NASA Scholarships for Wellesley Students (2002)

Through the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium and the Science Center Office, Wellesley juniors planning a senior Honors thesis in any space-related science may apply for $5,000 college scholarships. These scholarships would be paid during the 2002-2003 academic year, the money going directly to the student or to Wellesley's Bursars' Office. The student may work with a member of the Astronomy Department at Wellesley, or in another department on a space-related topic (atmospheric chemistry; physics; exobiology [?]). This program is funded by the Space Grant Consortium in order to help increase the pool of students involved in space science and space engineering.

Applications for the NASA Space Grant Scholarship at Wellesley are available from Adele Wolfson, Faculty Director (ext. 3106) in the Science Center Office.

Summer Internships in Aerospace-Related Industries (2001)

Through the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, students may apply for aerospace-related summer positions at a number of participating companies. These industrial affiliates have recently included:

• The Aerospace Corporation
• Martin Marietta
• MIT Lincoln Laboratories
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Jet Propulsion Laboratories
• Orbital Science Corporation
• Rockwell International
• TRW
• United Technologie

The Space Grant Consortium (and the companies themselves) are especially interested in encouraging more women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities to apply for these positions.

Application forms and instructions for 2001 are available from the Adele Wolfson, Faculty Director of the Science Center, or from Dick French, Chair of the Astronomy Department. They are ordinarily due in mid-December, and must be returned directly to:

Helen Halaris
Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium
MIT Room 33-212 77
Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139

An informational meeting is held each year at MIT, generally in the first week of December, at the Marlar Lounge at MIT (Bldg. 37, room 252). Additional information can be obtained by calling Helen Halaris at the Space Grant Office (617) 258-5546. Information on the participating companies for 2001 will be available at the meeting.

The Following is a description of the jobs program written by Eric C. Kintner, Asst. Director of Mass. Space Grant:

The goal of the Summer Jobs Program is to provide students with realistic and meaningful summer job experiences with the affiliates of our Consortium in the space industry, and to give employers access to students who might consider careers with their companies.

We advertise the Summer Jobs Program in November to students at each of the Consortium campuses. We solicit applications from students who are completing their freshman year through first year graduate students; potential employers are free to determine their own mix according to their needs. A small "job fair" is held in November to explain what is involved in a meaningful summer training experience. Students are asked to submit application forms in December, accompanied by a resume, a current (not necessarily official) transcript, and a letter of recommendation. Students are asked to rank potential employers by preference, from a list of employers who have already provided materials about their companies and their activities.

Our interpretation of suitable space related activities is broad, including for example aerospace, electrical, and mechanical engineering, as well as astronomy and planetary science, and life sciences in a space context. We endorse NASA's goal of emphasizing opportunities for women and minorities, and we ask employers to consider the merits of applicants from all our Consortium affiliates.

We distribute applications to participating employers in early January. Employers find varied ways of reviewing applicants. All employers are invited to send a representative to Massachusetts to interview candidates. At the same time, we invite these representatives to contribute a seminar to the MIT course "Space Science and Space Engineering," a course designed to introduce undergraduates to the potential of a career in a space related field. Some employers choose to interview their selected applicants by phone.

Based on employers' choices students' indicated preferences, Space Grant matches students to employers and notifies the employers who then contact students.

We encourage employers to make offers before mid March. Student typically have other opportunities in hand by this time and will be making their decisions for the summer.

Arrangements for the summer are largely at the discretion of the employers. Often, Space Grant Summer Job students become part of a co op or other program already established within the employers company; we try not to interfere. Some employers offer transportation or housing allowance; again, that is at their discretion.

We do wish to review the progress of each student during the summer. To that end, the Massachusetts Space Grant Director and Assistant Director visit students and their employers on site in during the summer. (For Summer 1996, we plan to schedule visits during the last week of July and the first week in August.) Students are asked to make simple presentations about the work they have accomplished in their summer experience. In these visits we hope to discover whether the Summer Jobs experience is meaningful to the students and whether the program is meeting the expectations of their employers. We ask the students to tell us how the experience might be enhanced, not only by the employer but by logistical considerations such as automobiles and housing.

At the conclusion of the summer, we expect students to provide to the Space Grant Program a short (one page) synopsis of the work they have accomplished, and also a short commentary about their summer experience for the benefit of future participants