National Space Club Scholars Program:
Scholars Page

This page provides details of the most recent Scholars Program class, including the names and school affiliations of the student interns at both the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Wallops Flight Facility. In addition, items of interest concerning the Club's Youth Education activities in general and those involving past NSC Scholars, will be posted under the section heading NSC Scholars News immediately below.

Annual Youth Education Luncheon

The Annual Youth Education Luncheon took place at the Goddard Employees Welfare Association's "Barney and Bea Recreation Center", NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, on Tuesday, August 4, 2009. This event takes place each year near the conclusion of the six-week internship of the NSC Scholars Program, and provides the opportunity for the students, their families and their mentors to mingle and share stories of the experience, and for the National Space Club to honor the achievements of these talented young people. In addition, the winners of the regional Science Fairs, judged by officers and friends of the National Space Club, are included in this celebration of the Club's activities in youth education in support of science and engineering.

A short program followed lunch, introduced by Robert D. Strain, Director, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, provided the Welcome comments. Program Coordinator Diane Cockrell then introduced the three student speakers, Atif Javed, Xavier Palathingal, and Matthew Marcus who offered their views of "The Internship Experience", reproduced below. Diane Cockrell then awarded Certificates of Achievement to the 2009 Scholars, signifying the conclusion of their summer experience.

Stephen G. Moran, the National Space Club's Youth Education Chairman, next presented certificates to the regional Science Fair winners. He also recognized the many officers and friends of the Space Club who had judged the Science Fair competitions, with the following six winners, two of whom were at the luncheon to receive their certificates.

   Varun Bansal, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology
   Ben Carleton, Stuart Hobson Middle School
   Christopher Gerlach, George Washington Middle School
   Molly Grossman, Sherwood High School
   Emily Romani, Eleanor Roosevelt High School
   Patrick Wilshere, Stonewall Jackson High School

Closing remarks were made by Dr. Daniel A. Kreiger, from the Center Director's Office for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the program was concluded by Diane Cockrell.

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Atif Javed offered these comments on his internship experience:

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My name is Atif Javed and today I would like to talk to you about my experience as a summer intern here at the Goddard Space Flight Center over the past 6 weeks. This was my first internship at NASA, and as a matter of fact, this was really my first job ever. On my first day, I remember having high expectations for the world-renowned government agency that has done so much not just for the scientific community, but for truly every aspect of our lives. Yet at times I remember thinking, “alright Atif, don’t get your hopes too high, you’re only 16 and after all they’re probably gonna treat you like a kid”. But I must say, every single expectation I had of Goddard has been exceeded from each and every place to each and every person. I was challenged in my endeavors and prompted to be self-reliable and self-sufficient in my work. There’s actual freedom to move here, freedom to broaden your own horizons, and the chance to actually use what you’ve learned towards a real-life problem, a completely different environment to high school life.

"So if I may, let me begin with the work that I did. The project that my mentor is working on is called TIRS - thermal infrared sensor. It is set to be a part of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission and is currently in the critical design phase. For the first 3 weeks of my internship, I coded a program that organizes data outputted from Pro/E clearly and efficiently to be used for meetings, submitting data, presentations, and later for testing purposes. During the first week, I spent a great deal of my time in the Learning Center figuring out actually how to program in Visual Basic. After finishing my project early, I decided to make good use of my time and took 2 more courses in the Learning Center becoming more and more familiar with software like AutoCAD ’09, Dreamweaver CS3, and Flash CS3. I’ve also become proficient with Pro/E thanks to Eduardo Rodriguez and Synthia Tonn and built several practice parts and assemblies.

"One of the biggest things I gained from this experience was career exploration. This past year I took a computer science course and I was wondering if I could do this for my career. I found out that programming, though challenging, isn’t really where my passion lies, but I love to design and build and that’s what I hope to work towards. In addition, both Eduardo and my mentor, Synthia, have taught me a tremendous amount about mechanical engineering. I am fully certain that the skills I have gained here will be extremely beneficial to me in the future, hopefully in building a career in the field. Yes Eduardo, I finally said it, I want to be a mechanical engineer now.

