Episode 28: Brian Butcher
08.29.07
: Brian Butcher, NASA co-op student
(0:00) Intro
(0:19) The application deadline for the
Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science →, or MS PHD'S, 2007-08 session is Sept. 10, 2007.
(2:44) Interview with Brian Butcher. Texas Tech computer science major Brian Butcher rates NASA's co-op program a perfect "10," and says his only regret is that he didn't find out about it sooner.
NASA Cooperative Education →
Johnson Space Center Cooperative Education →
Texas Aerospace Scholars →
NASA Johnson Space Center Co-op Bio: Brian Butcher →
NASA Johnson Space Center Education Office
(9:56) End
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Transcript
Deana Nunley: This is NASA Student Opportunities -- a podcast connecting high school and college students with learning opportunities inside America's space agency.
Episode 28. Aug. 29, 2007. I'm Deana Nunley.
A professional development initiative for minority undergraduate and graduate students interested in Earth system sciences and engineering is accepting applications for its 2007-08 session.
The Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science, or MS PHD'S, initiative was developed by and for underrepresented minorities to facilitate increased participation in Earth system science. The initiative provides minority undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to interact with and participate in the Earth system science community.
Each year, the initiative engages 30 minority undergraduate and graduate students in a series of activities, conducted in three phases. The activities increase participants’ exposure to the Earth system science community, via participation in scientific conferences, mentoring relationships, virtual activities and field trips.
The project starts with orientation and a broad Earth system science and engineering exposure during MS PHD’S community-building activities at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting, Dec. 10-14, 2007, in San Francisco.
Participants will engage in additional professional development activities at one of the MS PHD'S organizational partners' meetings. This could include attending meetings of the American Meteorological Society, the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists, and the Oceanography Society, among others. Each participant will attend the meeting that most closely aligns with his or her specific academic and professional interests.
The final phase will occur at the National Academies in Washington, D.C., where participants will visit government agencies and engage in dialogs with professional society and foundation representatives. Each student will also receive a scholarship award of up to $1,000 and participate in a tour of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
The deadline for submitting the online application is Sept. 10, 2007.
For more information about the MS PHD'S initiative, check out this week's show notes. Go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast, and click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast.
[Music]
Brian Butcher is a co-op student at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. He's a senior majoring in computer science at Texas Tech, but it was while he was attending a community college that he became involved with NASA.
Brian Butcher: I was part of the Texas Aerospace Scholars program. They had a program called "Community College Aerospace Scholars." I went to South Plains College out here in Levelland, Texas, for probably about three semesters. They do a program where they take the community college students out to NASA. They do this little competition, and that opened my eyes to even what a co-op was, or what an internship really was. I never had really heard about the co-op program, and I didn't even know what NASA really offered at the time. I just thought it would be nice to go down there, and it'd be neat to see everything. So, at that point, once I learned about the co-op program, as soon as I got to Texas Tech I did my one semester that you need. I went ahead and applied -- sent my resume to Johnson Space Center and received a call not too long after that -- and became a co-op.
Deana: Were you already in the computer science field before you became a co-op?
Brian: Yes. Actually, I took some computer science classes back in high school, and that's kind of what got me interested with the whole computer science field. I didn't know that NASA really has a need for computer scientists. Beforehand, I always thought that NASA was all aerospace engineers and mechanical engineers and that was it. But once I did that competition, and learned about the co-op program, [I discovered] they have opportunities for almost every major. So, computer science actually fit in pretty well.
Deana: Are you looking to work for NASA when you get out of school?
Brian: I am hoping I can, yes. I've talked to my past mentors and supervisors, and the chance is promising. So, we'll see what happens. I'm very interested in it. I'm still kind of looking, because these next tours I have, I'm going into different divisions that I haven't worked in yet. So, I'm looking forward to see what those divisions are like, and see if I like them any better than where I've already worked.
Deana: What are some of the projects you have supported so far?
Brian: Actually, most of the stuff I've worked is more of the daily routine stuff. My first tour was in IT2, which takes care of the whole network infrastructure for all of Johnson Space Center and White Sands Test Facility. In there I was doing research about authenticated DHCP [Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol]. We have a little mock-up network lab out there. I was testing all the hardware within that lab area and doing a lot of research about network authentication and security for the future, so that I could create a proposal before I left that management would take into consideration.
Then my next tour I worked in EV, which is the aviation group. They do a lot of the thermal testing for the shuttle. But, as a computer science major, most of my stuff will be with software. I was actually developing some Web applications for them to create a more easygoing, daily routine. They've got a lot of paper-passing and stuff like that -- even financial management. They're trying to do everything online. So I was creating Web applications for them.
But my next tour is going to be directly with the CEV, the new Crew Exploration Vehicle. They're going to have to be designing the software for the Crew Exploration Vehicle, and all the requirements. I'll be working on developing the requirements for the CEV, and helping with building the test lab to test the software with the hardware. So, I'm really excited to get there.
Deana: Is there an extra burden in juggling the co-op with your schooling, or does it all work together very well?
Brian: It just works together really well. It's actually nice to have a little bit of a break. I'm looking forward to it. When you're out there doing your co-op, usually with Texas Tech, I have to do one paper at the end of the tour that basically says, "This is what I did, and this is what I learned from it." That goes directly through our co-op department. Now, I know not all schools have a co-op department, so that's not always necessary for everybody. So, I mean that's the only schoolwork that I have to worry about. As far as everything goes, you get off work and you have no homework to do. You can relax, and then get back to school. You find that you've taken some classes that you've actually done some real-life work in, down at NASA. It's quite helpful with school.
Deana: Overall, how would you rate the experience as a co-op?
Brian: Out of a one-to-10 scale, it's a 10. There's nothing I could say bad about it. It's awesome. The amount of people you meet -- I know particularly at Johnson Space Center usually about 50, I think, to 60 co-ops [are] there per every regular fall or spring semester. In the summer, there are 150 to 200. So you meet tons of people.
You do have after-work class, and you do go hang out with everybody. At work, you meet a lot of potential supervisors. You get a lot of networking out of it, and you really learn a lot. So it really has been an awesome experience.
Deana: Do you have any advice for other students?
Brian: As a student looking to get into it, I kind of started a little bit late and I wish I [had] known about it earlier. The problem is that my schedule's so strict. No matter what, with the co-op program you have to do three tours as an engineering co-op. You have to do like a spring, fall and at least one summer. The way it's working out is to where I've only got four classes left, and it just worked out perfect. But, the thing is, they don't really limit your tours. You can do six or seven tours if you want. I'm going to get four out of it. I wish I could have done more, because at that point you get to see all the different areas. They don't want you to stay in one area, if you don't have to. They want you to get a broad range of the different work that they do at NASA. It's real beneficial in helping you, even if you decide you don't want to work for NASA, just knowing what you want to do in the future. So, one thing I suggest is to get an early start and see the programs. There's High School Aerospace Scholars and stuff like that. See if they're in your area. There's a lot of good information out there on the NASA Web sites.
Deana: And you can quickly get to the information by following links in this week's show notes. Go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast, and click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast.
We want to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about NASA learning opportunities, send an e-mail to:
educationpodcast@nasa.gov
Thanks for listening.
NASA Student Opportunities is a podcast production of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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