One of the best parts about being on the Flight Team is our landings practice which takes place every Saturday, starting bright and early in the morning! We start the day by driving in a van out to runway 21R at the Prescott Regional Airport. We have special permission from the airport authority to put tape down on the runway and mark our “box.” This is the area we will be trying to land the aircraft. One line stretches across the runway, which is known as the “zero line,” and is the exact point we are trying to have our wheels touch down on. One hundred feet short of this line marks being out of bounds short, and two hundred feet long of this line marks being out of bounds long.
An airport employee safely escorts us out on to the runway and we place markers along each of these lines plus smaller markers to help us determine the distance between them.
The competition landings event is pretty straightforward. The pilot flies two laps in the pattern making two landings, trying to get the wheels to touch down as close as possible to the zero line. For every foot that the pilot is off the line, that is one point (points are bad)! It is actually split up in to two different events: Power-On and Power-Off landings. They are very similar with one minor difference. In the Power-On event, the pilot initially pulls power, and cannot add any power, but can keep some power in, gradually decreasing it until landing. In the Power-Off event, the pilot must completely pull all power while abeam the touchdown point and cannot add it back in without getting a penalty.
The “Power Off landings more or less mimic the “Power-Off 180” maneuver practiced by commercial pilots.
In addition to making an accurate landing, there is a very long list of potential penalties a pilot can get in the landing event. Some of these penalties have to do with the energy of the aircraft, some have to do with how the pilot flies the traffic pattern, and some have to do with how the pilot actually touches down on the runway. These penalties make the event incredibly challenging and force the pilot to fly very accurately.
After marking the lines on the runway, we will next bring out our two Cessna 150s, known as “Eagle 1” and “Eagle 2.” Throughout the day we take turns going into the aircraft and flying our respective slots. When we aren’t flying, we stand beside the runway with clipboards grading our teammates. Usually one person films the landing so we can slow the video down, looking exactly where the wheels touched to get an accurate reading. It is hard to see the exact distance with the naked eye, as in one second the airplane travels about 80 feet.
Most of our grading is looking for penalties and marking them on our grade sheets if we see them.
We of course learn a lot about flying by getting practice ourselves in the airplane. Doing competition landings really helps the pilot to get a heightened sense of how accurate his or her flying is. Being even just a little bit sloppy will result in massive points off of penalties and distance. I have to say, however, that spending much of the day watching other people land and seeing the view of a landing aircraft externally can be really helpful. As a pilot, you do all of your flying with an inside view, seeing references based on how the cockpit glareshield looks compared the horizon and reading your instruments. It’s easy to forget how the aircraft is actually flying.
Standing out on that field by the runway below a beautiful Arizona sky, watching an airplane make its downwind to base turn, and seeing how the wings gracefully glide through the air has given me different perspective on flying. Every control input the pilot makes will not only pitch the airplane up and down, or roll it left or right, but it will change the energy state of the aircraft in a very significant way. I look forward to every Saturday for this reason, wondering what awesome flying experience I will have.
Hi
Everyone! My name is Richard Santi and I am currently a Senior at Embry-Riddle
in Prescott. I am majoring in Aeronautical Science – Fixed Wing, with a minor
in Business Administration. On campus, I am a member of our national
championship winning Golden Eagles Flight Team, and work as a Senior Campus
Ambassador at our Admissions Office (If you come and visit campus, I might be
your tour guide)!
I
am incredibly excited to be sharing a bit about my experience at Embry-Riddle
with all of you, and will be writing to you regularly, so be sure to check
back! I wanted to start off by introducing myself a bit more and sharing with
you my journey to Embry-Riddle. I am originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew
up in the Chicago area. From a young age, my eyes were always turned skyward,
and I could only dream of one day working in the cockpit of an airplane. When I
was looking at colleges that had aviation programs, only one stood out to me as
the very best. I asked different people who were in the aviation business what
school they suggested, and the answer was almost unanimous. “Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University.” Without a doubt.
