NASA Ames Internship [Any Q's?]

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>I recently landed an internship at NASA's Ames Research Center. I'll be working in the arc jet complex, fabricating and maintaining components, and hopefully getting exposure to the various engineering activities taking place therein. The job starts in the first week of January.</p>

<p>I'll be in a position to give some pretty good info on the local community colleges, residence, as well as the goings-on in Ames, assuming it's not top-secret or something like that. </p>

<p>If anyone is interested, feel free to send any/all questions my way, and I'll get a response back to you ASAP.</p>

<ul>
<li>Nukewarm</li>
</ul>

2

<p>I got this internship as well. Damn, I’m surprised of the number of people who have an internship at Ames. Makes it feel a lot less amazing. My major is business so it’ll be interesting. I work in the aeronautics division, in a windtunnel.</p>

3

<p>Very nice. Have you worked there for a while already? If so, have you found it easy to meet people from separate, private companies? It seems like many engineering related organizations would frequent Ames. </p>

<p>I’m hoping to line up my next internship while working there, but so far my plan to do so consists largely of wandering around the facility with a confused expression on my face, hoping to bump into someone wearing a suite.</p>

4

<p>Haha I start the same time you do so I’m just as clueless. I don’t expect to get my next internship from networking at NASA. However, it’s pretty spectacular having the agency’s name on your resume anyway. I hope to obtain an internship at an accounting/professional services firm after wards and hope whatever I do at NASA will prepare me a bit for it.</p>

5

<p>Someone PM’d be about the internship. I’ll assume they want to remain anonymous. </p>

<p>“Hi. I’m wondering how you got the internship with NASA Ames. Did you apply under the STEP program? Honestly the NASA Ames website is very confusing so I don’t really know where to apply on the website. What was the time duration between applying and getting accepted? What is your GPA because I heard NASA likes to take top GPA students. And what university do you go to? (does it matter?). Thanks”</p>

<p>Response:</p>

<p>"Hi *****,</p>

<p>I also found NASA’s website to be very confusing. When I approached Ames’ human resources team about this, they agreed that it wasn’t a very good resource for hopeful applicants.</p>

<p>I applied to Ames through NASA’s USRP program, as well as a much smaller (less selective) program Ames has through the De Anza/Foothill community college district. I didn’t get accepted through USRP, but I did get accepted through the De Anza resource.</p>

<p>I go to a community college (Cosumnes River College) located in Sacramento, California. The people at Ames were a little set back about how I even found out about the De Anza program, but after explaining that I found it through random online searches, they confessed that, while they only advertise to De Anza, they serve all community colleges in California.</p>

<p>I went to two interviews; One for a programming position on the Kepler team, and the other for the arc jet lab. The first interview was early November, and the arc jet interview was about a week ago. I was informed about my getting the position a day or two after the second interview. </p>

<p>My GPA was a 3.7 when I applied in early October, but I don’t believe my GPA was a large factor in getting the position. As far as I can tell, the GPA’s were only used to screen out poor applicants. After that initial stage, I don’t believe anyone even looked at my application. None of my interviewers knew about my previous experience, classes, or GPA. I think I got the position because of a small applicant pool, along with a good interview. I researched the position beforehand, so I had a lot to say/ask about the arc jet, and the general practices of the facility."</p>

<p>Oh, and after my second interview, I convinced the HR people to give me the contact info of the arc jet lab’s leading crew. I subsequently contacted them in a very gracious and enthusiastic manner. That may have helped me stand out from the rest of the applicants.</p>

6

<p>Hey Nuke,</p>

<p>I was wondering what the time and transportation situation will look like for you? Do you have a car, or will you be taking the CalTrain? You’re taking classes this quarter, right? How does that scheduling work out? I’m very interested in doing the Fall 2010 session, or Summer maybe, if I can afford to live in the Bay during the summer! :P</p>

<p>I have a little more to ask, but I figure I can later once you know more!</p>

7

<p>I’ve been getting around Sacramento well enough with a bicycle. I figured I would continue this in San Jose. Ames, Foothill college, and De Anza college are all less than 6 miles apart, so moving to Mountain View should put me right in the middle of that triangle.</p>

<p>I am taking two classes this quarter - Microeconomics and Physics 4B. The arc jet group suggested I come in to work at around 6:30am, so at 4 hours a day, any class that starts after 12:00pm should be doable. The local community colleges host a great number of evening courses, so I don’t see a scheduling conflict arising in the near future. </p>

<p>De Anza and Foothill also seem to have many more courses available during the summer than CC’s on a semester system, so you’ll probably be able to take whatever you want out here when you arrive. One problem though, is the availability of classes. I was a little late to register this quarter (About 7 days), and every class I needed but one was full (Engineering 20/37, physics 4b, chem 1a, calc 1c, diffEQ, econ)! From what I hear, this is because the local colleges have way too many students, and they’re cutting back classes because of the economy.</p>

<p>You can find rooms to rent for 500-600 a month. This makes any lifestyle that doesn’t involve a car quite doable at about 1100~ a month income, which is just about what an internship at Ames gets you.</p>