" Not only will I remember the work that I’ve committed to and the amazing people I’ve worked with, there is NO way I can forget the things that all of the interns did together. Whether it was the rivalry soccer matches between HIP and NSC AFTER WORK that is (don’t worry Mrs. Cockrell) or the trips to nearly every fast food restaurant within a 10-mile radius or “showing each other our projects”. And then who could forget the outstanding effort put in by all of the presenters during the numerous seminars. I would like to personally applaud their efforts for teaching us so much in such an entertaining way and thank Mrs. Cockrell and Ms. McClain for organizing them. Finally, I would like to thank Ken Segal, Jim Loughlin, and Eduardo for all of their help throughout my time here and give a super-special thanks to Synthia for being such an awesome mentor. Thank you."

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Xavier Palathingal's remarks are provided here:

"Hello. My name is Xavier Palathingal, and this is my first year with the National Space Club Scholars program. I am a rising junior at McLean High School, in McLean, VA. At the beginning of this year, when I discovered the NSCS program, I really wanted to get in. NASA is somewhere where I would love to work for my entire life, because I love the feeling that I am contributing to the efforts in space exploration, actively helping to discover new scientific knowledge and find out more about the universe in which we live. I was thrilled when I discovered that I had been accepted, and that too in the position that I really wanted to get into. This program has really changed my perceptions about many professions and specializations, and has been a priceless experience.

"The first day of the internship, I was nervous, as this was my first time ever interning or working anywhere, other than helping my dad with some busy work for some pocket money. However, after orientation, I discovered that my mentor and co-workers were all extremely friendly, and helped me to settle in quickly. My primary mentor, John Kim, was very helpful, and was clear in telling me what he wanted me to do, as well as giving me challenging work to complete. I found out that I would be working on a program called SIMSS, which is short for Scalable Integrated Multi-Mission Support System. For the past 4 weeks, I have been working with Kenrick Rilee, who worked as an NSC Scholar last year. Our job was to improve the core application, written in java, in order to make it easier and faster to use. The purpose of the program was to run various simulations on a wide variety of applications, using different modules with different functions. Our accomplishments so far include the provision of command line access to various functions thereby avoiding input using the mouse, and expediting the manipulation of modules by providing suggestions to users of the program in an interactive fashion. By improving the command line access, the program allows users to write scripts for easy manipulation of the modules. We are also beginning to work on a function to have the server be able to retain the module information even after the client is closed, allowing the users to manipulate these modules from different clients at various locations. I am really excited to be working on this project. When I got accepted, I never thought that I would be able to work on something that would really be important, and was pleased to find the work really challenging and intellectually stimulating.

"Before I came to Goddard, I was almost certain that I would go for a computer science major in college, as that was what I was mainly interested in. I had a slight interest in becoming a surgeon, but would have probably stuck with computer science. Though I love programming, after working here, and listening to so many different people talk about their professions, I have really broadened my interests. Now I am considering pursuing a career in astrophysics or particle physics, or maybe even mechanical engineering. This program has also dispelled many false perceptions I had about having a career as a scientist, engineer, or a programmer. I was under the impression that these professions, though appealing, probably consisted of very dreary and monotonous work. On the contrary, after 6 weeks of working here at NASA, I have discovered that such professions are very interesting, as well as mentally scintillating.

"I would like to thank my mentors John Kim and Youn Bae, first for accepting me as their intern, giving me challenging work to do and helping me have a wonderful experience during my 6 weeks here at NASA. I would also like to thank Kenrick Rilee and Dan for all their help & support. Ms. Diane Cockrell has done a wonderful job of organizing this program. Over the course of these 6 weeks, she set up many different seminars and events for the interns to attend, hosted by the experts here at the Goddard Space Center. She has been totally committed and very dedicated from the application process itself, in answering all our questions and helping us having the best experience in this program. Every time I sign on to gmail to check my mail, there are at least one or two emails from her, regarding additional valuable information and opportunities for us. Thank you, Ms. Cockrell for all your support. Finally, I thank NASA management and staff for setting up this program for us interns. This is a great service indeed.

