Click For My Article “What’s A Co-Op? And How Do I Get One?”!
Click for my article “What’s a Co-Op? and How Do I Get One?”!
-Kirsi Kuutti
More Posts from Ourtech and Others
Sensing Mars: NASA Co-Op #2 Week Nine
Running trials with the new humidity on my fluid rig showed the fruits of my labor finally ripened. This week I ran three trials to collect data determining if a small business designed Humidity Sensor makes accurate measurements. NASA collaborates with small businesses to solve problems related to upcoming missions. The small business designed this Humidity Sensor so it could measure the humidity on Mars without corroding due to the planet’s chemistry.
Using sensors that NASA is familiar with I ran trial cases to get three different data points and compared those measurements to the new sensor. I created a low humidity environment with a desiccant (drier), created a moderate humidity with ambient air and a high humidity environment with a water bubbler. Using a National Instruments cDAQ (compact data acquisition) I collected data from a thermocouple, pressure gauge and a Vaisala humidity sensor that measures dew point (the temperature at which air can no longer “hold” all of the water vapor which is mixed with it) and mixing ratio (mass of water vapor over the mass of dry air). The new humidity sensor simply gives me the parts per million (ppm) of water using it’s ultrasensitive laser absorption spectroscopy. My other sensors don’t give me a ppm value so I have to calculate it using equations from my mentors “Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics” book.
Building this trial rig was a unique experience because it required knowledge in electronics to interpret the signals sent by the sensors, computer science to write the data acquisition program and VNC (Virtual Network Computing) and chemical engineering to interpret data reported and use correct thermodynamics principles and equations. Next week will be looking at the data and get tangible values about how accurate the new Humidity Sensor is.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Check out the AstrOlympics
See what NASA was up to this week
Apply for a NASA Co-Op
Apply for a NASA Internship
It Begins 4,900 Teams of Robot Builders
You may or may not have noticed the anxious stir experienced by high schoolers around the world. Not the stir associated with the holiday season or fear of returning back to school but caused by anxiety for a six week long engineering mission. Tomorrow, January 3rd, over 4,900 FIRST Robotics teams will be assigned a game for which they design, fabricate, and program a 120lb robot to compete. Really, a bunch of high schoolers are going to build a sophisticated machine requiring skills way beyond what they learn in school? Sounds like 4,900 teams of overly confident loony toons to me. I assure you from experience being on one of theses ambitious bot building teams that it is possible with copious amounts of drive and dedication.
Tubes, balls, frisbees and even miniature robots have been tossed, thrown and launched by these high schoolers' mechanical creations. At competition following their build season, teams compete with each other in the game assigned weeks prior. Games in the past have been similar to traditional sports such as soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball. Until tomorrow teams have no clue what kind of robot they will be creating.
FIRST Robotics is the master mind behind getting students and their communities hooked on robotics. Inventor Dean Kamen and professor Woodie Flowers, FIRST founders, wanted to inspire the next generation of innovators. Their mission is reflected in the competition's name FIRST Robotics - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Kind of a mouthful but tech savvy love their acronyms.
Get in on this crazy tech action by watching the FIRST Robotics Kick Off where the new game will be revealed January 3, 2015 10:15am EST : http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/2015-first-robotics-competition-kickoff
This is last years game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5zWzICG5to
The FIRST Robotics team a part of is the Duluth East Daredevils team 2512. Here is a previous robot a robot designed for an ultimate frisbee competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZqM96bJaH4
FIRST Robotics Link: http://www.usfirst.org/
Big Day In Space: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 12
Spacewalk
An International Space Station spacewalk with a runaway micrometeorite shield and SpaceX landing of a rocket which has already flown in space marks a busy week in space exploration.
American NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson conducted her eight spacewalk March 30th, 2017. Logging an accumulative 59 spacewalk hours, Peggy has surpassed the current record of female spacewalk hours. Peggy is now the third most experience spacewalker behind Anatoly Solovyev (68 hours) and former astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria (67 hours). Accompanying Peggy on the spacewalk was current Space Station commander Shane Kimbrough.
The goals of the spacewalk included reconnecting cables and electrical connections to PMA3 on the Harmony node. Peggy and Shane also installed an upgraded computer relay box on Space Station's truss and installed shields to PMA3 and common berthing mechanism.
During the spacewalk, one of the shields was inadvertently lost. Fortunately, the shield floated away safely and does not pose a threat to Space Station nor the crew. However, the device missing a shield still needed to be protected. Mission Control engineers jumped into action with an Apollo 13-esque energy to solve how to replace the cover. They devised a plan for the astronauts to finish covering the port with the PMA-3 cover Whitson removed earlier in the day.
Leading this effort from the ground included light Director Emily Nelson and Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM)/Astronaut Anne McClain. Below you can see circled in green CAPCOM McClain & circled in purple Flight Director Nelson.