I
have always been a Midwesterner. Most of the landscapes I was used to were
farms and skyscrapers. But after all, college is a time for adventure and I was
very excited to see a new place for a few years, moving to the beautiful
mountains of Arizona. I moved to Prescott in the summer of 2017. I only had
about 4 flight hours in my logbook; virtually nothing. No real flight training
or formal flight education. Despite this, I flew my very first week here. The
first lesson was incredibly simple. How to turn the aircraft left and right
using proper rudder coordination. I remember feeling very comfortable, knowing
this is what I was meant to do, but I also remember the feeling that I had a
long way to go.
As it turns out, a long way is not so long when you are training at Embry-Riddle. Three more years of flight training and now I am a licensed Commercial Pilot. I have over 270 hours of flight time and have flown in collegiate flying competitions. I have a job offer from a major regional airline and plan on starting flight instructor training soon. I have learned about topics I knew pretty much nothing about before coming to college. Extensive details of aircraft systems, how the stability of the atmosphere affects thunderstorms, the detailed aerodynamics of a tailspin… All topics I had literally zero understanding of prior to coming to Embry-Riddle. All of this was done while simultaneously earning a college degree.
The
reason I am mentioning all of this is that I wanted to let you all know that as
I post my future blogs, I will be explaining in detail all of my cool
experiences at Embry-Riddle, whether it is going through flight training, being
on the flight team, or hanging out with friends and enjoying all of the awesome
scenery that Prescott has to offer. But really, the main point I would like you
to take away from my experience is that whatever you do here, you will learn
way more than you thought possible. You will gain way more skills than you thought
possible, and you will become someone ready to succeed in whatever field you go
into. You will do all of it while having a blast!
Me with my best friend Daniel’s 1975 Cessna 172M after flying IFR with him on a rainy day in San Jose, CA. He’s now a CFI at Purdue. Photo taken by my childhood friend turned professional photographer Meredith Williams!
Hi there! I’m Martin Kurkchubasche, a Senior studying Aeronautical Science with a minor in Aviation Business Administration. I’m from San Jose, California and I came to Embry-Riddle Prescott having already earned my Private Pilot Certificate with just about 100 hours of experience. This put me on track to graduate a semester early, December 2020 instead of May 2021. Throughout my time here, I have earned my Instrument rating and finished my Commercial Single-Engine training in our Cessna 172 fleet and am now in the process of earning my Commercial Multi-Engine training in our Diamond DA 42 fleet.
I am also a FAA-certified Advanced Instrument Ground Instructor and work as a Peer Counselor where I tutor students, endorse written exams, and for the past year I have taught labs for the College of Aviation. During the school year, there’s a very high chance you’ll find me in the Hazy Library until closing working with students. During admissions events such as Preview Day and Orientation, you’ll probably see me rocking out with our two awesome College of Aviation advisors Merrie and Stacey. I help create schedules for all you students and I make sure you end up with my favorite professors! For those of you reading this, we’re currently dealing with COVID-19. So, for any of my students reading this, I’m very proud of the work you all have completed as well as your adaptability and ability to deal with anything the world throws at us!
My involvement with our Flight Department and Flight Line is extensive. As the Lead Student Advisor for the Flight Department, I work one-on-one with management and help take suggestions students have and implement them at the Flight Department. As a student myself, I was always uncomfortable talking to my higher ups, which is why our department chair refers to me as his “feet on the ground”. I make sure students have someone they can comfortably talk to and share experiences, good or bad. I am incredibly lucky to be able to work with and call everyone in management a friend. If you’ve been at any of the admissions events, there’s a very high chance you’ve met and talked with me during the Flight Breakout Sessions. I have a great team of flight students that help me out and sit on the Flight Line Student Advisory Board and help plan student-led workshops on tough topics, and plan special events like socials and barbecues. I’m always looking for volunteers to be on the Advisory Board so swing by my office at the Flight Department and say hi!
