One reason why we love the OLC so much is because of the numerous opportunities it offers each one of us. Scholarly programs, internships, competitions—anything that we can utilize to our benefit is just a click away on the Equip page. From my personal experiences, I have concluded that the best and most rewarding opportunities lie in the various Challenges offered throughout the year. From lunar science, to product innovation, to robotics, to spacecraft engineering, there is bound to be a Challenge meant for your interests and passions.
This year I competed in the RealWorld-InWorld Engineering Design Challenge. A team of myself, Jonathan Hernandez, Kate Denner, and Joshua Dijamco worked together to design a sunshield that would protect the James Webb Space Telescope from cosmic radiation to allow it to detect infrared light from far away galaxies. Sounds simple, right? It certainly wasn’t. We had to incorporate many factors into its design like minimizing cost, maximizing the telescope’s pointing angle, unfolding the shield in space, and more.
We became engineers as we brainstormed possible design solutions, criticized each other’s work, and implemented the best attributes of each into our final design. We outlined our progress in an extensive 28-page paper. We advanced to the next round of the challenge and had to transfer the same information in the paper into a 3-D world called NIA Universe, an impressive computer program that took weeks to learn how to navigate in and use. After weeks of working during many late, coffee-filled nights, we finally finished our “world”. We anxiously awaited the final results from the judges, and finally, the announcement was made: Team Metropolitan (that’s us) won first place!
I cannot explain to you the overwhelming triumph and happiness I felt after receiving such good news. Our hard work had paid off and our ideas had been acknowledged and approved. There was even a cash prize of $833 for each of us that could be used to help with the costs of traveling up to the Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, MD. There, we were all reunited after months of collaboratively working on a huge project through virtual tools like Google Docs and Skype hundreds and thousands of miles away. We were treated like royalty upon our arrival. We even met the Director of GSC Christopher Scolese, who awarded each of us our very own flag that had been flown aboard the final flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. For the next few hours we were given a VIP tour of GSC and saw a Hyperwall demonstration, as well as the behind-the-scenes of NASA TV. Later we met with the 2006 Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Mather, who gave a presentation on some of his work.
We ended this amazing day with a bang: a viewing of the James Webb Space Telescope clean room. This telescope means so much to us. For months we slaved over every one of its details: its mission goals, size, orbit, and more. Before, we had imagined the JWST as something that seemed so intangible, unreal and far away. But finally, the awesome piece of technology we had been studying for so long was sitting right in front of us. It was surrounded by people who care about it just as much as we do. That moment was huge for me because I realized that I was on the right path: I want to grow up to become a part of a large NASA team that works together to produce an extraordinary work of art like the James Webb Space Telescope. Whether it will go to the Moon, Mars, or a near-Earth asteroid, I want to contribute to its success.
So why should you participate in one or more of the NASA Challenges next year? There are many reasons why, ranging from the people you will meet to the experience you will gain. Completing a group challenge will bring all of your teammates closer together, helping you discover a teammate that you work extremely well with. You will also learn effective means of communication, time management, and how to distribute tasks to achieve the highest level of efficiency. You will also learn a great deal about the topic you chose to do your Challenge on, helping you gain experience in that field which will put you at an advantage among your peers in the future. If your team works hard and functions smoothly, you could be next year’s first place winner. Who knows what exciting prizes and opportunities could come your way.
If you find yourself struggling while completing a Challenge, just remember to keep a positive attitude and that patience pays off in the long run.
Discuss this blog here: http://tinyurl.com/bloginspire12
No comments:
Post a Comment