bright young minds curious and probing
young adults with the ability to
comprehend complex problems and solve
them with innovative ideas
these students each possess unique
talents that have cultivated will
someday change the face of the future
answering a need to ensure that these
students go on to success
is nasa's summer high school
apprenticeship research program
the program is an opportunity attracting
young achievers with an interest in
science and engineering
founded in 1979 as a program designed to
attract and serve underrepresented
minorities
the sharp program is helping to produce
many scientists engineers and
technicians who someday work for nasa or
private industry
sharp students are getting the
opportunity to focus in
focus in on how you might use science
and math and i really see that after
they spend a few weeks really eight
weeks rubbing elbows with engineers they
begin to see what it's like to be an
electrical engineer a mechanical
engineer an aerospace engineer the
really nuts and bolts of it and it helps
them focus in a little bit more in terms
of seeing how they might one day be in
that same position
i like working with young people they're
exciting they're full of energy they're
full of enthusiasm
these young people are have the energy
to burn and they want to be an exciting
place and reach out and really
see that they can make a contribution
in the program students are exposed to a
scientific and technical work
environment
through interaction with nasa mentors
they receive an insight into possible
career opportunities
they're here
eight weeks to work directly with the
engineers and with the in the technical
field and to basically not only learn
some specific technical duties
but to understand what engineering is
all about in a general sense as a mentor
i work with the students in trying to
encourage them in the engineering
science and technology field
i also try to get them to interact with
the other engineers in my section
programs like this get people exposed to
the to the real world to the process of
learning on a job which they're going to
have whether they're in school or at
work
given real world tasks and problems to
solve these enthusiastic youth put their
energy to work pushing the limits to
come up with workable answers
solutions that will actually be used
because the projects that they work on
are real projects
i try to give them challenging projects
usually projects that are above their
head a little that makes them try a
little harder
and i think they really get a lot out of
it
the sharp program takes place at most
nasa facilities
at kennedy space center students learn
about test checkout and launch of space
vehicles
across the country at ames research
center projects concentrate on computer
science for flight research and
simulation
at langley in hampton virginia the focus
is on research and development of
advanced air and spacecraft systems
the summer high school apprenticeship
research program is a major commitment
by nasa
its purpose is to make minority students
aware of career opportunities and to
encourage them to attain higher
education it's been
one
thrilling 11-year span i have seen more
than 190 kids come through the program
received tremendous benefits from the
program
as a matter of fact
more than 98 of those students who've
entered the program have gone on into
science math high tech type careers
students demonstrating an interest in
these fields participate in projects
that are as diverse as the nasa centers
in the shop program i'm learning how to
run the diagnostic tests on the
experimental computer which simulates
what
the space load experiments will be
experiencing during the space missions
open space
it's very educational it's an experience
i would have never had and i'm fortunate
to be here
so far in the shop program i've been
working with
test carriage with tet which tests
aircraft tires for jet planes and if
tests to see if
when they land how much wear there is
and we check
how much wear there is on the tire after
every run i learned about a lot of
different areas of engineering that
i don't think i ever would have known
about i've been working with the
the computer simulation software
simulation of the f-18 so i spent a lot
of time on there and then different
programs are used to evaluate the data
i'm getting out of the simulation
there is a lot of learning involved
there's a lot of learning and a lot of
hands-on experience and those are the
two real benefits of the program
in my area we're working on the pfma
which is the prototype
flight manipulator
and i'm tele-operating the
pfma when i first came here on the first
day i went to this meeting
it was like i was flooded with all this
information and i could barely pick out
anything that they were saying and the
more that i read the more i understood
it
and
then when i come down here and actually
work with the arm then it then it all
starts to fall in place and i actually
understand a lot now
the value of the sharp program cannot be
underestimated
of the more than 1200 apprentices who
have participated since 1979
many have gone on to become engineers
and scientists for nasa and private
industry
it is important to recognize that as we
move toward the future
the numbers of young people available to
fill important research positions is
shrinking
a strong effort must be made to capture
the talent of these youth
sharp is playing an important role in
directing underrepresented minorities
into an area we must be concerned about
as a nation
it can become even more
if our country is to be strong in
science and engineering it will take the
students of today to do it
and without a doubt they're going to be
our future and we'd like to be our
future engineers constructive and
developing and building our country that
we can confront the year 2000 we can
confront the future and that may be also
mean not only on this planet but out in
further
outreaches and outposts in space
sharp is a success and is a model for
other programs to follow
for without opportunity
there can be no future
you