Photos from when I was observing a demo-flight when Cirrus was demonstrating the ability of their SR-20 aircraft as a possible trainer for ERAU.
A name tag for every position I work.
You’ll also find me working behind the desk as a Flight Dispatcher and occasionally on a shuttle-run as a Shuttle Driver. I also sit on our No-Show Review Board where I take part in the determination if we should excuse a no-show or reduce costs of unexcused no-shows. The Flight Department always jokes about getting me a name tag reading, “Ask me, I probably know” because of the variety of qualifications I hold. I work on special projects, most recently having participated in helping choose the new fleet for ERAU, migrating our Dispatch team from a paper schedule to fully online, redesigned the entire shuttle route to make it easier for our students to make it from class to our Flight Line, and am currently taking part in helping select the new software to replace our Dispatch / Scheduling / Academic Tracking software.
I am on my third summer working for our Summer Programs Department, second summer working as a Housing Supervisor. I visit our office frequently because, quite frankly, I love the people I work with. I worked as a Teacher’s Aide throughout high school teaching 4th through 8th graders photography, so getting to teach high schoolers about aviation is probably one of the most fun things I’ve gotten to do. Also, shout out to Wendy, Shelby, Tori, Seyi, Logan, and Hayden over in the office! Hopefully I’ll see you all soon for the summer kick-off! I’m looking forward to my final year working with Summer Programs!
The 2019 team from our Summer Programs Department.
In my free time, I fly, believe it or not. I have over 300 hours of experience in a wide variety of aircraft. I earned my High-Performance and Complex Aircraft endorsements flying the most unique plane in the Prescott fleet, our 1980 Cessna 182-RG, affectionately known as Riddle 82. Sometimes I even fly two different types of planes in one day. One of the most memorable experiences was flying Riddle 82 in the morning with one of our Training Managers and going straight into Riddle 94, one of our Diamonds, with our Chief Pilot. If you ever see me in person, please ask me about it! There’s more that happened that’s just too much for a blog!
Team 3 Training Manager Dave Warnke and I taking off in Riddle 82 in 25-knot winds at Prescott, taken by Instructor Cameron Rojas through binoculars.
I’ve flown almost every Cessna 172 model from 1970 onward. I’ve done cross country flights to Vegas, up and down the California coast, and all throughout Arizona. Through my time as a Peer Counselor and my flight experience, I’d like to believe I’ve become an expert with the Cessna 172, but there’s always more to learn and experience. As students we never stop learning about the planes we fly.
My roommate took this photo of me relaxing on a bench at Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort after a long day on the slopes.
When I’m not in the air, I try to stay active and take advantage of the weather we have. In Prescott, we’re about 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix on any given day, which means I can be outside year-round and not hiding from the heat. When the weather is good, I can be on our tennis courts hitting with my friends or relaxing poolside watching planes fly over. Sometimes I’ll make the dive down to Phoenix and hang out at the air-conditioned malls in Scottsdale. When it’s winter and we have snow, find me on the slopes in Flagstaff with my buddies.
As if I weren’t busy enough, I also run a research program with the Undergraduate Research Institute. This involves me running a brand-new virtual reality lab which is located at our Flight Department’s Simulation Center. The project was started by one of my professors, Professor Michelle P. Hight. I’ve been working with her from the beginning of the project and have become the resident student expert on flight simulation under VR. I have two awesome research assistants who I couldn’t work without. They happened to be two of my friends, Jake and Daniel. Jake and I were almost-neighbors freshman year, he lived one suite away from me in the Mingus Mountain Complex and I happened to be friends with his suite-mates, so I was always invading their dorms. Daniel is a sophomore who I met through my work as the Student advisor to the Flight Department and we immediately clicked. Our goal is to reduce the cost of flight training and hopefully play a part in reducing the global pilot shortage. I’ve presented at the Industry Advisory Board in front of many major companies. It’s only been our first semester working, and we didn’t get to do very much due to the on-going pandemic, but we’ve adapted and changed everything we’re doing. Right now, we’re designing an experimental course that will hopefully be offered by the College of Aviation in the fall! So, for all you incoming students, keep an eye out for the course offering and I might get to be your teacher!
