Ian Douglas

Hi everyone, my name is Ian Douglas, and I’m an aero from the University of Washington. I’m originally from New York City…why my parents decided to move over 3000 miles away to Seattle, Ill never know.

How I got here

Like I said before, I’m working towards my degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington (the real UW… Wisconsin who?) Ever since I came to college, I tried to be as involved in the aero department as much as possible. I did this by taking up a job at the wind tunnel on campus, and participating in research. Actually getting the co-op position was quite a surprise. In the fall of my junior year, I wandered through one of the giant engineering career fairs looking for a summer internship (being from Seattle, most everyone in our department goes to work for Boeing, which is what I assumed I would be doing). I passed by the NASA tent, and the world famous Anne Roemer persuaded me to look into the co-op program. Being a student from the quarter system, we never heard of this “co-op” phenomenon. Needless to say, she convinced me that delaying my graduation would be the best choice of my college career

Inside the Super Guppy

You could say that I was a late bloomer coming into the co-op program, as I didn’t start my first tour until I had completed my junior year in school. A lot of co-ops start their tours earlier in their education, but I am proof that you can still survive as a new old guy.

The Job Itself

My first tour, I was placed in the Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Division, where I was assigned to the trajectory analysis group. Essentially, the group I was working in was in charge of designing the trajectory for the CEV (Orion). I would help my mentor in all phases of his work in calculating, analyzing, and presenting the results to upper management.

In my current tour, I am stationed up at Ellington field, which is the airfield a few miles north of the actual JSC main site. Ellington is the airfield where the T-38 astronaut trainer jets, Shuttle training aircraft (STA), Guppy, WB-57 high altitude shuttle chase plane, C-9 (former Vomit Comet), the Texas National Guard, and many more aircraft are based. The nice thing about working here at Ellington is that you get the chance to take lead on a project and work though it. For example, I’ve been taking over work on redesigning the pitot-static system on the T-38s. This summer, we’re entering the flight test phase, so I will be designing and leading the flight test operations. A pretty cool job!

NASA nerds can’t be social, can they?

A group of us by the space shuttle main engine display at the X-Prize cup in Las Cruces, New Meixico

That was my first though when originally coming down here. Coming from a rather lively social scene back home, I was a little nervous that I would spend the evenings driving through the city moving large bovine, or heading to the gun show (which they actually do have here in Houston). I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised in that the co-op social scene after work was pretty well setup. It’s always possible to find activities to do, from sports (softball, soccer, flag football, volleyball, etc) to the spontaneous camping trips and bbqs.

Now what?

After graduation, many co-ops stick around here at JSC, and others decide to move on. Overall, Co-oping here at JSC has given me an invaluable experience that I can apply in a work setting wherever I end up. I would highly recommend this program for anyone who feels they would like to make a difference in the aerospace industry. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me at idouglas@u.washington.edu or ian.c.douglas@nasa.gov. Go Dawgs!