SpaceX Reusable Rocket
Falcon 9 rocket will delivered a commercial communications satellite to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). SpaceX is on the road to full and rapid reusability as the world’s first reflight of an orbital class rocket, whereas NASA's Shuttle was a human transport between Earth and Space Station. Falcon 9’s first stage was previously supported a mission in April of 2016.
Rewatch the launch and landing broadcast here.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Science Friday featured NASA Robotics and exploring the galaxy
Apply to be a NASA Intern
Accomplishments this week at NASA
NASA panelists at a Women History Month event
Launch your Aerospace Career
More pictures from the spacewalk...
STEAMworks: Robotics Game Theories
Teaser trailer for the 2017 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition for Science and Technology) Robotics Competition was released late September revealing a Steampunk theme. Now is the time for my annual game conspiracy post about what I think teams can expect based on nuanced clues and veteran FIRST experience.
FLYING MINI BOTS - "Prepare to take flight!" was the closing statement of the 2017 FIRST STEAMworks Teaser video. Could minibots be coming back with quadcopter features? Minibots was a successful and entertaining aspect of the 2011 FIRST challenge Logo Motion. At the end of the Logo Motion teams' primary 120lb robot deployed smaller minibots to climb a tower. A FIRST inspired robotics competition, Collegiate Aerial Robotics Demonstration (CARD), launched at the 2011 World Championship with the hope to start a College-Level FIRST competition. According to CARD's Wikipedia page the competitions were held between 2011 and 2013. In the teaser video the flying contraptions illustrated have circular quadcopter like rioters. With the growing interest in quadcopters, drones and other flying robots it would be easier FIRST to suppliers for teams' Kit Of Parts and easier to find mentoring help from college students and companies than years prior.
STEAM (Science Technology Engineering ART and Math) - Within the past decade educators and professionals have realized that the arts do indeed belong in STEM education. FIRST appears to be adopting the trend by imagining STEAMworks. Even a paint brush is visible in the STEAMworks game logo. What would life be without music and art? (My father is a high school art teacher and both of my parents and myself play stringed instruments). The Beautility factor or engineering, when something is aesthetic while serving a purpose, is due to the blend of STEAM disciplines. FIRST could include arts in the 2017 season by adding a Beautility award, challenging teams to combine their brand with the game's theme, continue the team website competition and add scholarships to their ~200 already offered that include students in the arts.
PNEUMATICS - It would be disappointing if STEAMworks did not emphasize the use of pneumatic devices. Although water is a component that makes steam happen a water game does not seem feasible... I'm imagining teams trying to isolate electronics from water reservoirs... don't get your hopes up. Likely, FIRST will require teams to have at least one pneumatic device. In past seasons pneumatics have been used for championship winning actuators but primarily underutilized. In the teaser trailer a gauge showing 40psi was visible, a possible operating pressure for Kit of Parts pneumatics parts (that est. 1989 is the year Dean Kamen Founded FIRST).
Hopefully these theories get you excited about the upcoming season!
Kick Off Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 9:00 amCT, will update with broadcast link before 1/9/17.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Find a local team to help.
Mentor a team.
Check out my past robotics team.
Soon I will be returning to mission control for my fourth Co-Op tour at NASA Johnson Space Center. I will be joining Inventory Stowage Officers (ISO) team in mission control. ISO ensures supplies and experiments are delivered to the International Space Station, completed experiments return to Earth in one piece and space garbage successfully burns up in the atmosphere and does not land in someone's backyard. Last mission control Co-Op I sat console with ISO and watched Kjell Lindgren load the Japanese HTV-5 cargo ship with garbage playfully floating through station with the bags of garbage. I have a feeling ISO will be busy after a long pattern of cargo ship failures and the most recent Russian Progress 65 cargo failure (as SpaceX calls it, rapid unscheduled disassembly) transporting a space toilet, updated space suits and Christmas presents for the astronauts from their families. I expect work I will be doing with ISO will include logistics work on what has priority to be sent up to space station and collaborating with scientists about how their experiment with be stored. Additionally, Super Bowl LI in Houston and the Hidden Figures premiere are NASA related events I am looking forward to.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
* Often a live feed of Houston's Mission Control is streamed on NASA TV. My colleagues enjoy trying to catch me picking my nose when sitting console.
* Learn about the programmers behind the Apollo mission in the new movie Hidden Figures.
* Check out everything NASA accomplished in 2016 jam packed in a 3.5 minute video.
* Learn programming with Code.org, Elementary, Middle School, High School and Beyond.
Our cheering faces are in an Official NASA Tumblr post. Go Cotern class of Fall 2015! You all can join us at NASA by applying for an internship, Pathways Internship (Co-Op), Recent grad program, Full Time position or become an astronaut!
So you want to work at NASA?