My two research assistants Jake (left) and Daniel (right) testing out our VR equipment before the students get working on their virtual private pilot course.
Me presenting about my research at the Industry Advisory Board taken by CoA Advisor Merrie Heath.
By Ian Gregory Bigger (Team Lead) and Steven D. Carreon (Asst. Team Lead)
During
the prior semester, Fall 2019, our team, Zero-G, was generously invited by Dr.
Phillip Anz-Meador of NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office at Houston Johnson
Space Center to conduct hyper-velocity impact tests for Project ORION (Orbital
RemediatION) at the Experimental Impact Laboratory. The testing allowed us to gain
experience with several different orbital debris shields commonly used on the
ISS as well as experimental shields. This data would be used to determine which
shield type would be most appropriate for a sweeper debris satellite intended
to clean debris fields in low earth orbit that pose as a threat to current
functional satellites. Testing was supervised by lab director Dr. Mark Cintala,
and test engineers Frank Cardenas and Roland Montes. Our trip to Houston was
accompanied by our highly esteemed capstone professor, Dr. Daniel White, and
lasted through November 7th to the 9th.
Concept art of finalized design of an ORION spacecraft based on most effective shield.
The
change in design of ORION from an active satellite capable of rendezvous with
large piece of orbital debris to a passive satellite intended to pass and clean
small debris in high debris orbits originated from Ian Bigger’s Summer 2019
internship at the Orbital Debris Program Office at Johnson Space Center. As a
team, we decided implement multi-layered micrometeoroid orbital debris shields,
the current method that most large spacecraft implement for defense against
orbital debris.
Entering
the Fall 2019 semester came with a complete revamp of our capstone project’s preliminary
design along with many difficulties. Through multiple iterations of our team’s
design, we were able to create a project that became feasible and fulfilled our
project requirements. In doing this, we attracted the attention of the
Hypervelocity Impact Test Lab, allowing us to test an experimental orbital
debris shield composed of two panels of steel mesh.
Light Gas Gun inside the Experimental Impact Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.A look inside the Light Gas Gun impact chamber in Houston, TX.
Our team decided to test five shield variants that could one day be re-purposed for intentionally impacting Low Earth Orbiting debris. This method of passive orbital debris remediation had never been tested up to the point of our detail spacecraft design commencement. One of the shield variants chosen (aluminum foam) was outside of our team’s budget. After notifying Dr. Philip Anz-Meador of our team’s financial limitations, he amazingly and surprisingly offered to find and donate an aluminum foam block (6” x 6”) to us, courteous of NASA. The block had an approximate value of $800.
Section cut of the aluminum foam block donated by NASA, after a 6.063 km/s impact.
We
had a smooth flight to Houston and arrived the night of November 7th.
After situating in our own respective hotel rooms arranged by ERAU, we went out
for double cheeseburgers with avocado at Texas’ own Whataburger, and they were
delicious. We needed all the body and mind fuel we could gather for what would
become a full 8-hour day of testing at Houston Johnson Space Center the
following day.
Upon
arriving at Johnson Space center, we were greeted and verified for entrance by
very polite, armed security guards at the South Gate, and directed to the front
office to obtain our guest passes. After obtaining our guest passes, we
immediately made our way to Dr. Phillip Anz-Meador’s office in the building
adjacent to the Experimental Impact Laboratory. Dr. Phillip Anz-Meador was
excited and cordially greeted us, and then introduced us to the building staff
that would be supervising our hyper-velocity impact testing.
