Liftoff!

Physics senior lands NASA internships through mentorship

By California State University, Bakersfield

May 1^st, 2020

Marcos Figueroa says physics education can be a “lonely” endeavor, with studying just involving you, a textbook and maybe a computer.

So the CSUB senior is excited to start an internship at NASA this summer where he’ll work on a team developing drones to help the U.S. Coast Guard carry out search-and-rescue missions.

NASA had to make the internship virtual because of COVID-19. But it’s still a great opportunity for Figueroa, who started out the academic year not knowing what he was going to do after graduation this May.

“I’m most excited about the people, what they can do, what they can show me to improve as a scientist,” he said. “I’m done solving problems on my own. I really want to work on a team. That’s work you can’t really emulate at school.”

Figueroa learned about the internship from CSUB alum Abel Morelos, his mentor in the `Runner Alumni Mentor Program, which is wrapping up its fourth cycle.

Morelos is an internship coordinator at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, though he’s quick to say Figueroa’s smarts, hard work and enthusiasm for science made him stand out among the more than 1,100 students who applied.

Last summer, Abel Morelos led NASA Ames Research Center’s intern orientations, which hosted up to 450 interns combined. Intern orientations are half-day events dedicated to center overview, safety and security briefing, and the opportunity for interns to network on their first day. Photo credit: NASA Ames/Dominic Hart. — Last summer, Abel Morelos led NASA Ames Research Center’s intern orientations, which hosted up to 450 interns combined. Photo credit: NASA Ames/Dominic Hart.

Morelos, who earned his master’s degree in public administration from CSUB in 2018, has coached Figueroa through everything from making his LinkedIn page look more professional to polishing his resume to successfully applying for not one but two NASA programs.

Since January, Figueroa has been part of NASA’S L’SPACE Academy for undergraduate STEM majors who might want to work for the space agency or a related organization one day.

He’s on a team with students from Berkeley, Los Angeles, Idaho and elsewhere who, via Zoom, are designing a lunar lander that will characterize water and ice resources on the moon. They also hear weekly talks from NASA project managers about missions they’ve worked on to give the students a sense of the different fields they could pursue.

“The people who work there are so cool,” said Figueroa. “I could only hope that I land a job there.”

Power of online mentoring

The success of Figueroa and Morelos’ pairing shows mentees and mentors don’t have to meet face-to-face or even live in the same region to have a productive relationship.

Figueroa lives in Bakersfield, Morelos in Santa Clara. All but one of their interactions have been via computer, text or phone call. It helped, though, that they had similar backgrounds.

Figueroa grew up in Arvin and Lamont and his father worked at a dairy. Morelos grew up in east Bakersfield and his parents were migrant farmworkers. They’re both the first in their families to go to college and have had to navigate the rigors of a STEM education.

Morelos earned a chemistry degree from UC Irvine in 2013 and worked as a chemist for three years before developing a passion for mentoring as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. Then he moved back home to earn his MPA and pursue a career in public service.

As a grad student, Morelos worked in CSUB student affairs and interned at Buttonwillow School and Bakersfield College implementing wellness and STEM education programs. It all set him up well for his current position recruiting and placing interns like Figueroa at NASA.

“He’s from the Central Valley, so he knows what the struggle is here,” Figueroa said during a joint interview with Morelos over Zoom. “And he went to CSUB, which is a plus.”

“We also bonded over Korean barbecue,” Morelos chimed in. “Don’t forget that.”

Search and rescue mission

Many of NASA’s student programs are committed to diversifying the NASA workforce. One of these programs is the Minority University Research & Education Project (MUREP) Innovation Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC) which is a higher education spinoff challenge established to develop new ideas for commercialization by seeking concept papers from multi-disciplinary student teams enrolled at a Minority Serving Institution (MSI). Photo credit: NASA Ames/Dominic Hart. — Many of NASA’s student programs are committed to diversifying the NASA workforce. One of these programs is the Minority University Research & Education Project (MUREP) Innovation Tech Transfer Idea Competition, a higher ed spinoff challenge.

Figueroa applied to RAMP at the start of the 2019-2020 academic year because he felt “lost” as to how to get a job after graduation.

He’s still not exactly sure what career path to take; he’s hoping this summer’s internship will help him decide.

In the Building Short-Range Drones for Search and Rescue Operations project, students will continue ongoing work to design and assemble drones for the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard now uses off-the-shelf drones that don’t meet all its needs and take too long to repair because of supply chain issues, according to a project description provided by Morelos.

“This project will explore new designs from U.S.-sourced parts and/or 3-D printing that can be easily be assembled without tools to fly search patterns,” it says.

It goes on to say several experienced NASA researchers will manage and mentor the 15 to 20 interns on the project, who come from different backgrounds, parts of the country and fields of study including engineering, software, math, physics, accounting and business.

The drones will have to be cyber-secure, waterproof, able to operate in high winds and offer video on-demand. The interns will have to perform flight demonstrations, conduct cost assessments and present their work to management.

“Hopefully this will show him whether or not he wants to continue within the aerospace industry or government, and give him an extra boost as he applies for job opportunities,” Morelos said.

Figueroa just knows he loves science. He became interested after picking up a book on particle physics at Barnes and Noble and becoming fascinated with the concepts and people contained in its pages.

He particularly enjoyed learning about U.S. physicist Richard Feynman, who Figueroa says was good at communicating the pursuit of science “as a means to understand the world around us and how it works.”

“I feel like my world at that point expanded,” he said. “This world is way bigger than I thought it was.”

COMING SOON:

This summer, the CSUB Office of Alumni Engagement will launch `RunnerBridge, a new online mentoring and networking platform open to CSUB alumni, students, faculty and staff. Alumni, non-alumni professionals and students will also be able to apply for RAMP through the site. You will hear more about `RunnerBridge soon via social media and email.

LEARN MORE:

Learn more about NASA internships. They are primarily in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), but also include non-STEM opportunities.