Alan Schwing...
Hey there!
My name is Alan Schwing and I am currently an Aerospace Engineering student at Purdue University. As of now, I am set to graduate in May of 2008, but as anyone here will tell you, graduation dates become very fluid when you make the decision to become a co-op.
Where I'm From
I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and moved to Canton, Ohio when I was
ten. Graduating from Canton Central Catholic High School in May '03,
I continued onto Purdue University. Choosing Purdue wasn't a very difficult
choice for a variety of reasons. Our College of Engineering is highly
ranked and well known, we have a great campus, a myriad of student clubs
and activities, and a strong co-op program.
Me in the pilot's seat in the Shuttle simulator (right); I got to land it.
Or try to at least.
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Getting Here
When I first began looking into colleges I knew that I wanted to be a co-op.
In my mind, the work experience, professional and student connections, and
salary were all well worth the extra time in college (about a year). I mean,
who is in a rush to graduate? College life is great! As I mentioned, Purdue
has a respectable co-op program and I did all that I could to learn about the
interview process my freshman year. When I learned that NASA was one of the
employers coming for interviews, I knew who I needed to impress.
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It turns out that Purdue does
most of the overhead for you as far as interviews go. They give you a
list of all the companies looking for co-op hires and tell you to rank
the top ten that you want to interview with (though you only end up with
about 3 interviews). To make a long story short, Lady Luck was with my
on interview day and the week before Spring Break, Bob Musgrove called
to inform me that he had a job waiting for me. Coincidentally (or not
so much), Spring Break was awesome that year.
Jeff Gutkowski and me at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (left).
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Working at NASA
Working at NASA is a dream come true. Nothing can really compare to the feeling
of satisfaction that comes with working for the same organization that put a
man on the moon and continues to expand our presence in space. I’ve had
three awesome tours here at JSC so far, and am really looking forward to my last
two.
My first tour was in the Electromagnetic Systems Branch (EV4) of the Avionics
Systems Division. My main task was to design and model a sheet metal insert
for our Anechoic Chamber. Using Pro/E (which I had to learn while here), all
of the components needed to be created and assembled. It was a great job; I
love working with CAD. In addition to the insert, there were a variety of side
projects that I worked on, including a new system to track robots and astronauts
using ultra-wide band technology.
My second rotation was in DF83, the Life Support Systems Group, in the Mission
Operations Division. They handle life support processes on the International
Space Station. In addition to learning as much as I could about their systems,
I was in charge of creating schematics detailing systems on Node 2, a module
that will (hopefully) be on orbit soon. One of the most exciting parts of the
job was OJTing, sitting with flight controllers in MCC (Mission Control Center)
or in a sim. I was lucky enough to be able to spend a shift in MCC OJTing for
RTF shortly before the end of my tour.
Currently, I’m working our Applied Aeroscience and CFD Branch, EG3.
It has allowed me to use a lot of the aerospace knowledge that Purdue keeps
feeding me and will certainly give me a head start when I get back to school.
The two major projects I’m working on involve wind tunnel test data reduction
for Space Shuttle Orbiter re-entry heating and CFD work for some wind tunnel
tests concerning the CEV ablative shield.
One of the coolest things about
working here is meeting all of the space legends and incredible people
that work here. Not only do we get to meet and talk to Gene Kranz and
Chris Kraft, but flight directors, astronauts and tons of others come
to speak as well. Then there are the living legends, our co-workers who
are working their hardest and doing their best to support NASA today,
making decisions, saving lives, and still finding time to answer the
myriad of questions we co-ops ask.
JSC co-ops also get the opportunity to tour all of the facilities down
here like the NBL, MCC, training simulators, food labs, and vehicle mock-ups.
We even get to watch Apollo 13 in the Historic MCC! What could be better?
After Hours
Working here is amazing, but living near Houston is great too. I
must admit that I was hesitant at first to move 'down south' and
come to Texas . Since being here, though, I've grown to really like
it. The weather is a little warmer than I'm used to (read: a LOT
warmer) but every once in a while it drops to more bearable temperatures.
There is something to be said about living within driving distance
of the coast and seeing palm trees everywhere, though. All of the
co-ops want to have a good time so there is something going on any
given day of the week. If you feel like going out and doing something,
it's easy to find a group of people to accompany you on any activity. |
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| Gene Kranz and
me; this was a happy moment! |
Co-oping down here at JSC is unbelievable. There is nowhere else I'd rather
be, and I know the other co-ops will tell you the exact same thing. If
you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at amschwin@purdue.edu
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