Intern Week 8: Pool, Control & Opportunity

NASA Co-Op Week 4: Meeting Martians

Stars from the Martian movie visited Johnson Space Center including Sebastian Stan (who plays an astronaut and was also the Winter Solider in an Avengers Captain America Movie) and Mackenzie Davis (who plays a flight operator in mission control that discovers Mark Watney is alive). Ellen Ochoa the center head hosted a Q&A so Sebastian and Mackenzie could ask astronaut Mike Hopper, a real Mission Control Operator, head of science, and head of engineering Kirk Shireman questions and visa versa. The Martian actors challenged the NASA employees wit asking how they would survive on Mars. Sebastian, who plays an astronaut that has a crush on a fellow space explorer, asked if there was ever crushes on the international space station!  I shared with Mackenzie that my role as a Mission Control Co-Op is similar to her character's role in the movie. KHOU a Houston local news station interviewed me about the clash of science at NASA and science fiction in Hollywood.

Here is the full Q&A with Sebastian Stan & Mackenzie Davis from The Martian  

Scott Kelly celebrated halfway to a year in space! This year long mission reveals data key to ensuring a longer duration flight to Mars and beyond can be done safely. Data that has been collected includes bone density, muscle mass, eyesight, key organ functions, and effects of radiation. Kelly Skyped down to ground to celebrate with Johnson Space Center.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED Learn about the real martians and NASA's Journey to Mars See how already long duration space flight has effected Scott Kelly Tune into a video series by Time Magazine following the Year Long Mission Subscribe to NASA on YouTube for mission and spacecraft updates Hear producer, astronauts, NASA folk and Author Andy Weir talk about the Martian at Comic-Con Watch The Martian movie coming out October 1st Read The Martian by Andy Weir Intern with NASA | Launch your Aerospace Career | Get Excited about STEM Work for NASA

Make the Most of Your Summer Vacation

Olaf and I have similar ideas about what makes a good summer. “Relaxing in the summer sun, just lettin’ off steam”. Although doing “what frozen things do in summer” sounds appealing to Olaf, I understand that summer can be a whole lot more than bumming on the beach, blowing dandelion fuzz, and sand volley balling. It can be hard to decide what to do with your precious summer vacation, volunteering, interning, or working at a job. But my discussion with you today will hopefully help you make the most of your summer.

I have had a number of summer volunteering, interning and working experiences. I used to be a volunteer for Duluth Minnesota's Essentia Health hospital stocking IVs and making patient beds in the Surgical In/Out patient unit. I also interned at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Computer Science Department and for Rockwell Automation. As summer class registration is in swing, companies are looking to hire, and you are finalizing where you will be staying this information may be help you out. We will look at three different factors to consider when deciding if it is the best to volunteer, intern, or work. These three factors include if you want to make a substantial amount of money, where locationally-wise you would like to be over the summer, and if you would like your experience to be relevant to your major.

MONEY First let’s talk cash. The green paper, and sometimes electronic figures, that rule your life.  As broke college students having a little change on hand to help pay for college expenses, toss into savings, and curb debt is always a plus. Naturally, a factor to consider when deciding how to make the most of your summer is if money is on your mind.

Volunteering -  although rewarding does not offer pay so may not be a first choice if money is a major factor.

Internships - they can lead to well-paid summer experience. As reported by CNN Money in an article, “Interns at Google probably make more than you” written by Katie Labosco in 2013, interns at tech companies like Google “are paid $5,800 monthly, while specialized software engineers make as much as $6,700 per month”. This amount is higher than the United States’ median household income. Unfortunately not all internships are paid and the amount depends on the demand of the trade such as technology and healthcare.

Summer job - Money seems to be the biggest perk of a summer job despite the possible burger flipping and shirt folding to get it. Unlike an internship summer jobs are more plentiful and with flexible hours let you work more than one at a time.

Another factor to keep in mind in addition to money is location

LOCATION Location can potentially be like the icing on the cake of an experience. You can decide to conveniently stay in your hometown, pick a location with a more desirable climate, or travel somewhere on your bucket list.

Volunteering - offers an endless pool of locations to choose from- between the nursing home across the street and tribes in Africa. From suburbs to cities someone - somewhere someone will need your help. Volunteering through United Way, Church Missionaries, American Red Cross, and Peace Corps offers a wide variety of locations. There are local volunteering opportunities right here in Duluth, MN too. Feed homeless at Chum, take care of precious stray animals at Animal Allies, or help patients at Essentia Health like I did.

Internships -  can be a little scarcer in where they are offered. Companies must have a budget and mentorship resources set aside for interns mostly major companies in large cities offer internships. There are however a few internships in smaller cities such as Digi Key in Thief River Falls, MN and study abroad programs held by global companies such as Rockwell Automation.

