentor sent us a SparkFun Inventor's Kit in order to control the temperature.  "Unlease your Inner Inventor" as it says on the packaging.  Haha. 

So I was reading the website for this product, and it says it's for kids 10+....Let's just say I feel like a little kid again!!!!

Okay, material List. :-)

1. Breadboard. For those who don't know, a breadboard is where you connect your circuit.  Pretty simple, actually.  Look how tiny it is!!! 

2. This thing is pretty cool. You can use it like a touch pad! 

 3. This piece was used in the Nintendo Flex Glove.  Basically, you flex the material, and it changes the resistance, similar to the piece above.  (It works just like a strain gauge, which I used in the Material Performance Lab...I'll have to write about them sometime...)

 4. LEDs! Aren't they cute?

So I totally didn't mean to put these one my homework....it just helped there to be no reflection in the photos...But now that I look at them...I think it's a nice touch...(The math in the background is courtesy of Shigley Hauler Design Work)

NASA's Blue Marble

So NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (the NASA facility where I worked this past Fall) released it's 2012 version of the Blue Marble which is of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Basically, it went viral. Check it out here.

It's interesting to note that the Blue Marble from 2002 is the most used on the iPhone. Food for thought.

The world comes around...

The other day, I got to talk with the some members of the Informal Education Office at NASA GSFC....and you know what's funny?

So you remember that female engineer with the Mars Land Rovers that inspired me OH SO MANY YEARS AGO? Maybe this will jog your memory...

Well, I think I found her again! Someone told me about someone very similar....I think it's her...Let's cross our fingers :-D

Taking a Look Back: High School

High school is a very difficult time to imagine your future self.  My high school experience consisted of colorguard and school.  That was my life.  I hated being at school, and would often want to go home to finish my homework. However, my peers and I would often dream about our potential in college or even after college.

I distinctly remember when a good friend and I were sitting in Mr. H's Junior AP English class, discussing college admissions.  "If I don't get into college, I'm gunna have LOTS of babies and go on welfare!" We were very nervous about our potential to get into the University of California system, even with our grades at the time. Our teacher simply laughed at our future "plans" and said, "You'll get into college. Don't worry about it." (Well, we did, and now we're rocking our respective UC campuses.)

In the same class (different day), the same friend was discussing my career prospects. "Serena! When you go work for NASA, will you name something after me?"  I basically scoffed at my idea of working for the glorious organization, and said, "Sure, I'll name something after you." To be honest, it was an empty promise at the time.  However after a few years at the university, I started to realize my potential in the "real world," and the words of the promise started to take hold.

This past July, I was offered to intern at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.  I visited my good friend in August, and I told her that if I did, in fact, design something, I would name it after her (but only her nickname that she hated, hehehe).

Two weeks into my NASA internship, I got to design and build something.  It's basically rapid prototyped (you should look it up! it's totally cool!).

This is the part I created.  I added some 80-esq to it to give it some flavor.  And I named it "Malroy." It is used to hold my experimental samples while gluing them with the adhesive (I'll be sure to add my research later.).

Now it's really funny looking back.  You never realize where you are going to be in 5 years.  I currently wonder where I'm going to be 5 years from now.  But similar things will probably happen if I continue to work hard and be excited about what I do.  I hope this story is inspirational.  I do admit that it IS true.

The Next Mars Land Rover- Curiosity

So I don't know about everyone else, but I'm totally excited for the next edition of Mars Discovery- Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity. It's five times as large as the previous rovers and contains ten times the instruments.   It is mainly looking for the ingredients for life:like methane and microbial life.  Launch is planned for Saturday, and it won't land on Mars until NEXT AUGUST!!!  If you are doing nothing on Saturday, make sure to watch the launch! For more information, click HERE.

Hi!

Hi everyone!

I'm Nicole and even though I may not be an engineer (actually a Mathematical Physics major from a school in New Hampshire probably nobody has heard of), I have some similar experiences.

I've wanted to work for NASA doing research since I was in the 5th grade. My teacher (Hi Mr. Lemoine!) restored the observatory behind my elementary school and every week the astronomy club would go out there and look at all the awesome objects out in the universe. Also, he signed up my entire class to have our names put on two dvds. One would go on Spirit, and the other would go on Opportunity. MY NAME IS IN SPACE? HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?!?! But let's get back to Earth and talk about my research :)

Just like Serena, I am working as an undergraduate intern at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. My project is The Balloon Experiment Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII) project. Basically it's a telescope attached to a giant high-altitude balloon that will test wide-field double Fourier interferometry (which has been demonstrated in a laboratory testbed, but never in a flight-like environment).

If you don't understand a word that I just said, don't worry! I didn't understand most of it when I first got to NASA. I've actually worked here last fall semester so I was familiar with some Infrared Interferometry, but didn't really know the details of it. But that's the greatest thing about science, in particular research. You can take something that you may not understand or comprehend at the beginning, and by the end you're an expert at your project! It's something I love, the feeling of slow discovery... it's kind of addicting to a nerd like me.

Just felt the need to introduce myself before I started posting things. Nice to meet everyone!

