My Story
I was first introduced to aerospace engineering though the Cities in Space competition, and then found that I had fallen in love with the idea of designing rockets and habitats for space travel. I have run a few engineering programs for upper elementary school students before, and my school has us take leadership roles for the younger girls there. I am passionate about aerospace engineering, and I try to make my activities fun and hands-on.
My Project
I plan to buy Kerbal Space Program, put the copies on thumb drives to take to school locations, and get them set up before the activity starts. During the activity, I will start by gathering the girls and giving them a brief explanation of how space programs work, from designing rockets to planning trajectories to mission control. Then I will place them in groups based on which Kerbal setting they want to use: Sandbox (pure design using aerodynamically accurate pieces of historical rockets), Science (running scientific experiments in space to unlock new technology), and Career (overseeing all aspects of a space program, including construction, funding, upgrades and more). Each group will run their own independent program. I will be circulating to assist and explain. At the end, we will all come together to tell what each group did, what were the challenges, how they overcame them, and what they learned.
My Interview
Check out my interview with NAE Member Dr. Claire Parkinson where she reflected on her career and I asked her about the work she does for NASA.