"I have learned a lot this summer, and I am really glad that I made this choice. I am aware that the time has come for us to start thinking of summer as more of a time to get some real time experience than just to relax and vacation. I am almost certain that this is one of the best programs that is available in this area, and I very delighted I was able to be part of it. I sincerely hope that I can return next year, either to continue the work that I started in these 6 weeks, or to work on some other challenging project, to gain more insightful experience.
Thank you very much."

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Matthew Marcus's remarks are provided here:

"Good afternoon. My name is Matthew Marcus. I am a rising freshman at the Clark School of Engineering, Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland College Park. I have been a National Space Club Scholar for the past three years, and can honestly say it is one of the best summer programs I have ever been in. I have been interested (those who know me would more likely describe this “interest” as “passionate”) in engineering, the NASA from a very young age. My first experience was the Young Astronaut Program in Oklahoma City, which I participated in from the age of three or four until I was eight when my family moved to Maryland. The best thing about our move to Maryland was that it meant I could visit Goddard – I had already visited Goddard prior to our move from Oklahoma through tours arranged by Gail Williams, a close family friend. During one of my several tours and trips to Goddard, I discovered that Goddard had annual summer internships for high school students. I was thrilled, but unfortunately I was not old enough to be eligible for the program.

"I submitted my application for the National Space Club Scholars Program as soon as I was eligible. When I received the letter from Ms. Cockrell that I had been accepted into the program I was ecstatic! This was a dream come true for me – I was going to work at NASA!! In addition, I couldn’t believe that I was also going to receive a stipend of $1000. Little did they know, but I would have paid the National Space Club for this “opportunity.” And what an opportunity it was, during my first year as a scholar, I worked with Tom Devlin on the Aquarius satellite mission to measure the sea surface salinity of the oceans allowing scientists to analyze for the first time the salinity of the world’s oceans, and the impact of global warming on this critical measure of the ocean’s (and the planet’s) environmental health. I developed and presented a LabVIEW program to perform the functional test of the Aquarius Radiometer. My work also included many other tasks required for this project. The Aquarius satellite mission is slated to launch next year. I learned a great deal from this experience and not all of it was about the “engineering” or “scientific” work that I was doing. In fact, I learned about working with a multidisciplinary team, networking and being a part of an organization doing cutting edge science and research.

"My most recent internship is actually a continuation of one that I began this past fall as part of an internship at Goddard through my high school. Obtaining this internship was no easy task as my small private high school had not participated in such a program and it meant developing a “new” program at my school that met the strict requirement of NASA’s prestigious program for high school students. I was fortunate to have the invaluable assistance of Ms. Bonnie McClain here at Goddard who worked with me and the counselor at my high school and Mr. Pat Kilroy, my current mentor and my mentor for the internship that I did during my senior year of high school.

"Most importantly, my experience as a National Space Club Scholar over the past three years has taught me a great deal, even more than engineering and science, as I alluded to earlier. The opportunity to work here at NASA Goddard is tremendous. Those of us who have been selected for this program have been able to meet and work with world renown scientists doing cutting edge research and design with regard to the space program, attend various colloquia and seminars offered as a matter of course here at Goddard, participate in workshops set up specifically for our program, and to meet other students who share a passion for science and engineering. I have also learned how important it is to have diverse research team and a multidisciplinary approach, all staples here at NASA. The diversity of such a research team enables it to surpass the limits and boundaries that may exist in a single discipline. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

"Most importantly, I have enjoyed immensely the opportunity to meet and work with the many talented and interesting people at Goddard. Through my work here last year I learned of Dr. Laurie Leshin and arranged for her to give the keynote address to my high school graduating class. Her inspiring words will continue to have meaning for me as I pursue my degree in Aerospace Engineering.

