Employee volunteers inspire the next generation of space visionaries Brenda Isaza, a Boeing structural design engineer at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spends much of her free time introducing young students to careers in space and mentoring older students who are looking ahead to getting engineering degrees. “I tell them that they are entering a very exciting time for human space exploration,” she said. “Space is becoming commercialized and there are going to be more and more opportunities to get involved. And some from their generation will be exploring places beyond Earth, including Mars.” This next generation of space explorers will be working in a very different environ- ment than today’s astronauts and aerospace engineers. NASA is shifting its focus to missions beyond Earth orbit, which ultimately could include trips to Mars. Earth orbit will become a new frontier for private enterprise. As a member of the Society of Women Engineers, Isaza gives presentations on rocketry to elementary school students at the society’s semiannual Introducing Girls to Engineering Workshop. This includes basic discussions of the principles of physics, as well as showing pictures of today’s launch vehicles. During the workshop, children have the opportunity to build “bubble-powered” rockets using paper, 35 mm film canisters and antacid tablets that fizz in water. “Some of the students have never talked with an engineer before, so they’re excited to hear from someone who actually works in the field,” she said. “And I love doing it because I have a passion for reaching out to kids and getting them to think about future careers.” Space continues to be a hot topic among students both in class and at various science and technology-related events. Beth Keller, a teacher in Huntsville, Ala., recalls the enthusiasm shown by students as they participated in Space Camp. “There was so much speculation about the end of the Space Shuttle program and what it meant,” Keller said. “But the kids are just as excited as ever because of all the talk about deep space exploration. It feels like their frontier.” Scott Strickland, Isaza’s manager at Boeing, works with students in the FIRST Robotics program, a competition in which teams of students design and build robots that perform specialized tasks. As manager of hardware development and sustaining Spacecraft Services at the space center, he is involved in a range of programs from the International Space Station to equipment that will be used with the Orion space- craft for exploration missions on the Space Launch System. Strickland said Boeing and its employees are strong supporters of STEM outreach programs, which encourage students to explore careers in science, technology, engi- neering and mathematics. He sees this approach as an effective way to ensure Boeing and industry as a whole will have talented employees to meet future challenges. “I tell students that if they want to be involved in the cutting edge of aerospace, they can’t go wrong by pursuing careers in space,” he said. “And the folks I’ve brought in as interns have definitely gotten enthused, after they see what we do and how we do it.” –Bill Seil GRAPhIC: The next bold steps in the human exploration of space could eventually see an outpost on Mars. ShuTTERSTOCk 32 BOEING FRONTIERS / OCTOBER 2012
Frontiers October 2012 Issue
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