An out of this world career or internship might not be as far out of reach as you think. Check out all the ways you can get involved!
If you’re a student…
Our internships are the perfect place to start! We offer paid internships for spring, summer, and fall semesters to U.S. citizens currently attending an accredited university full time. Learn more at: https://intern.nasa.gov
Seriously considering a job in the Federal civil service? Check out the Pathways Internship Program which allows you to do multiple work tours while you finish school: http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/iep.htm
If you’re a recent graduate…
If you’re a U.S. citizen who has graduated from an accredited college or university within the past 2 years (or 6 if you have served in the military), then the our Recent Graduates program is just for you. Accepted applicants are placed in a 1 year career development program with the possibility of an additional year, or even granted term or permanent jobs within the agency. Learn more at: http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/rgp.htm.
If you’re a professional…
You can search for our job openings any time at USAJobs.com. Create an account, then use the USAJobs resume builder. Want to make sure your resume maximizes your opportunity for a job at NASA? Check out our Applicant Guide: https://applyonline.nasa.gov/applicant_guide.html.
You can then search for our job openings here: https://nasai.usajobs.gov/.
If you want to be an astronaut…
Astronaut candidate applications are accepted every few years- including right now! Get yours in before the current application closes on February 18, 2016.
Do you have a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and 3 years of related professional experience? You might be eligible. Find out more and apply online at: https://nasai.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/423817000.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Stowage Success: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 16
Last week at my third Co-Op tour at NASA Johnson concluded with successful handover and continuation of the stowage app. I passed on development leadership to a full-time employee after receiving green light from managers. I consider this outcome to be a mission accomplished.
After receiving feedback from non-biased data takers, I met with app developers to prioritize how to move forward with app development. As a result the development team wants to designate a point of contact to learn about stowage ops just as I have to understand what the customer, crew member, would benefit the most from. The developers plan to take the feedback to refine app functionality and interface to make it more intuitive. Additionally, after comments from users like, “what do I do next?”, implement a procedure based app and conduct more user tests after refinements with an explicit tutorial.
Following my exit pitch to management about the stowage app I was awarded a Flight Operations Challenge Coin earned by exemplifying Mission Control values during my Spring Co-Op tour with the Inventory and Stowage Officers. These values include; discipline, competence, confidence, responsibility, toughness, teamwork, and vigilance.
Res Gesta Per Excellentiam -
Achieve through Excellence
This tour has been the most challenging and enjoyable so far. This fall I will be joining OSO (Operations Support Officer) team in Mission control.
You thought volunteering at Houston FIRST Robotics Championships was enough robots for me?
WRONG
I attended the St. Louis Championship too on my way home from Houston! My "Robot" Mater the Duluth East Daredevils and local team Esko Subzero Robotics competed.
It's good that we are moving the St.Louis Championship to Detroit next year because the roof started leaking on the field! Note the plastic tarp covering part of the field.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
This week at NASA < 3 minute video summary.
First ever virtual career summit Wednesday May 24th hosted by NASA with insight on internships.
Why Co-Op during college?
Astronaut Jack Fischer chats with MIT students about space life.
Johnson Space Center Director, Ellen Ochoa, is inducted in astronaut hall of fame.
Tech Opportunities: Grace Hopper Day 2
An overwhelming aspect of the Grace Hopper Conference is the career fair and hosted lunches. During which you get to exposed to many career, learning and conference opportunities. I couldn't possibly take advantage of all these opportunities so I will share them with you.
Hour of Code: Everyone
Learn a bit of programming for an hour or longer if you like! Simply projects to get you jump started with programming.
Bank of America Internships: Current Students
Hiring and looking for interns in cyber security, user interface design, software, IT and more.
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Community: Women in College
Attend conferences, access to exclusive scholarships, exposure to internship opportunities, join a support group of over 2500 like minded women who share a similar passion for computing. A support network where you can connect with others 24/7. There is always someone posting or responding on the Facebook page!
Google & Microsoft Internships: Everyone
At the Grace Hopper Conference Google & Microsoft heavily stressed that they are hiring and recruiting more interns and full time hires. They both offer parental leave meaning both parents get paid leave for many weeks for a child!
Best Buy: Everyone
During the career fair Best Buy was hosting a coding challenge which caught my attention. They displayed medium level code in various languages and you had to determine what it outputs. After completign the challenge they described various engineering, analyst and IT.
Code Camp | Square: College & High School Women
Five day to week long tech immersive camp where you code, practice leadership and complete group engineering projects.
NASA Co-Op and Internship: Current Students
Of course I am going to list NASA opportunities I Co-Op at NASA! Everybody in every discipline can contribute to NASA's mission and humanities goals to advance space exploration. There are current education, fashion design, art, engineering, computer science, and biology majors and more!
These are the first nine opportunities that popped into my head and I will share more as the conference progresses.
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