You may contact the Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education regarding Travel Grants at travelgrant@nasa-academy.org.
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An April 2008 awardee, Emily Tenenbaum,
is a graduate student in physical chemistry at the University of Arizona.
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Emily, who studies the chemistry of
stars using observational radio astronomy, will present her discovery of
two P-bearing molecules around two different types of stars at the
International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy in June of 2008. The
discovery of P-bearing molecules in circumstellar space is important for
understanding the development of life, as P is a crucial element in the
building blocks of life.
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An April 2008 awardee, Erin Beck,
is a senior in physics at Washington University in St. Louis.
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Erin, the
project manager and mission planning lead of a team of 60 students
designing and building a flight-ready satellite for the Air Force
Research Laboratory's University Nanosatellite competition, will attend
the Small Satellite Systems and Services "4S" Symposium in May 2008. She will not only present her team's progress but will carry out
her responsibilities for the overall meeting as a member of the
meeting's technical committee.
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A 2006 awardee, Madeline Leong,
is a first--year M.D./Ph.D. student at Duke University.
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Madeline enthusiastically wrote about how her experience leading her Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program team redefined her perspectives on medicine and sparked a fascination with space research. She presented [PDF version of Madeline's poster (1.9 Mb PDF)] the results of her team's study on the influence of gravitational stress on immunity at the National MD-PhD Student Conference in July of 2007.
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A 2006 awardee, John Janeski,
is a senior at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
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John participated in the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program where his team demonstrated electrostatic orbits between two charged spheres. John presented [PDF version of John's presentation (7.4 Mb PDF)] the results of their experiment at the American Association of Physics Teachers meeting in January 2007 in hopes of providing physics teachers with a unique and exciting way to teach basic principles of physics in their classrooms.
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A 2005 awardee, Matthew Gadja,
is a second year graduate student in engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Matthew presented a talk on
the design of "A Lunar Volatiles Miner" [PDF version of Matthew's presentation (1.1 Mb PDF)] at the International Conference on
Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments in
Houston, Texas in March of 2006. Matt has a longstanding interest in space and was a high-performing engineering physics major
as an undergrad while lettering as a member of the University of
Wisconsin football team.
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A 2005 awardee, Nicole Jordan,
is a second year graduate student in the Aeronautics and Astronautics/Technology
and Policy program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Nicole presented a
talk on the "Development and Validation of a Multidisciplinary Spacesuit Model" [PDF version of Nicole's presentation (8.4 Mb PDF)] at the 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in
Reno in January of 2006. Nicole has extensive experience in spacesuit research
and an impressive academic record.
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A 2004 awardee, David Harmon,
was a senior double major in computer science and mathematics at Wofford
College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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David attended the Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics: Computation Science and Engineering conference in February of 2005. He presented the work he did as a summer
intern at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
on Maestro, a software package used to control
the Mars Exploration Rovers during surface operations [PDF version of David's poster (3 Mb)]. David's
application was noteworthy for its outstanding letter of support from
his computer science department chair, who also had served as his
professor in numerous courses. Awarding a Travel Grant to David marks
the second year in a row the Soffen Fund was able to provide support to
a student at a small college outside the mainstream of NASA university
activities.
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A 2004 awardee, Amber Straughn,
was a second year graduate student in physics and astronomy at Arizona
State University in Tempe,
Arizona.
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Amber attended the American Astronomical Society's
meeting in January of 2005 to present her research on
characterization of "Tadpole Galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field"
Dataset [PDF version of Amber's poster (4.2
Mb PDF)]. Amber's application stood out not only for its glowing letter
of support from her advisor, but by her enthusiastic essay.
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| The 2003 awardee, Philip A. Ashley,
was a sophomore studying Physical Science at Harding University in Searcy,
Arkansas. |
Philip presented his work on "Measurement of Diatomic Oxygen in the Exhaust Plume of a Mini-Hybrid Rocket"
[PDF version of Philip's poster (463 Kb PDF)]
at the American Chemical Society's 227th National Meeting in Anaheim, California. |
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| The 2002 awardee, Kristen Bethke,
was a senior
studying Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.
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Kristen presented her work on "Revolutionary Concepts for Human Outer Planet Exploration (HOPE)"
[PDF version of Kristen's presentation (3.2 Mb PDF)]
at the Space Technology and Applications International Forum in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 3rd, 2003. Kristen presented slides 14-26 of the presentation. |
