Purdue News
Purdue NewsThe NASA Academy was founded in 1993 to help guide potential future leaders in the space program. The 48 participants, chosen from colleges and universities nationwide, will work on research projects with NASA engineers; have informal, fireside chats with top-level NASA officials, aerospace industry leaders and congressmen; attend lectures and seminars; and tour aerospace companies and NASA research facilities around the country.
Four separate NASA Academies run from about May 31 through Aug. 9, and each has a different focus. Dominick Andrisani, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Purdue, is dean of the academy at Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., which focuses on aeronautics. The other academies are at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., focusing on earth and space science; Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., focusing on transportation and microgravity; and Ames Research Center, near San Francisco, focusing on astrobiology.
"This program provides a unique opportunity for students to learn first-hand about all the elements involved in the aerospace industry, including issues from the private sector, the inner workings of NASA and state-of-the-art research programs," Andrisani said. "They'll be getting a perspective of the industry that very few people ever get."
Chetan Kumar, a Purdue graduate student in mechanical engineering from Granger, Ind. , will attend the NASA Academy at Goddard; Heather Jean Cohea, a Purdue senior in aeronautics and astronautics from Austin, Texas , will attend the academy at Marshall.
Other Indiana students participating are Heath Roettig from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute , attending the Dryden academy; and Christen Struck, from Marion College, Indianapolis , who will attend the Ames academy.
With four participants, Indiana has the most from any state in the country. The Indiana students are funded through the Indiana Space Grant Consortium, a Purdue-based network of Indiana colleges dedicated to enhancing the aerospace industry in Indiana through cooperative programs involving research, education and public service. Each participant receives a $3,000 stipend, plus travel expenses, room and board. NASA funds such a consortium in each state.
"There are 52 space grant consortia, and only 48 academy slots," said Andrisani, who directs the Indiana Space Grant Consortium. "The fact that four students were chosen from Indiana reflects on the high caliber of the students in our state."
Participants are undergraduate or graduate students majoring in a broad range of aerospace-related fields, and they're chosen competitively from a nationwide applicant pool. More information can be found at http://university.gsfc.nasa.gov/SA/academy.html
CONTACT: Andrisani, (765) 494-5135; e-mail, andrisan@ecn.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