<p>P.S.</p>

<p>If you also plan to bicycle to save money, I could offer you some advice on bicycle commuting.</p>

8

<p>Wow nukewarm, talk about relocating for a job opportunity. I’m just a freshman at De Anza, hoping on transferring to Berkeley. I live with my parents in San Jose and commute to school by car so everything is very convenient. I don’t really know how I got chosen for this internship, maybe they really liked my essay because I have no prior work experience except for some retail and tutoring.</p>

9

<p>nothing is impressive about NASA Ames. Congrats anyways</p>

10

<p>^ That’s a silly thing to say because out of the 900 or so applicants there were only around 15 selected this year. Every time I bring up interning at NASA people are bewildered and congratulatory. The administration’s name is amazing on any 18-year old’s resume. If you can back up your claims on how it isn’t impressive, please enlighten me.</p>

11

<p>@Cupertinotransfr
Well let me enlighten you,
First of all, you won’t do any legit work at NASA because 18-year-old have limited knowledge and especially you’re from De Anza (no offense).
Second of all, your are a business major. What the hell are you doing at NASA? I guess your job will be preparing coffee and answering phone. Pretty impressive. NOT.
I think two reasons are enough.
Besides the stats that out of 900 ppl only 15 got selected doesn’t mean much. Have you heard of the saying that in the world of full of blind ppl, the one-eye man is king?</p>

12

<p>What do you consider legit work?</p>

13

<p>I don’t know much about the “prestige” factor of working for NASA, and as long as I am afforded the luxury, I don’t care about it either. The idea seems silly to me, and as long as I can, I’ll maintain that opinion.</p>

<p>I do know, however, that on my first day, the arc jet lab had me fabricating and assembling the swing arm hydraulic systems. My second day was centered around repairing and fabricating cooling systems, and my third day focused on maintaining many of the systems’ power supplies.</p>

<p>This, though, isn’t by itself impressive or outstanding. It is the fact that these tasks weren’t designed for time management or efficiency, they were designed to teach. Every single technical action I have taken at Ames has been under the careful instruction and guidance of several life-long technicians and engineers. They have placed my education above all else, and hold dear the importance of answering any and all questions, as well as combining technical and theoretical knowledge.</p>

<p>At one point we were pressure testing some hydraulic tubes, when my supervisor suggested I google how the water pump system worked. After doing just that, coming back, and explaining what I had learned to him, we took a 20 minute break, opened up the pump system, and studied the mechanics of how the air/springs moves the pistons to pressurize the tubes with water. They tried speaking to me of the more academic principles behind the mechanics of this system (as well as others), but I unfortunately hadn’t the educational experience to maintain a conversation with them on the subject.</p>

<p>This is so far my experience with NASA. It is everything I have hoped for in a hands on/educational experience, and I greatly look forward to the rest of the year with them.</p>

14

<p>That’s great you are learning hands on at Ames. Question though - did you know how to perform any operations in the arc jet lab prior to working there? Any background in that area?</p>

<p>Was learning the processes for your work difficult?</p>

15

<p>I had no experience or knowledge regarding the operations at the arc jet lab beyond what wikipedia or logical assumptions could give me, nor did I have much experience even working with my hands. I wouldn’t say I was insecure about performing technical operations, but I was definitely unsure of myself.</p>

<p>The first day for instance, I couldn’t screw a nut onto a bolt. Lefty loosy, righty tighty apparently depends on perspective to be an accurate mnemonic, which IMO defeats the point, but I digress… Rather than my supervisor spending a good 3~ minutes having a good laugh at what “college” had afforded me to that point, he clearly explained and demonstrated the technique he used to never struggle screwing on bolts. It involves pushing the nut away from the rod it is connected to as much as possible before approaching the bolt, and, after making contact, allowing the connected rod to “float” in your other hand (hold it loosely) while you screw the nut onto the bolt. </p>

<p>While the learning curve is steep at the facility, the crew there makes every effort to go out of their way to teach, in detail, the theory behind what it is we are doing (The why’s), as well as the lessons they have learned from years of experience, even regarding subjects as mild as screwing a nut onto a bolt.</p>

<p>None the less, most of the equipment and devices used on-site still confuse me. I hear from previous interns that are now contractors, that they will slowly introduce me to every aspect of the various systems, one at a time, under a controlled environment, until I am able to grasp the greater picture of how they operate.</p>

