NAAA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MESSAGE
NAAA WEBSITE UPDATEWHERE ARE THEY NOW? - The 1998 Dryden Academy
NAAA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MESSAGE
Hello NAAA -
Here are the final standings for the NAAA 2000 donation contest, which ended June 15, 2000.
Donations received by region:
Boston $220
DC
$445
Denver $70
Houston $30
LA
$176.96
Misc $50
-------- ======
TOTAL $991.96
Congratulations go to the DC Area for winning this year's contest. The EC has decided to reward this area with $125 towards a DC area get together of their choosing. One member will be chosen to coordinate the event (at this time, this person is still TBD).
In all, 22 Alumni members participated in this years donation drive. We're thrilled with the level of giving!! Thanks to the following people for participating: Warren Brown, Mike Moreau, Charlotte Brown, Arnaldo Leon, Susan Welsh, Jon Sims, Julie Townsend, Amy Snyder, Brian Roberts, Gene Fujii, Laura Burns, Janie Thorpe, Jim Brice, Heather Thomas, Deon Brown, Jennifer Probst, Tyson Harty, Greg Richardson, Rich Sturmfels, Srimal Wangu, Jim Chase, and Mindy Delaney.
As a final note to everyone - we were able to raise more money this year than was raised in 1998 or 1999. Our founding year, 1997, is still in the lead for the highest member donations, at $1315.
Hope you all are enjoying your summer!
Mindy Delaney,
Vice President, Finance
This year, we are hoping to organize an initiation ceremony for each
of the three academies. We are considering giving out a packet of
info (maybe just a handout), a small gift, a certificate?, etc...
during a semi-official ceremony. All of this is under construction,
review, etc... And so your input is appreciated.... send email to
mdelany@mit.edu
:)
Good News! We have possibly found someone... Or, at least, she
expressed enough interest to make her the most likely candidate.
The annual event will take place in the Sept. to Nov. time frame, hopefully
in the LA area. More information should be coming soon! And
3 cheers for the unnamed volunteer!
Alumni and current RA's,
The first day of summer is here (at last!). The NAAA website is currently being updated & reorganized (http://www.nasa-academy.org/). Current RA's, a formal introduction to the NA Alumni Association will be presented to you this summer, but the Alumni database can be a great resource for any questions (on group projects, or anything in general...), just click on 'Information on Alumni' or use the 'Electronic Phonebook'. Alumni, please ensure that your information is correct and up-to-date, in particular:
Thanks, and have a great summer!!
Elisa Quintana
GSFC '97
NAAA MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
by Mike Moreau, GSFC 94',`95
moreau@colorado.edu
Hopefully by now many of you have checked out some of the recent additions to the NAAA webpages, including some of the "quick reference" information on the Alumni at: http://www.nasa-academy.org/alumni/
This data was compiled not only for the use of the NAAA members, but also so we can have a place to point outside parties such as space grants, NASA personel, etc. in order to show "who we are."
Immediately after this data was posted, we started receiving some comments regarding the accuracy (some entries were noticably out of date). This is true, because our information is only as good as what YOU provide us. Please remember you can make changes to your contact information, current employer, current research interests or work areas, etc. at any time by using the membership form, linked from the main NAAA webpage. These "quick reference" lists will be periodically updated from the database to reflect any changes you make.
While we are on the topic, I would like to solicite some help from the
alumni over the next several months to plan for future improvements to
our current database and online membership information. If you have
any experience with available database programs, and/or would be interested
in working with me to make improvements to (and automate) our current system,
please drop me a line at membership@nasa-academy.org.
Look for more on this topic in the near
future...
THE 2000 AMES ACADEMY BEGINS
by Joe Tamer, ARC '97, '98, '99, '00
j_tamer@yahoo.com
The Ames Academy started off with another fantastic BBQ hosted by Doug O'Handely and the "O'Handley Hilton". The RA's visited with alumni, staff, and friends of the Academy while eating heartily and enjoying the Olympic size jacuzzi.
They have successfully navigated the orientation and safety training sessions as well as found great comradery in dealing with the now infamous Team Building Exercise.
On the radar screen for the next few weeks are trips to San Francisco
for sightseeing, the Truckee River for Team Building, and the Fourth of
July. We also will host speakers at the Stanford residence and Ames
including Mike Sims (6/21), Jeff Moore (6/22), Emily Holton (6/26), Dave
Des Merais (6/27), Ken Souza (6/28), and Mark Kliss (6/29).
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? - The 1998
Goddard Academy
Name: Emily Eelkema
Email: emilyeelkema@yahoo.com
or emilye@jpl.nasa.gov
Homepage: www.aem.umn.edu/people/students/eelk0002
(severely out of date)
Current contact info: (work phone) 818-354-6573, (home phone)
626-449-8758
Work company or school: Jet Propulsion Laboratory & University
of Southern California
Work title and/or major and degree sought: Systems Engineer;
Astronautics and Space Technology
Major work/school project(s): MUSES CN (nanorover, to be launched
to an asteroid in May 02)
Discussion (2-3 paragraphs, can be personal and/or work-related):
I've been working at JPL for exactly 10 months now.
