Eric Walker

Fall 2006

International Space Station Procurement Office

Wanting to get a jump start on life out of high school, becoming a co-op offered all of the opportunities. Having the goal of landing a great co-op job really helped motivate me at college. I applied to 8 different employers in industry and government as part of the Georgia Tech co-op program. NASA was a top choice, and when they offered me a position over the phone, I thought about it for about five or six seconds and accepted. I have had a unique and inspiring journey to Houston and have benefited from every part of it.

The Job

The first item that I was taught during the first week of work was what my role would be in the International Space Station Procurement Office. I would perform the tasks typical of a contract specialist, someone who supports a contracting officer. Contracting officers negotiate and form contracts for NASA, and are the only officers who may obligate money for the government. (They can go to jail if they obligate money that the Government does not have!) I performed contract administration work behind the scenes, such as options and extensions and payments of milestones, etc., while at the same time began learning the procurement process.

Sy Liebergot signs his book for Eric Walker in the Apollo Mission Control Room

One example of a contract that I was able to work on was the Russian Space Agency Contract. This contract includes agreements between NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency. For example, under this contract NASA pays for US up-mass cargo and down-mass disposal on Russian space craft that visit the Space Station. The international business environment was an exciting aspect and was what I had hoped for. Maybe the idea of a college student working on large contracts and in some cases representing NASA might seem odd, but is explained by the fact that everything I did as a co-op was verified by at least two other full time employees. At the same time, though, co-ops aren’t just practicing, we do real, necessary work for NASA!

Apart from the main definition of my position, I was involved in experiences which made my time here unique. This was most certainly true for the other co-ops here as well. Once, I corrected the balance (by finding all the mistakes) of a three year old electronic file containing all the invoices paid for a contract. Does this sound exciting? Maybe not, but my mentor couldn’t have been more elated that I fixed it for her! Also, having a desk downstairs from the astronaut office, I saw astronauts in the hallways and in elevators often. Sometimes this motivated me, knowing that the few people in human history to be in space were working just upstairs!

Co-op fun

Another NASA related perk is that co-ops get to see many famous and influential people and tour exclusive sites! John Young, an Apollo astronaut who has walked on the moon, likes to give a talk to the co-ops every semester. Gene Kranz and Christopher Kraft, Mission Control flight directors from that time, do the same. Also, more recent astronauts give lectures and happily answer questions for co-ops. Even some civil servants who have simply had a long career with NASA speak to co-ops. In addition, co-ops get to tour the many incredible sites here at Johnson Space Center including, of course, Mission Control.

Teaching Origami

After work, co-ops hang out together, which is part of what makes the whole program so successful. There is a welcome process organized by co-ops which is meant to make the transition here easy. I was involved in co-op outdoor soccer, indoor soccer, and softball, and went to the weekly off-site Friday lunches we had together. Co-ops also have lunch on all the other weekdays on site, and someone is always there. Other outside work activities including seeing shows downtown, going to the beach, having cookouts, and simply hanging out. Since there are so many co-ops, there is always someone with similar interests that you can meet.

Although many co-ops have been super space enthusiasts for their whole lives, I have not always lived to work for space exploration. Nonetheless, making the decision to work for NASA was easy because the co-op program offers so much. As I originally hoped when first applying to the co-op program at Georgia Tech, being a co-op has given me truly incredible opportunities and has taught me what I wished to learn. I have benefited from every part of my time as a co-op.

If you have any questions my contact e-mail is: Eric.Walker (at) gatech.edu

The (at) instead of @ is to prevent spam programs.