The USRP Internship Experience

By Brittney Bullis

After learning what was then nine planets in our solar system in the second grade and watching movies such as RocketMan and Armageddon, I realized that science and space exploration are more than just good movie plots. Growing up and transitioning from that starry eyed girl watching shuttle launches to interning at NASA has really seemed like a dream come true.

My name is Brittney Bullis, and I am a senior applied mathematics major at South Dakota State University participating in the Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP) at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) in Moffett Field, California. As a hands-on person, it was classes in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) that allowed me to experiment and then see the impact of the results I generated. I found that I really gained a feeling of accomplishment after solving a page long math problem or seeing my code run correctly on a computer, so it was then that I decided the STEM track was right for me. My best friend’s father was also an electrical engineer, and I loved going over to his house to watch his dad work. His dad always seemed to have an interesting project to work on that he thoroughly enjoyed doing. I remember telling my best friend, that I wanted to do what his dad did. His response: “You’re not smart enough to be an engineer.” For awhile, I believed him. I figured I should choose another career interest since I was not brainy enough to be an engineer. But that didn’t sway my interest in science. I still enjoyed going to math and science classes above all others. A little hard work and determination proved his response wrong. Anyone with the drive to achieve and solve problems can be an engineer!

Along the journey to become an intern at NASA, I immersed myself in the computational science field taking advantage of available resources through internships, class participation, competitions, organization memberships, and volunteering. Essentially, I got my hands on anything I could that involved either computer science or math. Although it may seem like an impossible juggling act at times, taking things one day at a time helps to keep everything in perspective.

Working at ARC has allowed me to apply the knowledge I learned in the classroom to investigate the mathematical modeling of health management of aerospace subsystems while gaining valuable real world experience. My work specifically focuses on developing new probabilistic methods for monitoring vehicle health in an effort to improve the safety of the next-generation of aerospace vehicles. As an intern, you become a part of a team working alongside distinguished researchers and engineers as well as making friends to remember for years to come.

The USRP internship experience is an unforgettable chance of a lifetime that echoes NASA’s mission of ‘inspiring the next generation of explorers…as only NASA can for the benefit of all.’ I would encourage everyone to take advantage of the many internship programs offered by NASA, and keep in mind that anything is possible. I would have never dreamed that I would be able to be a part of the cutting edge team at NASA, so it goes to show that you can be anything you aspire to be!