There was a total of six test fires conducted in the two days of testing. Four tests in the first day, and two on the second day. Preparation for each shot took approximately 1.5 hours. Between each preparatory period, we took advantage of the time by enquiring on the vast amount of test equipment and procedures within the laboratory, history of the staff with NASA, and pleasant conversations about our future plans as professional engineers.
Just
before a firing was about to start, the 1 mm stainless steel sphere projectile
was loaded in a collapsible sabot lubricated with a graphite pencil. The loaded
sabot was then loaded into the launch tube just aft of the metal diaphragm.
Light Gas Gun compression chamber that contains the energy to deliver the projectile down the barrel to the impact chamber.
The
compression chamber was then filled with nitrogen gas just under the point of
diaphragm rupture. Once the final checks were made the entire laboratory was
evacuated outside into the hallway where the key-activated firing control panel
was located. The compression chamber was topped off with more nitrogen gas,
then test engineer Roland Montes would flip the release switch to trigger the
gun powder portion of the Light Gas Gun that would rupture the diaphragm and
delivery the projectile down the chamber. A successful shot was indicated by a
rapid gas hiss and audible pop over a couple milliseconds.
Diagram of the impact process for shields with a standoff distance between panels (NASA, 2018).
The
velocity of each projectile was measured using a series of three laser sensors
located in the launch tube about 30 inches apart from one another. Each
velocity was translated using a combination of time and distance recorded by
three oscilloscopes and timing devices.
The
results turned out amazing and above all of our expectations for an
undergraduate capstone project. We took a tremendous amount of care in
manufacturing and assembling the five shield variants. No penetration occurred
in any of the designs. Some of the shields did experience bulging on the rear
panel, but still no spalling and no penetration.
All five post-impact shield variants after being shipped back to ERAU.
After a
successful round of tests on the second day, we were all cleared to get lunch
and tour the facility. We said our farewells and went out to get more burgers
at a local favorite of NASA employees, including the astronauts in training.
Dr. Phillip Anz-Meador accompanied us, and on the car ride over he asked us
what our plans were for the future. We received congratulations and even future
job opportunities with NASA and their contractors. We even expressed our
interest in top secret jobs related to orbital debris and were told to contact
him in the future when we were ready for the commitment.
A look inside the Space Center Houston tour in Houston, TX.
After
a fantastic meal, we returned to Johnson Space Center to do a brief tour. With
our guest passes we decided to take the Space Center Houston tour backwards to
avoid the flood of tourists because we could. Dr. White and the two of us had
an amazing and eye-opening experience at Johnson Space Center. As a group we
learned how a professional laboratory operates, the deadlines associated, and
the level of professionalism mixed with quirkiness that is required at
facilities like NASA’s Johnson Space Center. We were reassured by lab engineer
Frank Cardenas that in order to work with NASA, the employees all have a
profound interest in their work and have fun. So much interest and fun that the
clock and time seem to disappear. We learned this behavior firsthand in our
time working on this capstone project, and finally realized that we were not
alone in our fascination of remediating space debris during our time at NASA’s
Johnson Space Center.
Presenting my project during the 2019 ERAU Open House
My name is Kelvin Maurice Russell and I am a Senior majoring in Aviation Business Administration with an Area of Concentration in Airport Management. I recently completed my economics research paper titled How Does Federal Funding For U.S. Airports Affect Airport Growth? I was fortunate enough to have this paper funded by Embry-Riddle’s (ERAU) Undergraduate Research Institute and the School of Business. Dr. Jules Yimga, my economics professor and faculty mentor, provided me great guidance and support while researching and writing this paper. It is my hope that this research will be published in a transport journal which may influence policy makers and airport professionals on the importance funding means for airport growth.
I was a student in Dr. Yimga’s EC
315 – Managerial Economics course in the Spring 2019 semester when I begin
discussing with him my desire to make a difference in the aviation industry by conducting
a research project. I knew that he was well versed in the topic since he
recently has 11 published paper in transport journals. Also, as a student I
knew how important it was to have conducted research during my undergraduate
degree and I wanted to have something to show for it on my resume. Beginning in
the fall 2019 semester and I took EC 330 – Air Transport Economics with Dr.
