Marty Ozimek...

Hi everyone! My name's Marty Ozimek, and here at the Johnson Space Center, I'm a loooong way away from Penn State University, the land of Joe Paterno and some darn good ice cream where I'm currently a junior majoring in aerospace engineering. How did I get here? How can you get here? And what exactly am I working on here? Well all those questions you wanted to know so badly but were too afraid to ask are all answered below!

I guess I should start from the beginning. You'll find if you read a few of these co-op bios, that we're probably just like all of you, we've wanted to be astronauts since we were able to talk, we find the subject of space and technology fascinating, we want to get our feet into the door as full time NASA employees more than anything, and we all want to wear pocket protectors and quote "Star Trek" lines with monotone voices; everything but the last statement being true of course. At least that's the way I was ever since I set foot in college, always looking for a way to tell the people here at NASA, "Hey I want to work here too!" Well, through the co-op program here, that's exactly what I've been able to do. It hasn't been easy, as I was turned down for an interview two years in a row before being selected, but just don't leave these guys alone until they give you a chance is what I found out. Obviously I was ecstatic to get the call from Bob Musgrove, the co-op recruiter, for an offer, as I was very lucky to be chosen over a bunch of extremely talented Penn Staters that I know.

Now that I'm finally settled in here at NASA, let me tell you a little bit about what I do. I'm currently on my first tour here, and have been placed in the Engineering Directorate with the Pyrotechnics division. Yes, that's right, more or less I get to blow stuff up! Actually there's much more to it than that. Many of the deployments, such as the solid rocket boosters, external tank, drag chute, and escape hatches on the Space Shuttle and X-38 are regulated by controlled explosive events, i.e. pyrotechnics. My work here at Johnson Space Center consists of very hands-on work, including testing of analysis of some actual flight hardware pyros, research of explosive welding devices to be used on future mars missions, and some design and fabrication using Pro Engineer.

As you might be able to tell, co-ops here are treated very much like entry-level employees and the program here is very highly regarded. Chances are you'll find yourself doing very real and pertinent work with the space program. Honestly, not all first rotations always work out the best, as the recruiter tries to place you as best he can, but the advantage of co-op is that the next tours you go on at NASA you get to work any area you'd like to! Not even a full time employee can do something like that.

There's also this little thing here called life outside of work, and little did I know that this part could be even better than the actual work! The co-op program here is organized very well so that everyone has a chance to get to know each other outside of the work place, and basically everyone here hangs out with one another at some point or another. Coming here, you can expect a chance to make the same kind of friendships that you've made through college, something that I've been very pleased with. Whether it's going to work out (yes I'm a protein fiend), going out to a club, the beach, driving to see a shuttle launch, or just staying and watching a movie, you can bet many co-ops here are doing it together.

In honesty, I've already realized in my short time here that being a NASA co-op is one of the best things you could ever do (especially if you're a space nut like myself), and no I'm not getting paid to say any of this. Like I said before I'm one who's been looking to get some sort of foot in the door here at NASA, and this really is the way to do it, more than anything. So keep a look out for a career fair at your school if you're interested. I'd encourage you, if you're like me, to keep browsing the co-op bios, get a feel for what really goes on here from the students themselves, and lastly, contact us! I ended up browsing these bios myself when I was unsure of whether I wanted to make the decision so co-op, and it was big help. I know I'd like to hear a question or comment from anyone, so please don't hold back any concern about the program here. My email here at school is mto110@psu.edu, and at JSC it is mozimek@ems.jsc.nasa.gov, please email both. I hope this was helpful, and I hope to hear from you soon.