"Finally, I would like to thank the people who make this program possible: the National Space Club for funding this program and “investing” in the future scientists and engineers, The Education Office here at Goddard – Dr. Gabrys, Ms.McClain, Mrs. Cockrell who makes this program run flawlessly and whose efforts seem superhuman at times, Mr. Tom Devlin and Mr. Patrick Kilroy who have served as my mentors through this program, and to all of the other mentors – all of you give so generously of your time and effort to make this program possible and by doing so you help to ensure not only NASA’s future, but that of science and engineering in the USA. I would also like to thank my parents and those of the other students who have supported and encouraged us to follow our dreams and for helping us to build a strong foundation in order to support those dreams, and last but certainly not least my brother Mitchell."

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Notes from a former NSC Scholar

Patrick Bass was a two-year member of the NSC Scholars classes of 1999 and 2000, working with Chuck Hanchak in 1999, and with Dr. Eugene Waluschka in 2000. Patrick recently sent the following email note to Chuck Hanchak, and it indicates the significance that the program can have on the course of a young person's life.

"Hello, I'm hoping you remember me from a while back, my name is Patrick Bass and I used to intern for you through the National Space Club Scholars. I just wanted to say thank you for giving me the opportunity, those many years ago, to learn some of what goes on at NASA. I am about to graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a bachelors in aerospace engineering and a lot of what has gotten me here is because of what I learned from you. I will be commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the USAF upon graduation and be a Communications and Information officer. Though I did not receive an engineering job in the Air Force, I do plan on pursuing my masters in aerospace engineering at Auburn university and hope to start a career in this field after I have served my time in the military. I am looking forward to my future and I owe a great deal of thanks for getting me here from the opportunities that I had from working with you. Thank you again and I hope to stay in touch. Sincerely, Patrick Bass"

Patrick graduated in May 2005 and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force. He sent the following additional comments when asked for permission to post his remarks on this web site: "As for the Space Club program, I think it is a great opportunity for students to get involved in science and learn about the kind of great things they can get into when they get older. It is a very good stepping stone into the real world of science and engineering. I had the privelage to be an intern in this program for two summers. ...I had a great time being a Space Club Scholar and would love to do it again."

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The 2009 National Space Club Scholars Program at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD and NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA ran from June 29 through August 7.

The 2009 NSC Scholars and their schools are listed below, and for those who have graduated, their college or university.

Asif U. Ahmed, Paint Branch H.S./UMCP
Ian Amatetti, Quince Orchard H.S.
Krystal D. Arroyo-Flores, Parkside H.S./MIT
Nirshiee Arumugam, Marriotts Ridge H.S.
Lauren E. Bittle, Notre Dame Preparatory School/UMCP
Christopher P. Bodine, Montgomery Blair H.S./Darmouth College
Lindsey Buck, Wicomico H.S./UMES
Justin Chalfant, Arcadia H.S./ECPI
Johnathan Franck, Loyola Blakefield
Atif Javed, Fairfax H.S.
Abdus Khan, Battlefield H.S.
Ravi Kumar, Eleanor Roosevelt H.S.
Steven Larrick, Walter Johnson H.S.
Zachary Larsen, Home schooled
Gabrielle Laxamana, Eleanor Roosevelt H.S.
Seonwoo Lee, Thomas S. Wootton H.S./Cornell University
Kyle Lewis, Salisbury School
Matthew L. Marcus, Shoshana S. Cardin/UMCP
Michael Metzler, Bethesda-Chevy Chase H.S.
Allan Nicholas, Hammond H.S.
Xavier Palathingal, McLean H.S.
James Pinkerton, Montgomery Blair H.S.
Tammy Prungthunyapluek James H. Blake H.S.
Samantha Seitz, Seton Keough H.S.
Cody Whitelock, James M. Bennett
Rebecca Winkert, Winston Churchill H.S.
James Wonsever, Glen Burnie H.S.
Thomas Wyderko, Walter Johnson H.S.
Joseph E. Yan, Col. Zadok Magruder H.S./UMCP


2009 Scholars' Comments

Selected comments on the program from the 2009 Scholars class will be posted here as soon as they are available following wrap-up of the program for the year.

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