16

<h2>Update</h2>

<p>In case anyone is in a similar situation, here’s some general information I wish I had before coming out here, as well as some interesting but largely useless facts about the local area:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Foothill college is at…the foot of a hill - Doy! Bicycling up that **** hill twice a day sucks. </p></li>
<li><p>Ames HR can and will screw your “Work Experience” grade (4 quarter units) up if you give them more work than they’re comfortable with. They had to keep on me about a few things like paperwork deadlines, signatures, etc. By the end of the quarter, the person assigning grades was ready to make an example out of me. It took some serious negotiating to avoid that hit to my GPA. I wouldn’t be able to avoid it a second time.</p></li>
<li><p>Almost 10% sales tax. This town is insane.</p></li>
<li><p>It’s a crime to bicycle inside of federal property without a helmet. Being late your first day because you were forced to walk your bike also sucks.</p></li>
<li><p>There are a lot of Priuses out here (What’s the plural of that word anyway? Prius’?). I mean A-LOT. There are 6 of them parked in my cul-de-sac. </p></li>
<li><p>Foothill/De-Anza uses a bunch of online homework/quiz websites that you have to register and pay for separately. These tally up to a huge additional tuition fee.</p></li>
<li><p>Interns at Ames get to register early for classes</p></li>
<li><p>The local bus program, Valley Transit Authority, has no student-ride programs with either Foothill or DeAnza. It’s $2 a ride.</p></li>
<li><p>An unexpectedly large % of young (<25) people work at Ames. I work with 5 personally, and can’t walk down the streets within the center without passing quite a few.</p></li>
<li><p>All around the mountain view area, small businesses reign supreme. You can get some serious deals on food out here if you check out the local owned places before Safeway ( 0.79$ vs $3.99 for grapes/lb ! ).</p></li>
<li><p>Foothill is huge/rich. When I first came out here, just as I was joking with a friend about how all this school needed was a horse galloping down one of the roads, I kid you not, we saw some damn horses grazing in one of the (I can only guess) agricultural centers.</p></li>
<li><p>Government employees are awesome. Everyone has ping-pong tourneys during lunch “hour” (yes, there were quotes around that ). I also see pictures everywhere people put up of past golf, soccer, and football tourneys the crew has participated in. The attitude seems to be, get the job done the way it should be done, and have a good time while you do it.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I’ll add more if I can think of anything.</p>

17

<p>Hey Nukewarm, I’m at De Anza and I was wondering how competitive it was to get this internship and what are the hours for it.</p>

18

<p>Go figure. I checked this thread right before leaving for Ames.</p>

<p>As to your question about competitiveness, I couldn’t give you an exact answer, as I don’t know how many total/accepted applicants there are. I can, however, assure you that your odds of getting a job at Ames are greater through this program than any other. You’re only competing with </p>

<ol>
<li>Community College Students…</li>
<li>From Foothill/DeAnza…</li>
<li>Who applied and…</li>
<li>Were worthy of the job</li>
</ol>

<p>Those filters will get rid of most of the competition out there. Go for it!</p>

<p>As for hours, the normal contract is 20 hours a week, though you can extend that to 25 hours per week with a signed agreement from your work supervisor. The hangup, though, is that you can only work 8 hour days - No longer. They do this to avoid having to pay anyone overtime. This creates many barriers to hitting the 25 hour weekly goal when you have classes/other responsibilities to attend to.</p>

<p>I’ve been looking into California state codes regarding “Classified Employee’s”, and “Overtime Exemption”. There are a few articles that state certain conditions in which this 8 hour limit can be circumvented. Unfortunately, every avenue I have pursued, from speaking to an Ames HR representative, to speaking to the classified worker unions, to speaking with a Foothill college liaison, have been met with resistance. At this point I consider the current, unfortunate situation regarding working hours as written in stone.</p>

19

<p>Hey Nuke,</p>

<p>I do have a question on applying for the NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program. I am not so sure of you have heard about. I am applying for the Spring and Summer 2011 Session. I have lots of experience on my resume that is both based on research and internships. I am looking forward to go the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I know that NASA is highly competitive and I would like to join them because it is my dream to be there. I am an Electrical Engineer with a minor in Physics and I want to research on new developments made in science and how we can innovate those ideas into one masterpiece.</p>

<p>Do you have any advice on this with my standalone GPA of a 3.04 and with lots of research experience in the area and internship experience as well. What do you think? I would like to hear on your feedback.</p>

<p>Fidaali</p>

20

<p>Honestly, the scope of my experience with NASA is very limited, so I don’t know how much useful information I would be able to convey regarding their other programs. However, one point does come to mind: Nepotism.</p>

<p>I think you should contact the jet propulsion HR department, and become informed as to their student intern/coop programs, as well as any tours or events that will take place down there in the immediate future. Dedicate a week to driving down to JPL and meeting with the HR people. Take any tours available, participate in any/all programs taking place that week, and above all else form a friendly relationship with someone in the HR department. One of these avenues should lead you to a meeting with someone working in the department at JPL you’re interested in. From there it’s just a matter of saying you’re name to the right people, and leaving the right impression. </p>

<p>Make sure you research what it is they actually do in said department. NASA, at least in my experience, is notoriously bad about disclosing useful information on their various programs, so it’s up to you to become informed about what it is they do, and why you’re interested in working there. This information will greatly increase your chances of being remembered by a supervisor or manager when you eventually meet. </p>

<p>Maybe this will help you to land the USRP position, but it could also very well allow you to land another JPL position through a different, or possibly unadvertised, program. Either way, I highly recommend going there in person. It can really only increase your chances of getting the job.</p>