Nicole

Why would I? Undergraduate Research

I'm a huge advocate of undergraduate research.  Now, you're probably asking, "Why would I ever go into undergraduate research? I don't want to be a professor.  Why would I want to go to grad school with an engineer's salary?  No more school! I don't want to go into R&D. I don't know enough about a subject."  I've heard ALL of the excuses- I was there about 3 years ago.  So here are my top 10 reasons of why YOU  should do undergraduate research.

1. Get GREAT letters of recommendations from professors. You're going to need letters of rec regardless of where you go (unless you graduate and go sit on the couch). If you do work for them, they'll actually find out how motivated and awesome you are, and this will enable them to write a very extensive letter about YOU.

2. Learn about what graduate school is really like. I knew a lot about graduate school before I started research, but you get to interact with graduate students.  Grad school isn't all school (as many think).  It involves writing, experiments, code, and a ton of interacting with other students and professors. It's definitely not a task for the weary, but you may find that graduate school is actually for you.

3. Learn about an in-depth subject.  I knew nothing about materials when I started in the Material Performance Laboratory.  I've gained more knowledge from cleaning and sanding down samples for endless hours, rather than hear my professor talk about the mechanical capabilities of his car.  I've been able to see stress-strain curves develop before my eyes, and I've helped to solve problems on the go!  There's now a TON I know about the cyclic stresses on an airplane, and every time I take a flight somewhere, I explain to them about the material stresses on the cabin!

4. Rule out things you don't like. I've realized a lot about what I want and DON'T want in graduate school or, even, in the working world.  This is a very harm-free way of doing this.

5. Have something on your resume. The economy's tough right now.  It's very difficult to get internships, especially if you are a freshman or sophomore.  Sure, you probably won't get paid.  But this will be a GREAT way to get engineering experience and contacts with little risk.

6. It's possible to get Technical Elective credit. One less class I have to take? Sign me up!

7. Get your hands dirty.  I used to love coming out of the lab with grease on my hands.  I felt like I actually accomplished something and be one of the few students that can actually use tools.

8. Get mistaken for a graduate student. There have been many instances where I've been mistaken for a graduate student.  It makes you feel very confident about your work (even though you probably don't know much), and other students look up to you! Another perk: free coffee at the Graduate Student Union- don't worry, I was invited, and nobody could tell the difference.

9. Have something to talk about. Many engineering students ramble on about this lab report or this code or that professor. Be excited about your research, and other people will get excited around you.  It definitely is a change of pace from the day-to-day routine.

10. Present or publish your research before you graduate! Employers absolutely love to see that you can speak in public. It's not what you said. It's how many people you spoke to at once. Also, who wouldn't want their name all over a paper! Sure, you may not think it's a big deal, but graduate schools and employers LOVE to see that you can communicate effectively.

Now that I got you excited about undergraduate research, I will post about how to obtain a research position in the near future.

Introduction

Hi Everyone!

I decided to start the blog by introducing myself.  I'm a Senior at UC Davis studying Mechanical Engineering, and currently, I am taking a quarter off to intern at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. I'm working with the International X-Ray Observatory group working on Mirror Technology Development.  

Inspiration: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.  One of the female engineers talked about her work on the Mars Land Rovers (2006) and her PhD work through Stanford (She was only 25). I basically said, "I want to be her." I would say I'm well on my way.

My start in research: I had always wanted to get involved in undergraduate research (after realizing it would be both interesting and a resume boost). One day, I asked one my professors, "What are you doing this summer? I'm bored."  It was very frank, but it got my point across.  I ended up working at the Material Performance Laboratory at UC Davis for a year.  I was able to learn about a lot of different machinery, break stuff, and I even got interviewed for the news! Link Below:

http://www.fox40.com/videobeta/cad5b345-b548-4201-a3da-9fec5a625bcc/News/UC-Davis-Researches-Cracks-in-Metal

Internships: I got the opportunity to move to Dallas, Texas to intern for an air separation company.  I worked across the street from Texas Instruments' headquarters. (no, I didn't get a free calculator) :-(  I got involved with many efficiency projects by increasing the efficiencies of turbines and analyzing the potential crack propagation in some of the tanks.  It built on the existing knowledge from my research at the university.  I was also able to run around in coveralls, a hard hat, and steel toed boots! Take that boys! :-)

What I do at NASA:  I've applied for the past couple of years for internship positions at NASA, and I never, ever thought that I would get to work there! I realized, you don't need straight A's (but a high GPA definitely helps), and you don't need to be a genius.  Enthusiasm and a drive to work hard will get you through most of life. :-)

I am still an intern, but my group has given me some very interesting projects.  I currently figuring out ways to mount x-ray telescope mirrors without distorting them.  We've learned that if you stand across the room from one of these mirrors, your body heat will distort them! Right now, I'm working on some experiments regarding friction and the material strength of different adhesives.

After NASA: I go back to school for the Winter quarter, and I will complete my studies in about a year. However, I am researching PhD programs to apply to.  I am looking into a project involving biological research with my engineering background.  Some ideas have been the thermodynamics of drug transfer in the blood stream or way cells move throughout the body. But we'll see!!! :-)

Thanks for reading!

Serena C.