Space Dynamics Laboratory Honors Student Employees

 Utah State University Research Foundation and Space Dynamics Laboratory  honored 36 undergraduate and graduate students this past week that were employed at USURF and SDL while seeking degrees at USU.
    “There are few institutions where students have the opportunity to obtain real-world experience on programs that advance scientific research for agencies such as NASA, or provide needed capabilities for the Department of Defense,” said Melanie Pond, director of human resources for USURF.  “The 36 students that we honored today are expected to graduate in 2010 with degrees ranging from Electrical, Mechanical and Computer Engineering to Business Administration and Accounting.  These students represent a cross section of disciplines that can be found at many of the world’s leading aerospace, defense and scientific organizations.”
    “Over the years, USURF and SDL has hired and helped train over 1,500 students and has given them intellectual tools to provide innovative solutions to our world’s current scientific and business challenges,” said Niel Holt, director of SDL.  “This learning process takes place in an environment where creativity is fostered through hands‐on training, where nationally recognized science and engineering is the norm.  We’re grateful for the energy with which they perform their tasks and the youthful perspective they offer to our organization.”
      USURF and SDL currently employees 113 students who are assigned important roles in programs such as NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer instrument, which was built at SDL, launched in December aboard a Delta II rocket, and is mapping the entire sky for the nearest and coolest stars, the origins of stellar and planetary systems, and the most luminous galaxies in the Universe.  Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch visited with student employees at SDL where he toured a new facility and discussed the importance of work that they do to support the United States.
    Mechanical Engineering graduate Jason Hansen said, “Pursing my graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering while simultaneously working at SDL has provided me with the unique opportunity to be involved in many aspects of aerospace production.  From design concepts to production, testing, and quality certified delivery, I have had the opportunity to produce thermal managing components that are currently being flown or are scheduled to fly on some of the most sophisticated satellites ever built.”