Calculating the Future

These last two weeks have been crazy with research projects and lectures, but a pleasant surprise last week was when a graduate of Embry-Riddle came to visit the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). SIAM is a club I found when I began my industrial math research class. It is an amazing club for Math majors to create networks and find out more about potential math job industries.


Last week a graduate from the Computational Mathematics program at Embry-Riddle came to speak to us. He was very interested to tell us his approach to the job industry with a major that you can do so much with. He has been investing time at a big insurance company called MassMutual, where he focuses on programming and software design. He is working on a graduate certificate that his company is paying for, and is looking at pursuing a graduate degree after that as well. After explaining his job, he spoke about his approach to applying for jobs and choosing a job based on offers. In addition, he had spoken of many things we could be doing in college now that will help us in the job field. He had spoken with us about job portfolios, research projects, internships, and practical experience, pretty much anything that could help us look good to potential employers or grad programs.

SIAM club with Embry-Riddle Graduate(third from left)


This was a great speaker to listen to as I soon will be swimming in all the job and graduate school applications, but I now feel like I have a better understanding of how to get to where I need to get to make the best post-graduating decision I can make.
The next SIAM meeting is on February 26th and I am looking forward to what else we will be doing to set ourselves up for success.

From Dress Shirt to Concert

I posted this on Instagram and got over 200 likes!

Resumes were hot off the printer and my suit was pressed smooth. I was career expo ready! Thanks to CareerFair plus, I was able to map out my day. I’ve gone to just about every career fair since my time at Riddle, and it has always proven to be a beneficial event. Whether I’m job hunting or just networking, I learn a little more about the industry and myself each time.

The only difference this year? I’m on the lookout for full-time opportunities. That’s right – a big girl job. It was kind of intimidating going into this year, but the school definitely had me prepared. Elevator speeches, resume reviews, and info sessions all contribute to developing a well-rounded understanding and approach to getting the most out of the event.

I spoke to several amazing companies including The Spaceship Company, Orbital ATK, and Jet Support Services, Inc, among many others. I also had to opportunity to see a few alumni return and do recruiting themselves. I also competed in the Career Fair Instagram challenge and earned second place for the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals.

With all the career fair preparation, it was great to relax the following Friday at WIKD’s Spring Block Party featuring Bas! Not only was Bas the first rap artist to perform at Embry-Riddle, but he’s signed under J-Cole’s Dreamville Records.

The concert took place on the west lawn after a series of smaller activities like kettle corn and inflatable obstacles. WIKD is the campus radio station and they even gave out t-shirts and bandannas. The best part? IT WAS FREE. WIKD really came through with this one for the campus and I look forward to seeing what else they coordinate in the future.

The crowd was ecstatic and Bas definitely enjoyed himself. He even ran off stage and one point to be with the student body. His DJ was amazing, too! All-in-all, the music was energetic. It was “pure vibes” as my friends and I like to say. It was a great end to a busy and eventful week.

⋆ Dani

Casual Science

I spent the last three years networking. I met everyone I could. Hell, I even looked into fields that had nothing to do with my interest in space. If I could at least develop a connection with a representative, then I would have a source, an ‘in.’ This year, that ‘in’ paid off.

Walking into the Space Tango office was unreal. I'm excited to be taking my first real steps towards accomplishing my goals.

Walking into the Space Tango office was unreal. I’m excited to be taking my first real steps towards accomplishing my goals.

I’m now an intern at Space Tango, Inc. in Lexington, Kentucky. I work reasonable hours for solid pay. The environment is amazing, and my coworkers are helpful. I’m also getting credit hours for this and we all know that’s a great bonus. It’s science, but it’s casual.

As a communication major at an aeronautical university, everyone wonders “how do those even fit together?” Honestly, I asked myself the same thing before I switched my major. Communication is more than writing a few technical reports or manuals. I personally would like to do public relations for an aerospace company. Ha. How often do you hear of that? Well that’s the thing; you don’t hear about it at all. Being the stubborn woman that I am, I made it an option before someone could tell me otherwise.