Summer jobs - can be easily in your home town or where you are studying, some even within walking distance. Some summer jobs offer housing as a part of their package. At Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio workers are offered a place to stay on site, for cost food, and good pay.

Aside from a nice location choosing a summer activity that is relevant to your field of study will also help you make the most of your summer.

Me Performing Community Outreach with the Daredevils Duluth East Daredevils FIRST Robotics Team 2512. 2012. Duluth

RELEVANCE TO MAJOR A Huffington Post article “Why Gaining Work Experience Is More Important Than Your Education” written by Thad Baker in 2013 claims that, “you need more than a college degree to get hired”.  From that same article CNN reported findings from High Flyers, Research Company that specializes in student recruitment research, that “college graduates without work experience have "little chance" of getting a job”.

All Three -  Fortunately Volunteering, Interning, and Working are all opportunities that can relate to your field of study.  Volunteer at a hospital to get experience on the floor while pursuing a nursing degree, intern at a company you wish to work at someday, take a job that exercises skills that you will need in your career like as a manager or sales personnel.

CONCLUSION Today we have discussed factors to consider while deciding what to do over summer vacation Options we weighed included volunteering, interning, or working based on the money that can be made, location, or relevance to major. Now you have an idea of how to make the most out of your summer vacation. No matter which of these options you pick there will still be time to hold a drink in your and prop your feet against the burning sand like Olaf.

WHAT YOU CAN DO...

Volunteeer Match: a quick way to find who needs your help locally or abroad http://www.volunteermatch.org/

Internships: my best advice for finding an internship would be visiting you university's career center, attending a job fair/ internship fair, or searching on your desired company's website. Your university's career center can be experemely helpful with not only finding an internship but also preparing your resume and cover letter.

I edit resumes, cover letters, and internship applicaitons! Find me on Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com/s/7rmpki

WORKS CITED

Lobosco, Katie. "Interns at Google Probably Make More than You." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 12 June 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.

Baker, Thad. "Why Gaining Work Experience Is More Important Than Your Education." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.

This post is from a speech I wrote for my public speaking class. I liked it so much and thought it would be helpful so I put it on here!

Astronauts Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko return to Earth after a year in space! Read the highlights of the year here: http://ourtech.tumblr.com/post/140172910796/best-moments-from-a-year-in-space-creepily-enough Watch live now: http://www.ustream.tv/NASAHDTV

Space Device User Test: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 13

Feels like a day back in high school robotics. Staying late Friday to work out the last software bug. If there is a team member in the lab, you are in the lab. Instead a team of high school robo-prodigies, I lead a team of developers and flight controllers in preparation for a space device user test. The goal is to test a stowage app may make unloading and loading cargo ships easier astronauts to perform on the International Space Station. The app runs on a device that makes these operations more hands free. Additionally the app may make stowage operations more error free. I have coordinated the Stowage App's debut - a user test performed by experienced Mission Control flight controllers in NASA Johnson's Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (SVMF). The SVMF is filled with exact replicas where astronauts train and devices are tested.

During the space device user test participants were asked to go on a sort of extraterrestrial Easter egg hunt. Users were asked to unpack stowage items from a visiting vehicle mockup and stow them in the International Space Station mockup. While participants learn how to use the app and pick up items non-biased data takers record results and record reactions. Unapologetically, we threw the users under the bus without giving a tutorial on how to use the app. This way data takers could assess how intuitive (or not) the app is.

Valuable data was collected about app usability. Developers shared they already had ideas to make the app more user friendly. For the remainder of my Co-Op tour I will be engaged with data analysis, brainstorming with the dev team how to improve the app and a pitch to management about continuing app development.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

"This week at NASA" video highlights John H Glenn's interment and Cassini the Saturn orbiter's final days prep.

If you missed NASA's Snapchat story featuring interns their Tumblr page shares how you can land a PAID NASA internship.

Become a US Government Civil Servant and get on track to becoming a full-time NASA employee by participating in the NASA Pathways Internship Program (Co-Op).

Details about Cassini's last shot to take data on Saturn.

Watch Juno Spacecraft Arrive at Jupiter July 4th 9:30pmCT

Click here to watch live

Juno spacecraft media briefing screenshots from today! This basketball sized craft will insert into Jupiter’s orbit exposing itself to the radiation equivalent to a human receiving 100 million X-Rays in a year. Jupiter’s is still cooling down since its creation like taking a cake out of the oven. The famous red spot reveals how that heat is coming out. Goals of this mission include: learning how Jupiter was formed, how does its storms differ from our storms, what is the magnitude of its magnetic field, more accurately determine what is Jupiter composed of.