Yimga and this class required a final research paper. This experience was a
great opportunity for me to delve into the literature on this topic and
research extensively. Taking time to
analyze the information was hard but exciting and I learned so much.
It was initially a challenging time
finding a distinct and specific topic in the broad field of aviation. In the
beginning, however, I set clear intentions for what I wanted my paper to
produce:
Make an impact to the overall U.S. transportation
industry
Focus on either U.S. airlines or airports
Allow my paper to be a reference to policy makers
within the aviation sector
Through the help of Dr. Yimga, we
eventually came up with the topic of airports in the United States and how
federal funding affects airport growth. I was instantly excited because the
topic was not only specific enough for the course requirements, it was a topic
that did not have much analysis in terms of how funding affects airport growth,
and it was a topic I knew could make a difference considering funding being a
key discussion driver among many industries.
My URI Open House Poster
The result of my paper consists of
multiple regression analysis performed on the amount of funding the top 30 U.S.
airports received and how it affected overall airport growth in terms of
passenger traffic, runway work, departing flights, and more. As a curious
individual I learned a great deal about Airport Improvement Program (AIP)
grants, which is the main source of federal funding for U.S. airports. As a
student I was able to enhance my Excel skills through performing regressions
and interpreting their meanings. This of course was not without the help of my
great faculty mentor, Dr. Yimga.
I would like to thank all those who
assisted me in my research and analysis during this project. This includes the Undergraduate
Research Institute Committee and the School of Business. Again, special thanks to
my economics professor and mentor, Dr. Yimga. Through his guidance and support
in this and other projects I have learned and grown a great deal.
This summer I had the opportunity to work at The Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. As an Embry-Riddle Software Engineering Student, I was a part of the cyber security product development team. I quickly found out that ERAU students’ reputation precedes us. When I told my co-workers that I attend ERAU, they all praised the university and the students. My team especially loved ERAU because of our manager, Sheila B. Reilley. I had the pleasure to work with Sheila before she retired after 30+ years at Boeing. I will forever be grateful to Sheila for giving me the opportunity to work with her team this summer.
The Boeing sign at the 40-88 building in Everett, WA.
I worked with two different groups within the team over the 12 weeks I was there. At first, I worked for autonomous systems. Within autonomous systems, I worked with my team lead, ERAU Alum Alan Tomaszycki, and the College of Security and Intelligence on developing a multi-discipline capstone project. I was also able to contribute to a patent that is in the process of getting approved.
The space needle park in Seattle, WA.
After that project was complete, I went on to work with the rest of the team in Seattle where I worked on front-end development which is what I am really interested in. I was put on a team developing a front-end for airplane log data that was in JSON format. I was assigned to work with one other intern on the front end while two interns worked on the back end of parsing the logs. My partner and I started by getting requirements from the members of the team that were going to be the primary users. After gathering the requirements, we started by experimenting with the designs and making wireframes and screen-flows that imitated what we wanted the displays to look like and satisfied the requirements. When the basic design process was done, we started working on use case scenarios. We came up with six different scenarios for how the displays could be used. We then revisited our designs, and we altered them so they would better reflect the scenarios. The software engineering courses that I took over the past three years have prepared me for the real-world applications of the engineering process.
Cold War’s B-47 Stratojet in the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA.
We had weekly meetings with the team and the project leader
to go over our designs to ensure that they aligned with the needs of the team. After
we got the okay on our designs, the next step which I was in charge of was
implementation. I got the data that the back-end team produced, and I used
python and TKinter to make the front-end piece. Programming the display was the
easiest and most enjoyable part for me. I requested a code review with some of
my coworker to get feedback on my program, and I got lots of comments praising
my code. My coworkers pointed out that they can tell that I am a software
engineering major and not CS like most of the interns because of how maintainable
and well written my code was, and how well I documented it. During this whole
process, I discovered that the ERAU software engineering classes have equipped
me with all the skills and the knowledge that I need in the field and the
ability to adapt to new challenges. I was more knowledgeable about the software
engineering process that most interns, and I owe it to the SE professors who
prepared me to make it all possible.