I knew nothing about pursuing such a career in science, so I found someone that did. The communication department is flooded with individuals that specialize in writing, speech, behavior, etc. Never forget that they were all somewhere before Riddle. My advisor helped shape my classes for my desired career path and another amazing professor shared her experience in the competitive field of public relations. This was just step 1.

Step 2 was maintaining a focus in science. I picked up a major in space studies to expand my understanding of anything aerospace (satellites, orbital paths, rocket history, propulsion, and more) and to keep me up-to-date on current events. From there, it all happened on its own. I attended open lectures, forums, anything that would provide me an opportunity for one-on-one interaction with professionals in the aerospace industry.

This was really my last “planned” step, step 3. Even if they weren’t always successful, I familiarized myself with other fields. I learned from people I didn’t think I would. This is how I met Michelle Lucas, an Embry-Riddle alumna and CEO of Higher Orbits.I made it my mission to have her remember me. I emailed her, and when I didn’t hear from her in two weeks, I emailed her again. She finally responded and the conversation flowed from there. She invited me to be a member on the Higher Orbits advisory board as she developed her nonprofit “Go For Launch” program, but I wasn’t beating myself up that I didn’t get a high end co-op as yet. I was building my resources.

I continued to casually work towards my goals as a COM major. I maintained relationships with people that I met over the last few years (astronauts, professors, research scientists, NASA employees, people those of us at Embry-Riddle dream of meeting). I expanded my extracurricular experience ranging from Greek Life to the Caribbean Students’ Association. I got a couple of on-campus jobs that dabbled in marketing. I gained leadership experience and focused on my studies. This was all while my network was growing on its own in the background. My casual encounters and skills that I continuously developed were being now discussed by aerospace professionals. I was commended for my hard work, for my creativity,and my goals. Just as I was getting a little impatient, an opportunity finally arose.

Michelle Lucas informed my advisor of an internship opportunity with a micro-gravity research company in search of a communication student to handle their marketing and public relations. I underwent an interview process and shared the portfolio of my work that I built from all my extracurricular activities. A couple of weeks later, I was invited to join the Space Tango team for the spring semester.

Twitter is one of the digital mediums I handle on a day-to-day basis. I update followers on experiments and launches.

Twitter is one of the digital mediums I handle on a day-to-day basis. I update followers on experiments and launches.

My networking paid off. I’m spending my spring semester surrounded by engineers, live feeds from the ISS, and constant news and updates on the SpaceX launches. I’m currently working on media coverage for Space Tango’s payload for CRS-10. I not only control their social media, but I develop media alerts and press releases.

My name is Danielle Rosales. I’m a senior communication major with minors in business administration and space studies. I don’t have an outstanding 3.0 GPA, but I’ve held several jobs on campus in marketing, media relations, and graphic design. I’ve developed a reliable network and have been mentored by Embry-Riddle faculty members.

I’m right where I wanted to be doing something people didn’t even think was possible. The best part of it all? Getting here was all so casual.

⋆ Dani

 

Isn’t this summer “Phenom” – inal???

Nothing like starting off the post with a funny airplane pun, huh?

Throughout my very boring and relaxing weekend (which I am very grateful for – haven’t had one of those in what feels like years), I mulled over how awesome this summer has been. It’s not very often anyone can say that they’ve been able to compete in 2 National Flight competitions, placed in Top 10 in one and won the other competition AND intern at one of the greatest and most influential Business/Private Jet design and manufacturing companies in the world.

I’m in the process of creating my final internship presentation to present in front of other interns, my boss, my supervisor, and the head of the overseeing department that includes my human factors department. Trust me, after all of the presentations that I’ve given over the last 3 years at Riddle, especially this past spring semester, this is going to be a piece of cake. But in writing this presentation, I can’t help but be in total awe of the opportunities that ERAU has given me over just these past 3 years. I’ve been able to compete in 3 National Intercollegiate Flying Association Safety and Flight Evaluation Conferences (otherwise known as NIFA National SAFECONs), 2 going on 3 Regional SAFECON competitions, 2 Air Race Classic races, and interned at a leading aerospace company. I have been one busy girl, but I am incredibly thankful for those at ERAU who have helped me along the way.