Robotics Pit Area: Where students repair their robot between matches

Ideas for Teachers: Apollo Mission Control Simulation Lesson Plan

In this activity students will watch clips of system failures from Apollo 13 movie and must come up with their own solutions to the problem. This activity would be good for 3rd or 4th graders but can be modified to be harder or easier.

Introduce the Flight Positions

Split up students into five groups EECOM (Electrical Environmental and Communication) Power, EECOM Environment, BOOSTER, GNC (Guidance and Navigation Control). and SURGEON. They should have paper and a writing utensil.  

Teacher: "You are each flight controllers in NASA's Mission Control in Houston, TX. Have a picture on the board of NASA's mission control. For this mission I am the flight director but you are all  experts on a space craft system. You are in charge of three astronauts heading to the Moon in this space craft. If you have something you want communicated to the astronaut you must tell me. Have a picture of the Apollo 13 command module attached to the Lunar Lander on the board.

Point at EECOM Power

Teacher: "EECOM Power, you are in charge of the power system that keeps the communication system, computers, heat, and lights on the space craft. You will get data on the battery level, amps, volts and which systems are on."

Point at EECOM Environment

Teacher: "EECOM Environment, you are in charge of the air system on board the space craft. This means scrubbing the carbon out of the air and supplying enough oxygen. You will get data on the O2 CO2 and poisonous gas levels."

Point at BOOSTER

Teacher: "You are in charge of the boosters that fly the astronauts too and from the Moon. You make sure that there is enough fuel to accomplish each task. You will get data on the fuel level and functioning boosters."

Point at GNC

Teacher: "You are in charge of making sure the space capsule is flying in the right direction. You will get data on the flight path of the space craft."

Point at SURGEON

Teacher: "You are in charge of the health of the astronauts. You will get data on their temperature, vital organs, and comments from them on their well being,"

Above are examples of data slides you can display I made with an old Mission Control Picture. Note that these levels and figures in coming up simulation data are not very accurate. For example - in reality over 15% CO2 would cause black outs and brain asphyxiation. What is most important is that data is fluctuating and the students learn what data is important, how to write down observations and react.

Begin Mission

Pull up the current and nominal flight data on the board.

Teacher: "Here is the current data for each of your systems. Write them down because they may change and you may need to fix your systems when something goes wrong."

Students write down data.

Houston We've Had A Problem

Teacher: "These three astronauts are on a mission to the Moon, but something goes horribly wrong. And you have to do something about it. Let's see what happened..."

Show this clip: https://youtu.be/kAmsi05P9Uw

Teacher: "You are tens of thousands of miles away from the astronauts but must fix the problem. Pull up the new set of data. Here the latest data. Tell me whats wrong and how you think we can fix it.

Students write down new data and discuss among themselves whats going on. Students then let the flight director know whats going wrong. Change the data three times so it fluctuates, don't wait for students to write everything down, this is a real time crisis and things won't run as planned.

Example of data slide 4, the vitals show error because in real life the Apollo 13 astronauts took off their vital sensors for privacy.

Teacher checks in with EECOM Power and lets students share their thoughts

Teacher: "Looks like we are loosing power rapidly and can only use certain devices at once. We need to figure out how keep the astronauts alive, send data back to Earth using the computers, and collect enough data on board so we can keep each flight team updated. Hand them batteries, paper clips/ wires, lights and switches. Each light represents an electrical device on board. You must find the correct electrical configuration to power the devices and order in which they must be powered on."

Teacher checks in with EECOM Environment & SURGEON and lets students share their thoughts

Teacher: "Looks like we are losing oxygen for the astronauts to breath. How long till its all gone? Students suggest answers. Here are the materials on board to create a new air filter. This square peg in a round hole. Make it work. Dump the materials on their table." Inspired by this clip: https://youtu.be/C2YZnTL596Q

Teacher checks in with BOOSTER  & GNC and lets students share their thoughts

Teacher: Has BOOSTER & GNC sit closer to each other "Looks like we are off trajectory to the moon, the lunar lander is broken, the space craft is accelerating in the wrong direction we are losing fuel and the only logical thing to do now is head back to Earth. Both of you are needed to solve this problem. Give them a model of Earth, Moon, Capsule and attached Moon Lander. Work together to figure out how to then back to Earth with limited fuel."

Teacher: Talking to all. "Once you come up with a solution come up to the front and explain to your fellow flight controllers what you came up with and why it will work. The other flight controllers can argue if they think it won't work and why. Astronaut lives are at stake so it is necessarily to speak up if something is a faulty idea or you have a better solution."

Students work to solve their problems. Give them a little bit of time to work on it. After each team presents their solution.

Teacher: "Let's see how the NASA engineers solve the problems you were given..."