SR-71 Blackbird in the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA.
I learned so much from my team over the 12 weeks. Most
importantly, I learned about the software engineering process for front-end
development. I am now certain that I want to pursue front-end development as a
full-time career. I was given a return offer to Boeing for an internship next
summer with the same team on my last day. I had a blast working with my team
this summer, and I can’t wait to see what I will be working on next summer.
The annual Embry-Riddle/Boeing partnership summit at the Boeing Flight Test & Delivery Center in Seattle, WA.
This past summer, I attended an REU at Wichita State University in Kansas. I originally heard about the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in an email from Dr. Ed Post, advertising the REU in Cyber-physical systems, along with several other REUs. REUs are summer research internship programs at different universities throughout the country funded by the National Science Foundation in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. With the support of several professors in the Electrical Engineering department at Embry-Riddle, I was readily accepted into the program.
A view of the dorm Shocker Hall at WSU.
Before, I had zero experience whatsoever with
research, however, the program provided a smooth introduction to it. My work
schedule was super laid-back. Once a week, I would meet with the program
coordinator for different workshops discussing topics such as how to apply to
graduate school, what is expected in research, and how to present research
findings effectively. Also, I met weekly with my faculty mentor regarding the specific
research in which I was involved. As a result, I needed to employ a lot of
self-discipline. Thankfully, I formed good study habits at Embry-Riddle that I
applied at the REU.
When I was in high school, I had a job with a
marketing company developing mobile apps. Based on this work experience, the
program coordinator paired me with a project in the field of Android
cybersecurity. It was my task to research and develop a set of tools to
determine if a given app on the Android platform is hiding in different lists
on a device.
At a poster session featuring my work with Android.
One of my favorite things about Kansas is that the
people there are remarkably hospitable. Within days, I had the opportunity to
make friends both with other REU interns and with several local residents
through a college group and a local church. This was a huge blessing as I did
not have a car in Kansas.
Towards the end of the REU, I had the opportunity to
visit Hutchinson, KS where NASA’s Cosmosphere is located. Their lobby is built
around a SR-71 Blackbird banked 30 degrees for its turn to final.
Beside an SR-71 Blackbird at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS
One of the coolest things that I got to see there was
the original Apollo 13 space capsule, reassembled after different parts toured
the world for many years. It was particularly interesting to see the history of
rockets from World War II through the space race. As an American, I was quite
unfamiliar with the German and Russian history which was covered extensively
and honestly in the museum.
Currently, I am finishing up the paper that was mostly
completed during the REU. It is wonderful to be able to show a completed paper
at the end of a program, especially as an undergraduate. I went from not
knowing a thing about research to having a finished paper. My mentor and I are
submitting the paper to a conference which I will hear from by the end of the
month.
To any students who are interested in research—I would
highly recommend an REU, especially for Sophomores as REUs accept Sophomores
far more readily than industry internships do. There was even an intern who had
only completed his freshmen year who was accepted! I am thankful for
Embry-Riddle making this wonderful opportunity possible for me this summer!
In the summer of May 2019 I interned at the Lemuel Martinez’s 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There is a DA office in each of the three counties including Sandoval, Cibola and Valencia. I worked for Sandoval County as it was the closest to my house. At the DA office there are many attorneys that work under Lemuel Martinez. These attorneys represent the State in criminal cases for all cases whether it be a felony or misdemeanor offense. During this internship I got to assist these attorneys with building case files, as well as observe them in both the District court, for felony offenses, and Magistrate court, for misdemeanor and below offenses. In preparing cases I would work with the different legal assistants and take on my own cases as I would prepare them for a variety of attorneys. Most cases I prepared were domestic violence cases including battery, deprivation of property, violation of restraining orders, etc.