People often look at a university for what some pretty obvious factors, like a football team, majors (of course), family history maybe, in-state vs. out-of-state, retention rate, money ($$$), and a few others. What I wish I had done, but what luckily worked out for me, were the hidden programs within the university. Other opportunities besides the obvious and marketed aspects. Of course, Riddle has an amazing flight program which I absolutely love, and great students and faculty, and amazing sports and flying opportunities. All of that is absolutely true, but what is often overlooked my incoming freshman are the countless careers paths and opportunities only offered to ERAU students. Of course, we all know about the cadet programs and gateway programs for the pilots, which I have considered over the years, but what about us engineers and specialists? It’s amazing how just mentioning your involvement with ERAU can put you leaps and bounds ahead of other students. I have at least 5 co-workers that are ERAU alum in one way or another and it’s fantastic networking. We share stories, gather advice, and share our love of Riddle. Many companies offer special scholarships to ERAU-only students, which I have been lucky enough to have received one this summer from Gulfstream. Aerospace companies and ERAU take pride in their connections, whether it’s students, employees, activities, Greek life, sports, anything and everything. People in industry are amazed at what Riddle has done for myself and its students.

I’m definitely proud to have been able to represent ERAU and be an Eagle thus far in my college career and I’m so looking forward to continue representing this amazing university for one final semester this fall.

I think you’ve heard enough of my early week ranting, so enjoy your week and get excited for more (hopefully more hysterical) posts from me.

Blue skies,

Emmy

(For those of you unfamiliar with what a Phenom is, Phenoms are a series of business jets developed by Embraer out of Brazil. They’re very popular aircraft in the United States and around the world. They’re definitely one of my favorite series. I think I may like the Phenom 300 a little bit more than the Phenom 100, only because it’s a slightly bigger aircraft. They’re definitely on my flying-bucket-list!)

Getting Involved

Hey Everyone!!

Sorry it’s been a while things have just been so crazy lately! This semester has really been picking up and I feel like time is really flying by! There are so many opportunities involved with being a part of the Women’s Ambassador Program  here on campus, and I am so honored to be a part of such a wonderful group of women. We had the privilege of hosting our fellow ambassadors from the Embry- Riddle Prescott Campus! It was so wonderful meeting these girls and being able to show them our campus as well as around the Daytona Beach area!

Prescott and Daytona Beach Ambassadors at Bahama Breeze

Prescott and Daytona Beach Ambassadors at Bahama Breeze!

The ambassadors first night in Daytona was spent at Bahama Breeze, which was loads of fun! We were able to really connect with the other girls and learn about how their lives are different at Prescott!

All the Ambassadors in front of the Flight Line on the Daytona Beach Campus

All the Ambassadors in front of the Flight Line on the Daytona Beach Campus

The following day we were able to give the ambassadors a tour around the Embry-Riddle Campus! They enjoyed seeing all of our different colleges as well as the flight ops and simulation buildings! The next day we all traveled to Universal Studios in Orlando. Because of course, if you come all the way to central Florida you have to go to a theme park! It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day and I really enjoyed seeing the new Harry Potter World!

Daytona Beach Ambassadors Kalina, Kealey (also a ERAU blogger), and I on the Jurassic Park Ride (Prior to getting soaked)!

Daytona Beach Ambassadors Kalina, myself, and Lindsey (my fellow ERAU blogger) on the Jurassic Park ride!

All of the Ambassadors at Universal Studios-Orlando's Islands of Adventure Park

All of the Ambassadors at Universal Studios-Orlando’s Islands of Adventure Park

After a long but very fun filled weekend, we said goodbye to the Prescott Ambassadors over lunch at Panera! Luckily thanks to the university, the Daytona Beach Ambassadors have the opportunity to travel to Prescott this April! This will be such an amazing experience to see the other campus and I think we are also taking a trip to the Grand Canyon!

IMG_0142

Saying goodbye to the Prescott Ambassadors!

Myself and Pia the coordinator for The Women's Ambassador Program at Universal!

Myself and Pia the coordinator for The Women’s Ambassador Program at Universal!

