Steven Henry is no rocket scientist, but the NIU senior has spent the last two summers as an intern for NASA, working with some of the best in that field.
Henry, a native of Crystal Lake, Ill., who is majoring in mechanical engineering at NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, spent last summer at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., working for the agency’s Space Operations Directorate.
While there, his supervisor asked him to analyze data from a shuttle launch to determine if damage sustained during liftoff put it at risk of burning up upon re-entry like the shuttle Columbia. Working on his own with data from both launches, he devised a way to calculate the damage done when foam falls from the shuttle’s external fuel tank and strikes the spacecraft during liftoff.
“He was able to do the best kind of engineering anyone could hope for,” says Stan Fishkind, chief engineer of the Space Operations Directorate. “His work almost replicated the results of the rigorous analysis done by the NASA Safety Center where some of our best and brightest people were working with the same data.”
The experience not only earned Henry the award as the NIU Internship Co-Op Student of the Year but also helped him get a second NASA internship this summer. He is working at NASA’s Ames Research Center, in California’s Silicon Valley, on projects aimed at reducing vibration on military helicopters. The goal is to make helicopters stealthier.
“My internships have definitely been a great learning experience,” says Henry, who hopes to pursue a career in aerospace. “So many things I learned that I couldn’t imaging using, I’m applying all the time.”
Henry is just one of hundreds of NIU students who get real-world experience each year through the university’s Career Services. In the past year, NIU interns have worked for the U.S. Department of State in the Philippines, for Emerson Electric in Austria, and for companies based closer to home, such as Motorola, CNN and dozens of companies small and large throughout Chicagoland.
More information about NIU’s internship and co-op programs is available online.
- Joe King, NIU Public Affairs
- Photo Courtesy of NASA Ames Research Center