Note: You may want to scan these clips for swear words before showing them in class. And end the clip accordingly.

EECOM Power: https://youtu.be/KhoXFVQsIxw

EECOM Environment & SURGEON: https://youtu.be/Zm5nUEG5Bjo

BOOSTER & GNC: https://youtu.be/gmLgi5mdTVo

Teacher: "Lastly let's see if the crew makes it back after your adjustments"

https://youtu.be/-1BPx5Wsm7k

Celebrate with astronaut ice cream!

Astronaut Scott Kelly returns to Earth after a year on the International Space Station Thursday March 1st 10:27pmCT. You can watch here: www.ustream.tv/NASAHDTV Prior to Kelly’s return I will post about what I personally think his top moments from his year in space is, including whatever this green blob thing is.

Defrag 2014 Wrap Up

Defrag's Predictions for the Future of Tech

So what is in and growing in the world of technology? For sure containers, clouds and APIs. Containers allow developers to run more applications simultaneously and currently Docker is the king of containers. Docker provides open source application deployment through containers creating an additional layer of abstraction and replaces virtual machines. Google has developed Kubernetes, an open source container cluster manager to manage your Dock containers. IBM recently launched Bluemix, a platform that enables developers to launch applications on a cloud and scale up to handle increases of traffic. Personally I will be playing with Bluemix because a representative of IBM shared how Bluemix was used at a hackathon to quickly deploy an app. APIs (Application Programming Interface) are a set of tools used to build software applications. Each layer of APIs abstract from machine code, make interfacing with the machine easier by using more human language, and become more relevant to the application being designed. Managing APIs makes sense for developers especially because those in computing value abstraction and code reuse. Platforms for sharing, storing, and developing APIs are popular since developers will not have to reinvent the wheel to get an application running. Many companies need the same kinds of applications. Pools of APIs provide an interface for these generic needs.

Philosophy of Defrag

Nerd Nite is an event where science meets good times. Individuals present about their tech passion while the crowd enjoys a drink. Presentations from Nerd Nites have been memorable to me due to the pure energy driving the presentation and the motivation behind the presenter to simply share their ideas. There has been presentations about Star Wars, creating a to scale replica of the Big Dipper, and our Mayor's take on the method of choosing political delegates. Defrag is like Nerd Nite on crack. It is two days of back to back Nerd Nite-ish presentations topped with an evening of networking. Defrag's philosophy is to provide a conference for people to share their ideas while attendees to enjoy without being bored by sales pitches. Sure speakers are a part of a company but the focus of their presentations are bigger ideas. Defrag did such a good job implementing this philosophy that I felt uncomfortable when a speaker tried to make a plug for their product. It was like they were tarnishing Defrag's pure intent to simply share ideas. As I am sure many other Defraggers agree, it was refreshing to hear the tech industry is still human.

What I Learned

As a sophomore in college I'm sure what I got out of this conference was pretty different than the majority of attendees working in industry. I could talk to you all day about new applications/technologies I learned about, but mostly I felt relieved about the kind of environment, although still not ideal, tech industry will provide in my career. IBM's Most Prolific Female Inventor, Lisa Seacat DeLuca, presented about her daily life patenting, inventing, and raising two awesome kids. She is the proof of concept of work life balance; pursuing your personal and career goals. In tech industry, getting eight hours of sleep and having a social life is possible! Author Jane Miller wrote this kick butt book debunking stereotypes in the workplace, "Sleep Your Way to the Top", after someone in her workplace questioned if her current position in the company was not due to her ability alone. While flipping through my copy I see great tips on how to handle awkward situations in the workplace, how to defend yourself in industry, and how leaders in these companies can be good leaders. Miller's advice to the audience is "give honest feedback, don't be a jerk, and mentor". At Defrag I saw people aware of the change needed in industry to make work environment more female friendly, as well as more friendly in general, and an attitude to make that change.

Experience at the conference confirmed my decision to study what I am and motivated me to continue pursuing what I love. I enjoyed representing NCWIT as an Aspirations in Computing Award winner, representing University of Minnesota Duluth for the first time at a tech event and meeting others with similar passions in technology. Defrag you rock!

Links to Check Out (Basically what I will be doing, reading, and playing with over winter break)

"We'll do it live!!" Bluemix where I will be making apps this winter: https://console.ng.bluemix.net/

Docker/ Container Links: https://www.docker.com/ http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docker_(software)

NCWIT National Center for Women in Information Technology go to for Women in Tech stats and proven ways to close the gender gap in tech: http://www.ncwit.org/

SKYNET IS REAL bow down: http://developer.octoblu.com/

Robots that forecast weather: http://understoryweather.com/

Defrag Conference: http://www.defragcon.com/2014/

Orion mock up.