Along with the Women’s Ambassador Program, I am also involved in Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority here on campus! We have just begun our recruitment process for this semester which is always very fun and very busy! I love the opportunity to get to know so many women on campus! We just had “Meet the Greeks” which is an event where all the Fraternities and Sororities put up their tents on the quad and get to know all of the students interested in joining Greek Life. It’s a great opportunity to get to know all of the organizations and see what each one has to offer.

meet the greeks

Sigmas at Meet the Greeks!

 

Letters

Holding up our newly painted letters!

One of my favorite parts about greek life here at Embry-Riddle, is how well all the different fraternities and sororities get along. I think because we have a small school we are able to get along much better and it seems like everyone works together as a team to build a strong greek community!

Dakota and I

Fellow Women’s Ambassador Dakota and I at Meet the Greeks! No matter what the letters may say we are still best friends!

Chick fil a

The Chick Fil’ A cow decided to come say hi to myself and fellow ambassadors Ayanna and Dakota!

Lastly, In other exciting news I received my nick-name on my Tri-Sigma Jersey! This is something that your “big sister” gives you once you have been a member for a while! It’s definitely a monumental moment and I am so excited to finally have it!

NickName

So happy to get my nickname!

One of my favorite parts about school down here at Embry-Riddle is all of the amazing organizations that I am involved in. My best advice to any incoming student is to get involved! My first semester here at Riddle I was not involved in too many different things on campus, but once I joined Sigma Sigma Sigma as well as the Women’s Ambassador Program; my college experience changed for the better! I have met so many new people and made so many great friends because of these organizations. Not only is it important to get involved because of the social aspect, but also because of networking! So many of my sisters have gotten internships or jobs through other sisters. And the opportunities and exposure that I am able to get through Women’s Ambassador is unbelievable! Get involved in what you love and I promise that your college experience will become that much greater! Until next time!

-Kealey

 

 

 

 

The 2013 “Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics, of Atmospheric Regions” Meeting

Greetings from Boulder, Colorado!

I’m going to be writing this entry throughout the week as events progress, but as the conference is nearly half-over (or half-started, for you optimists), I thought I should get started writing! Also for anybody interested, you can read my conference poster here. Note that it’s a hi-res PDF so it may take some time to load.

Tuesday

View of the mountains from outside my hotel room!

I’m blogging from my hotel room at the CEDAR conference while I take a break from sitting in talks that go way over my head. It’s been a great experience being here; I’ve met students from all over the country and world, and have really enjoyed talking to them. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, as is the view. This is my first time in Colorado, and I can definitely see myself calling it home someday, should the opportunity come along.

We arrived in Colorado late on Saturday night, after a long day of taking a final exam, catching a shuttle to Orlando, a delayed flight to Denver, and a shuttle to Boulder that forgot about us and ended up being an hour and a half late. It was quite lucky to have the time-change working in my favor, as I was up at 7 am the next morning (something I swear never to do) for breakfast and the beginning of the student workshop. Sunday was a whole day devoted to some lower-level talks aimed at students (albeit Masters and PhD students, so I was still pretty lost) and a lot of socializing. The group of us from Riddle, which consists of myself, three PhD students, and three Master’s students (all EP) have been pretty much sticking together, but in the last couple days we’ve also been hanging with a student from the Indian Institute of Technology, some students from Utah State and various other state colleges all over the country (I’ve lost track!), and a group of students doing an REU program at the MIT Haystack Observatory.  For those who haven’t heard that term, REU stands for Research Experience for Undergraduates, which is similar to an internship (it’s basically what I’m doing, but you usually go to another university to do it.) They are my favorite to talk to because they don’t make me feel like the kid in the group.

Panoramic picture of the mountains over the CU Boulder football stadium. They are such a sight to see, the camera just doesn’t capture it. Click for the full picture!

Yesterday we attended a fancy schmancy banquet at CU Boulder, which was a great time. The food was delicious and it gave us an opportunity to chat about all sorts of things – time flew and we almost missed the last bus back to the hotel! We all went out for “the best frozen yogurt in Boulder” afterwards and had more chance to chat in a less-formal setting. It was a blast! I regret sitting with students at the banquet rather than doing some networking with professionals, but I’ll have a better opportunity for that later in the week anyways (My plan is to schmooze some NASA guys into hooking me up with an internship.)

