Engineering Interns Help Redesign Space Suit

Two 博彩平台网址大全 engineering majors have been working on a system that will help keep astronauts alive in space.

暑期实习 柯林斯航空 在温莎洛克, 康涅狄格, gave Maria 布歇 ’20 and 凯瑟琳·布洛克，20岁 the opportunity to help redesign Collins’ portable life support system (PLSS) for its next generation space suit. 在10周的时间里, 布歇 and 布洛克 created a working demonstration of the PLSS, 哪一个在 联合技术公司活动 在华盛顿特区的国会山上.C. 学生们得到了博彩平台网址大全的支持 工程部门 并由工程学教授指导 约翰D. 莫顿 工程学助理教授 粘土拜尔.

The 工程部门 works closely with Trinity’s Center for Student Success and Career Development to advertise internships available to engineering majors. 莫顿 encouraged 布歇 and 布洛克 to apply for the NASA 康涅狄格 Space Grant Consortium Internship program, which led to them both being hired by UTC 柯林斯航空 for summer 2019. The two students have continued their partnership with UTC 柯林斯航空 through their senior design project for this academic year. 布洛克, 谁在学习生物医学工程, 说, “We are working on redesigning the feedwater supply assembly (FSA), which supplies the thermal cooling loop with water and eventually cools the astronaut.”

The skills 布歇 and 布洛克 learned in Trinity’s classrooms and labs translated to their design project. 布歇, 谁在学习机械工程, 说, “I haven’t felt unprepared at all throughout any of this internship. I think Trinity does a really good job of incorporating communication and writing skills. My boss at Collins was always very impressed with how precise and specific the language I used was and how clear the reports were.”

布洛克 added, “You want to be able to understand a team dynamic and run a project. The distribution and depth of study at Trinity has really helped me communicate with people.”

布歇 and 布洛克 do not think this is the last design project they will be completing. “This internship has impacted my overall Trinity experience because I am much more confident in my technical and communication skills and where I want to go with them post graduation,布洛克说.

“I have always been interested in getting a Ph.D., but I want to take a break for two or three years and continue working at a company before I start pursuing something specific,”鲍彻说.

除了上基础课程, students in Trinity’s 工程部门 are encouraged to weave courses that hold a personal interest—like mechanical and biochemical engineering—into their schedules. 莫顿, who has been teaching at Trinity for 30 years, 说 the department’s scope is quite wide and develops well-rounded students. “Engineering isn’t just design, science, analytics, and mathematics,他说. “It is also communication, creative thought, organizing, and working with team members. The more diverse students’ experiences are, the better they will be as engineers.”

在教室里, Byers and 莫顿 encourage students to step out their comfort zones and collaborate with one another. 莫顿说, “If students have not had a lot of experience with design work in labs, 这可能很吓人. We put them in that situation early in their first few years so they are forced to deal with problems where there is no right answer or guaranteed success. That whole experience prepares them for internships.”

拜尔斯说, “In having the ability to comfortably jump into a situation that is outside your expertise, 一个人能够在职场中发挥价值.”

Non-engineering students at Trinity can also participate in extracurricular activities in the department, including a robotics study team and with the Professional Chapter of Engineers without Borders, which provides potable water to people in Ethiopia.

Research and internship opportunities play large roles in preparing students for their future. Students are encouraged to develop a resume and complete an interest survey in their junior year at Trinity. 莫顿说, “I encourage students to do both academic research over the summer and a corporate industrial internship, 所以他们同时体验了两个世界.”

Byers 说 that he hopes students graduate from Trinity knowing the education they received forms a strong foundation. “We give them the tools they will forever use, 他们必须愿意不断学习,他说.

Watch the video below to learn more about 布歇 and 布洛克’s internship and engineering at Trinity.

艾米丽·威克尔斯20年写的