Tammy Jones May 10, 1996 Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-5566) tammy.jones@ccmail.gsfc.nasa.gov Release: 96-032 NASA Selects Research Associates for the 1996 NASA Academy at Goddard Space Flight Center NASA has selected 24 Research Associates (RAs) to participate in the 1996 NASA Academy program at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The goal of the intensive 10 week summer institute is to help guide potential future leaders of the space program. All RAs were selected competitively from a nation-wide pool of approximately 100 applicants. Potential RAs must be current undergraduate or graduate level students majoring in science, math, engineering, computer science, or other areas of interest to the space program. “This Academy experience is intended to bring out the leadership qualities in the Research Associates, and to show them how the real world is working. For some of them it will change their careers, for others it will be a real eye opener of what happens behind the scenes,” said Dr. Gerald Soffen, Director of University Programs at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Soffen also serves as Director of the Goddard NASA Academy. The Academy provides insight into all of the elements that make the NASA mission possible, while at the same time assigning the RA to one of Goddard’s most innovative and creative researchers. In addition, the RAs get a unique view of the space program through interactive lectures, tours, and special projects with the leaders and motivators of the space program. The program will be held from June 1, 1996 through August 10, 1996. -more- -2- The program is co-sponsored by Goddard and the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program consortium in each state. A total of 66 RAs have participated in the program since its inception in the summer of 1993. Additional information on the NASA Academy program can be accessed through the World Wide Web at: http://university.gsfc.nasa.gov/SA/academy.html. 1996 Research Associates selected: Research Associate University Brett Allard University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO Electrical Engineering Lothar Birke Imperial College, London, UK Physics Peter Castro Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH Biomedical Engineering Christopher Cousins University of Idaho, Moscow, ID Mechanical Engineering Dawn Crowder Montana State University, Bozeman, MT Physics and French Niem Dang University of New Hamsphire, Durham, NH Biochemistry Anthony DeBella Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD Mechanical Engineering Lizhen Gao Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK Electrical Engineering Harry Garner Harding University, Searcy, AR Physics and Mathematics Alberto Gay University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, PR Mechanical Engineering Daniel Greenspan Rowan College of New Jersey, Glassboro, NJ Computer Science Cynthia Hall College of Charleston Charleston, SC Biology and Geology Christopher Lewicki University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Danielle Manuszak University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Physics Benjamin Mazin Yale University, New Haven, CT Astronomy & Physics Jeffrey Munson University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA Mechanical Engineering Jeremy Richardson West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV Physics -more- -3- Gregory Richardson Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Aerospace Engineering Holly Ridings Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Mechanical Engineering Joseph Spence Howard University, Washington, DC Electrical Engineering Danielle Walker Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Electrical Engineering Kristin Whitson University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN., Physics Christopher Wilkinson Brigham Young University, Provo, UT Mechanical Engineering Jacob Yates San Diego State University, San Diego, CA Geological Sciences -end- Goddard Space Flight Center’s NASA Academy Program Description I n t r o d u c t i o n NASA Academy is a unique summer institute of higher learning whose goal is to help guide future leaders of the U.S. Space Program by giving them a glimpse of how the whole space program works. The success of the space program results from the interaction of government, academia and the private sector, each playing a critical and different role in the 35-year old civilian program. Responsibilities overlap, leaders migrate from one sector to another, and interdependence changes with each new administration. T h e A c a d e m y The primary function of the Academy is to provide insight into all of the elements that make NASA missions possible, while at the same time matching each student to one of our best researchers to contribute towards one of our Earth or space missions. Each student is carefully selected by a series of panels, interviews, etc., starting with their own State Space Grant Consortium who has nominated and agreed to sponsor them. The participating GSFC researchers are selected through a highly competitive process for selecting only the best, the brightest, and the most innovative. The "match" between student (Research Associate, RA) and researcher (Principal Investigator) is done by mutual selection. A portion of the working time and much of the social time spent by the RAs will be as a "group" or "team" in plenary sessions. This time is devoted to an exchange of ideas, forays into the highest level of decision making, prioritizing, planning and executing our space missions. This is done by interviews with leaders and motivators of the Space Program. Besides the domestic GSFC 'experts', we will tap Washington, DC, legislators, business company Presidents, international partners, and the energetic people who champion our cause. The majority of the working time is spent in the laboratory of the selected Principal Investigators working on their Earth or space related technical project. This summer, 24 students interested in space science, Earth science, or engineering will come GSFC to share a unique experience resulting from their own ingenuity and hard work for the 10 week session. This year marks the fourth year of the Goddard NASA Academy and the third year for the Marshall Space Flight Center’s NASA Academy. A d d i t i o n a l G r o u p A c t i v i t i e s - J u n e 1 t o A u g u s t 10 In order to enhance the RAs understanding of NASA as an agency, several trips are planned for the summer. RAs visit Langley Research Center and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University in New York City, and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Other weekend trips are planned by the RAs when they arrive. T h e A c a d e m y E x p e r i e n c e Our goal is to 'guide', not instruct. Teaching and learning are not the same. Teaching is the orthodoxy of our universities and colleges; learning is the "ah-ha!" process of finding out and understanding. That is the objective of the NASA Academy: to foster curiosity, to spirit endeavor, and to inspire leadership.