The Sandoval District Attorney’s Office
The majority of my classes for my forensic biology degree did not provide much knowledge for this internship as my degree has a heavier emphasis on the sciences. However, the mock trials done in both my Instrument Analysis and Trace Evidence class as well as my Investigative Methods and Forensics Science class allowed me to understand the procedures and components of a trial. My Intro to US Legal System and US history classes gave me a good foundational understanding of our laws and constitution. I think it’s important to note I am yet to take the procedural law class for my degree which would have been very useful. I think my class work did show me the importance of forensics in law and how they coincide.
This internship was
important for both my career and educational plans. After I graduate I plan to
go to law school and this internship at the DA office not only introduced me to
what Attorneys do but also allowed me to put my foot in the door to intern
again with them while in Law School so I could get more hands on work with the
Attorneys. This internship was overall a great experience and I am glad I got
to work there.
The Magistrate CourthouseSandoval County District Court
The forensic biology program has so many possible career options, which may cause some difficulty in finding an internship if a career path is uncertain. Thankfully I have always known I wanted to work in the medical field so this was the perfect internship for me. My internship with Vive Peru combined my love of travel with my desire to learn more about the medical field. With this program, I was able to shadow doctors from several different specialties in multiple hospitals and clinics in Trujillo, Peru, assist with large medical campaigns, and volunteer in a small community adjacent to Trujillo.
Due to the nature of the program, shadowing doctors in hospitals in a foreign country, it was very structured and the only decisions I could make was which doctor I wanted to shadow that day. However, creativity could be used for the volunteer efforts. I could do all of the decision making for what activities we were going to do with the children we worked with, with only one constraint: the activity had to be related to public health. Due to the structure of the program, the learning objectives were set out for each of the hospitals we visited based on what the previous volunteers experienced in the past.
My microbiology course at ERAU was beyond helpful when working in the lab and explaining what was going on to my interpreter who did not understand any medical or biological sciences. I was able to point out differences between the way the labs run in Peru versus what we were taught in class. Many of the differences throughout the hospitals and clinics, not just in the labs, were due to lack of funding and supplies. It was definitely a culture shock to see the lack of sanitation and sterilization, but that only happened because they did not have enough supplies to use a new set of gloves or dental tools or even agar plates for each patient.
I am so grateful for this internship and opportunity. Peru was a beautiful place with beautiful people. The program does an amazing job of connecting volunteers with the community and making a real difference in the community. Many of the patients at the free medical campaigns said the only go see the doctors when these medical campaigns were held as they could not afford to see a doctor otherwise. The children in the community where I volunteered are so grateful for us and were so sad to see us leave. Learning about medicine and watching doctors work was amazing but seeing the change that my contribution made to the community was much more fulfilling.
My internship at The BioMechanics Physical Therapy clinic was filled with learning opportunities and I was able to expand my experience in many different tasks. Through this opportunity I began to develop my skills in patient treatment, bedside manner, and the fundamentals of physical therapy, as a whole.
My official title was a technician for the physical therapists and my job consisted of checking on patients, moving patients from one exercise to the next, teaching how certain equipment and exercises should be used or performed, and setting them up for modalities and/or heat or ice at the end of their session. As a tech, I was always on the floor making sure everything was running smoothly between the patients, as well as double checking that the therapists were not getting backed up with patients or extra work that the technicians could have been working on.
My studies and previous classes within my program for a Forensic Biology degree, prepared me for this internship by providing me with the correct information in regards to general biology and anatomy and physiology, so that I had knowledge of different muscle groups and their mechanics, as well as allowing me to utilize the business demeanor and professional manner that was implemented within several classes. Overall, I am very grateful for my position at The BioMechanics clinic and I have gained valuable experience, skills and knowledge, especially involving patient treatment in physical therapy that I will be able to use regardless of what my future entails.
