Brian Banker...
Who I am and how I got here
My name is Brian Banker and I'm a junior in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University. I grew up in Ames, Iowa, which lead to an exciting five minute trip to college, though it has its finer qualities such as fridge raids during finals week.
To make a long story short, I never considered NASA something I could actually do. I liked math and science, and was interested in space but I never thought I was smart enough to actually work for NASA; however, this started to change around my senior year in high school, when I decided to give Aerospace a try. As I proceeded deeper into my aerospace curriculum, I began to notice that I was as smart as many others who went on to work for NASA.
So, when Bob Musgrove came to our Engineers' Week career fair my sophomore year, I thought I'd go talk to him. I got an interview; however, unfortunately, I didn't make it. Instead, I found a summer internship with Boeing in Houston. I worked that summer and had a blast, but something was missing. I'll get to this a little later.
When I returned to school the following fall, I sat down and examined what others who were working for NASA were doing that I wasn't, and then I made those changes in my lifestyle. For me, this meant getting more involved at school, and preparing myself better mentally for the interview. I knew I had the right skills to be successful, but I needed to show the recruiters that I had the right skills. After a long hard semester, I once again met with Bob at the career fair, earned a second interview and this time with proper preparation, I earned a co-op spot.
I know this part of my spiel was long, but bear with me one more paragraph . The moral of my story is the following: If you want to work at JSC and don't get in the first time. DON'T GIVE UP, KEEP TRYING! I've had interviews with many different aerospace companies, and NASA's was by far the toughest. NASA is looking for people who want to start their career here, not just co-op, so if you keep coming back, they will realize that you mean business. You don't have to be a genius, I'm not, what you do have to have is the will to never give up, even when things don't go your way the first time.
Why I like working for NASA
Don't get me wrong, all of NASA's contractors are great companies who love the space program every bit as much as NASA does; however, in my experience with Boeing, I got the feeling that a contractors main goal was to focus on their piece of the pie. Many contractors promote specializing in one aspect of the project and eventually working in this area. I still don't know what I want the focus of my studies to be, so I was tentative to focus in so quickly. In addition, I love trying new things and want to experience every aspect engineering has to offer. NASA actively promotes moving around both as a co-op and as a full-time employee. This means the first tour you could be working structures for the Space Station, and three short months later, you're working on re-entry dynamics for the Space Shuttle!
Finally, I enjoy NASA because of its exciting leadership opportunities. I've found when one works for NASA, leadership is expected of them. NASA employees define the future of the program, leading the way for the nation. At JSC there are seven contractors for every civil servant (NASA employee). We can not do all the work ourselves. Instead we must motivate others to do great work with us. If this isn't the definition of leadership, I don't know what is.
The Work
First Tour
Alright, enough about how I got here, let's get to the fun stuff, what I do here. Like many other Iowa Staters, I started work here in the structures division as part of the materials manufacturing and processing branch. My job involved working on Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) about 80% of the time with a splash of Carbon Nanotube technology (20% of the time).
NDE is a method of inspecting a material to find damage, inhomogeneities, corrosion and basically anything one wouldn't want in their material. In principle one form on energy, be it mechanical, thermal, optical, or nuclear energy is put into the part. The trick is observing how the energy comes out of the part, and then relating this to the physical state of the part. I had the chance to help out with RCC (Reinforced Carbon-Carbon) inspection and repair inspections as well as the development of an infrared camera used to inspect shuttle tiles during STS 121.
My work with CNT (Carbon Nanotubes) consisted primarily of characterization. CNT technology is so new, that a baseline from which to compare different nanotubes hasn't been produced. I ran several tests on samples to determine their physical properties in order to tell if the production method, though cheaper, produced high-quality samples. I also worked a little on the applications side of the team where I investigated the current state of technology for transparent EMI shields. The idea is to use nanotubes to produce better transparent shields for use on Station LCD monitors, which are currently breaking station EMI regulations. If you have any other questions about nanotechnology at JSC, check out the following website.
http://mmptdpublic.jsc.nasa.gov/jscnano/
Second Tour
For my second tour at JSC, I had the opportunity to work on a project which most full-time engineers don't get. I worked on a program called Constellation. If you're unfamiliar with current space affairs, Constellation is the name of the new program which will replace the shuttle taking us back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. Pretty catchy, eh? I worked in the CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle) cockpit rapid prototyping team working on an Electrical Power System simulator to drive display screens being developed for the CEV. It was a great experience seeing how a project as big and important as the CEV is designed and developed. The cockpit is being designed and developed by current astronauts, so I got to interact with astronauts to boot.
To conclude, you just can't find work like this anywhere else but JSC. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to work here. While many people are still thinking about what they want to do with their life, let alone making it happen by finding their dream job, I have already found mine and am pursuing it all at the age of 21! Nobody allows people my age to live out their dreams like NASA does.
Time away from work
Reading through other co-ops' profiles, everyone says about the same thing, "Great people, great culture, great activities and finally, IT'S FUN!" I agree. Enough said.
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At Ellington Air Force Base |
Having fun on our Buddy Jon Abary’s Boat. I’m
the one with the Braves cap on. |
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