Spring Break
NASA interns jump from space suits to Saturn
Oregon NASA Space Grant Student Symposium
Lauren Sigel
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
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On Wednesday, the Oregon NASA Space Grant 2007 Student Symposium was held in the MU, and featured research from 2007 NASA student interns.
The symposium featured both oral and poster presentations from Oregon students. Research varied from testing the material of space suits to examining radar readouts of Saturn's largest moon.
The Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium is one of 52 members of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, and aims to develop a strong science, math and technology education base at all education levels.
Brennan Sheehy, a junior at the Oregon Institute of Technology majoring in mechanical engineering, stood by his display and explained to onlookers what his internship entailed. Sheehy was an intern through the NASA Exploration System Mission Directorate at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH.
"I helped research the abrasion resistance of space suit fabrics," Sheehy said. "I was there for 10 weeks during the summer, and had to develop the abrasion testing process and get the system installed."
Matthew Clothier, a third year graduate student studying computer science through the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major, transferred to OSU from UC San Diego, and discovered the internship program through his counselor.
"My advisor hooked me up with the Oregon Space Grant," Clothier said. "I was telling her how cool it would be if I could get an internship with NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories), and she told me about the Oregon Space Grant."
"The internship involved doing research on enhancing the computer graphics of the visual simulations of planet terrain by adding more depth and detail to the simulation," Clothier said.
"The enhanced simulations helped geologists interpret the terrain for the land rovers that would be sent to that planet. The experience was absolutely fantastic."
For more information about the Oregon NASA Space Grant, visit their website at http://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu/welcome.html.
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