A few of us Riddle students after lunch in Boulder. Mountains!

The conference itself is definitely interesting, but does get boring (just being honest here!) The sessions are generally aimed at other scientists in the field, i.e. people with PhDs, so a lot of what they are talking about goes way over my head. It’s some pretty cool stuff though, and I do enjoy bits and pieces of it. Mostly it gives an impression of what it’s like to get out into the world and actually be a physicist, because until now the only viewpoint I’ve had was The Big Bang Theory. I’ve been spending a bit of time sitting in sessions, and then taking breaks to sit in my room and let my brain recuperate. The coolest talk so far has probably been the one this morning, which was a tribute to 50 years of gravity wave research. Dr. Colin Hines, the first to publish a paper on gravity waves (in 1960!),  participated in the session via phone, which was pretty cool. After that I grabbed lunch with the group from MIT Haystack and then came back for another gravity wave session, led by ERAU’s own Dr. Snively.

Tonight will be the first of two poster sessions; it is divided into “IT” and “MLT”, which stand for “Ionosphere/Thermosphere” and “Mesosphere/Lower-Thermosphere”. Basically it depends on what part of the atmosphere your research focuses on. My poster is MLT, so I’ll be presenting tomorrow evening, but I’ll definitely be out there tonight to get a feel for the session and check out the other posters from Riddle. That’s all I’ve got for now, I’ll write some more tomorrow…

Wednesday

Standing with my poster at the MLT poster session.

Today was the big day! I skipped out on all the sessions this morning to sit in my room and read over every inch of my poster – had to be ready for the big, scary questions! Well, there weren’t many big, scary questions, so that was good. Overall I think my poster presentation went well; I definitely got flustered going over my spiel so many times, but people seemed genuinely interested. And they should be, as I’m the only one here doing non-Earth research. I even handed a business card to a guy from NASA. It’s always worth a shot in the dark to say, “hey, I see you work at NASA, do you have any connections to internships?” I think he admired my forward-ness, because he took my business card and said he’d email me. You never know what can come from good networking!

After the poster session we all went into downtown Boulder for dinner – wow! I wish I had taken some pictures. It’s a really cool city, lots of small brick buildings, street performers, and little shops, bars, and restaurants. We ended up eating at this bar/restaurant, and had the whole second floor balcony to ourselves (mostly because it was the only place all 8 of us could fit!) It was a great time. And they had this raspberry red velvet torte with coffee ice cream that was divine.

Thursday

More mountains! I loved taking pictures of them.

Well, the conference is winding down. We were up way too early today for “breakfast with NSF”, where the directors of the National Science Foundation sat down with students over breakfast and just had an open conversation. It was cool, but I didn’t feel like I got much out of it. We ended up talking more about how the conference went and suggestions for next year than we did about getting jobs and working in the field. Also, we were just sitting in a big circle of chairs, and it’s really difficult to eat French toast from a plate on your lap. Just saying.

After that were the poster prizes. One of the students from Riddle and the guy from the Indian Institute of Technology with whom we have been hanging both won honorable mention awards! There was also a distinguished speaker lecture this morning by a woman who has been in this field of research for over fifty years. It was really interesting, because she talked more about her life and building her career than the actual science – she spoke about being denied entry into a PhD program in India and only being allowed to teach undergraduate physics to women, simply because she was a woman. It was a very thought-provoking lecture.

Ethiopian food! You take those bread rolls (we called them “food towels”) and use them to pick up the different foods. It was really good!

In the evening a few of us went out for Ethiopian food with the group from Utah State. It was a really cool experience – they bring one big plate of food to the table, and you all just kind of dig in (with your hands!). There is this like soft bread stuff you would rip off and use to grab the different foods. It was delicious, cultural, and a lot of fun!

Tomorrow we leave Boulder around noon. The trip over all has been fantastic, and an amazing experience. I can’t wait for next year!

Our whole group from ERAU!

Feel free to email me if you have questions about anything I have (or haven’t) talked about here. I’m always open to emails!

-Lynsey
schroel2@my.erau.edu