Intro to me :)

Hello everyone,

Remember in elementary school when they had all the little kids paint by numbers, with every part a designated color and a warning not to go outside the lines? Conformity at its simplest? I was never very good at that.

I am currently a Sophomore of Senior status (due to number of credits) at UC Davis completing my Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering double major and I’m probably going to be tacking on a minor onto that sometime in the near future. I’ve always been the one who constantly had her nose buried in some sci-fi novel and when it came time for me to start thinking what I wanted to do with my life there was only one thing I could think of; reading about inventions beyond my time and heroines whose willpower and imagination had been the driving force behind the change they set in motion.   I wanted to be that change, I wanted to be the one making the technological transition forward and making a difference in the world.

Once I made my choice the rest was simply a means of reaching my goal. I have been taking college courses throughout my high school years, but my senior year I took a full load of college courses on top of my high school classes and job and therefore completed most of my prerequisites needed for the majority of the lower division engineering courses. I graduated at 16 and came to UC Davis a little bit younger and less experienced than my peers but with twice the drive and motivation. I started getting involved with various engineering clubs where I met Serena who became my mentor through the Society of Women Engineers and who has been like a true sister to me this past year. I started Aggie Micro Aeronautics team and got to help build and compete an airplane last year.

Just a little background on me as a person before I delve further into what I’m doing now: I’m vegan, love to cook, and have dance experience in bboying/hip hop/popping/Iranian/Bollywood/salsa. I’m a gym junkie and a Bodyrocker (for any other bodyrock.tv fans out there). I love drawing; I like to think of my sketchbook as just another body part that needs to be lugged around. I practically live in the sci fi/fantasy section at Barnes and Noble. I love Korean and Japanese dramas and am constantly getting addicted to various mangas. I’ve cycled through a zillion different hobbies and have the attention span of a squirrel.  I love building things; I’d like to think that I’ve improved from my Lego creations (sound effects included) to being on the design team Aerobrick today (although I still play with Legos. Fact). Oh and I am constantly losing things (my mind. Ha).

Onward!

Last summer I got a position at Autodesk as a Student Expert. I received training with them over the summer in various programs and now work on campus helping other students learn design and modeling software. Me and two others I work with then created a club called 3DMD (3D Modeling and Design) for which I am the president. We host workshops on campus and provide online tutorials weekly (which have yet to be uploaded as we have been prioritizing workshops but which will be available soon) on ucd3dmd.blogspot.com. We also provide Office Hours and online help and basically act as a resource for students like ourselves who also want to take the initiative and learn the software to help with their engineering careers.

A month or two ago I submitted a project for, and got the role of, leading the new Autodesk Marketing Campaign (not sure how specific I’m allowed to be about this) and got to have a photoshoot! (Kinda sad how excited I was about that but what can I say, it’s a little girl’s dream). I worked weeks on my project and got to incorporate all the crazy things I read about and dreamt up in my spare time. I think it’s the first time I’ve had the opportunity to incorporate my own personality and inspirations into a piece and it turned out to be the most fun I’d ever had designing it. I loved that once I was approved, they gave my full reign to be as creative as I pleased and that for once I wasn’t worried about “painting by numbers.” It’s really been an eye opening experience and probably the reason I’m adding a minor in something related. I’ll post a pic of the final rendering once I get the go ahead ^_^.

So that’s me. I’m trying to balance classes, 2 jobs, officer positions, the new club, dance, the Autodesk position, Aerobrick (airplane design team) and the rest of my crazy life. I’m not exactly sure if I’m succeeding but I don’t think I’d have it any other way. I finally found something I think is right for me and I’m not going to let it slip from my grasp.

Cheers,

Nassim R.

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

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.