When I first got here, I was working in DNP, the re-engineering effort
at JPL. My team was working on a better way to define requirements.
I've also done some work integrating simulation software, and just finished
some proposal work for a Solar-Electric Propulsion Mars Sample Return.
I just started working on MUSES CN, which is a tiny
rover for an asteroid (Japan is building the main spacecraft).
I'm really looking forward to learning more about systems engineering
and playing with hardware :)
I'm also working on a Masters degree part time at
USC.
In my free time, I'm busy discovering all the things
that the LA area has to offer. Some common things for me
to do are: dancing in Hollywood (Clockwork Orange is my favorite club),
hiking in the mountains, and playing roller- hockey at Caltech. Recently,
I've spent some time at the beach, checked out Griffith Park Observatory,
and one
weekend I romped around the Rennaisannce Faire in Riverside.
Yep, LA is a pretty fun place, once you get over the smog. If any
of you are ever in town, feel free to give me a call!
Name: Justin Garr
Email: garrjs@navair.navy.mil
Current contact info: 4016 Seagate Sq, Chesapeake Beach, MD 20732;
301.757.2902 (w), 410.286.0682 (h)
Work company or school: Department of Defense: Naval Air Warfare
Center, Aircraft Division
Major work/school project(s): I am a Flight Test Engineer assigned
to the NP2000 program, which is a new propeller for the E-2C Hawkeye.
Discussion (2-3 paragraphs, can be personal and/or work-related):
Yeah, I passed up Dryden for Pax River. It's
nice to be on the east coast, though I do miss watching the sunrise over
the mountains. Pax is a dynamic place, however - great for an airplane
guy like me. I am right in the middle of an active flight test program
and I have been tasked with many smaller sub-projects, so stuff is moving
very quickly. First flight of the system is only two months away
- keep an eye out in Aviation Week, we'll be there!
For the long term, it looks like I'll be staying
here as a GS-Type. I will hopefully get to attend the U.S. Naval
Test Pilot School here at Pax in a year or two, work on my MS at UMD and
then a few years up the road I'll shoot out that first application to the
astronaut corps. I also have the opportunity to fly for the Air Force
Reserve right nearby at Andrews AFB, so I might be taking some time off
to go to JSUPT (pilot training).
Other than that, Jen (my wife) is teaching for the
Peabody Conservatory and I am spending my time flying, fencing and tinkering
with the music gear. I try to read a bit, but as you can see, I am
a bit busy. So things are going very well (you already know that
if you knew me). If you didn't know me, now you do.
Good luck all, feel free to drop a line.
Name: Aaron Jacobovits
Email: aaronjj@stanford.edu
Current contact info: 240-461-8378 (everywhere)
School: Stanford University
Major and degree sought: Master of Science in Aeronautics and
Astronautics
Major school project(s): Autonomous GPS navigation for micro
air vehicle
Discussion:
Hi everybody. I guess this discussion is mostly
for people who weren't in DFRC 98, we were such a small group and I'm pretty
sure we all know what we've been up to...
After the Academy I went back to U Michigan and
did my last year of undergrad (Aerospace engr). I was involved in
another KC-135 project although I didn't go fly that time (let the others
have some fun too). I managed to get myself invited to the launch
of STS-88, the first ISS shuttle flight where they delivered Node 1.
Since my friends had a GAS
on-board we got the red carpet treatment, it was really cool.
And then amidst various class projects I finally graduated.
During summer 99 I was an intern at GE Aircraft
Engines in Cincinnati, which was actually a really cool job and a fun time
with the other interns. I did a lot of work on advanced control systems
for jet engines.
Then in the fall I showed up at Stanford for grad
school. I also managed to get an RA working on a GPS navigation system
for MIT's micro air vehicle (6 inches, MEMS turbine propulsion, WAY cool).
Stanford Aero/Astro department is a huge learning experience. It
is an incredibly huge amount of work but lots of fun too. Stanford
is ground zero of the silicon valley dot.com explosion. A large fraction
of the people I meet are involved in start-ups and there are all sorts
of entrepreneurship things going on all the time. I caught the bug
pretty quick...
... So I took an internship at AeroAstro, which
is pretty close to being an aerospace startup. I'm at their Boston
office trying my hand at Business Development this summer. Send me
an email if anybody wants to hang out in Boston.
Ames 1999 Academy… you're up next! Please send me your entry in a timely manner!
Name:
Email:
Homepage:
Current contact info:
Work company or school:
Work title and/or major and degree sought:
Major work/school project(s):
Discussion (2-3 paragraphs, can be personal and/or work-related):
Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
Newsletter Editor: Erin Robinson erobinson@mail.arc.nasa.gov
The Executive Committee: ec@nasa-academy.org
Jim Chase, President president@nasa-academy.org
Srimal Wangu, Vice-president
of Operations vp-ops@nasa.academy.org
Mindy Delaney, Vice-president
of Finance vp-finance@nasa.academy.org