Students Show Right Stuff

Six aeronautics students from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., recently traveled to NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC to meet with Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

The students briefed Shin on their research projects—computer modeling for the Inflatable Reentry Experiment Vehicle, fusion techniques that extract the most reliable data from computer- or sensor-generated images, a super alloy made with electron beam freeform fabrication, wind tunnel testing of a new kind of aircraft wing, and the acoustic properties of hybrid wing body aircraft.

"Dr. Shin and the others seemed to be genuinely interested in our work at NASA Langley and gave great words of encouragement and advice after our presentations," said Bailee Ireland. "They really made me feel as if I were contributing toward the future of NASA."

Pictured left to right (front row): Mo Nguyen, mechanical engineering major at Boise State University; Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate; Jennifer Hunt, aerospace engineering major at University of Alabama. (back row): Christie Funk, aerospace engineering graduate student from Old Dominion University; Mackenzie Sinden-Redding, engineering physics graduate student at the University of Virginia; Bailee Ireland, electrical engineering major at the University of Virginia; Tayo Ladeinde, aerospace engineering doctoral student at New York University.

A few days later, another Langley intern, Evan Helmeid, traveled back to Washington to shadow Shin and other NASA leadership. "By participating in this summer's internship, I am receiving not only a better understanding of my field, but a foundation for my career and experience with life. I truly appreciated this opportunity to visit NASA Headquarters and listen to the leaders of this organization in their day-to-day activities, not just a speech or discussion broadcast across the entire agency," said Helmeid, an aerospace engineering major at Purdue University.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/intern_visit_img.html