#STEM careers

[nasa]

Next Gen @ NASA: Celebrating National Intern Day

To celebrate National Intern Day, we asked interns to share how they got their internship and their perspective and advice to the next generation of prospective NASA interns.

Meet our interns and check out their suggestions for the next generation.

Sarah Kilpatrick, STDCE-2 Data Intern

Sarah is a summer Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment Data Intern at NASA. Her inspiration for applying for an internship came from a passion for science from an early age. “I grew up in a family that liked, enjoyed and appreciated science and the fun of it all,” she recalls. “I grew up watching PBS, NOVA, and other science shows, so when I saw NASA had opportunities for students like me, I was very interested.” 

Sarah’s advice to the next generation of NASA interns is one of perseverance and resilience.

Nicholas Natsoulas, Attitude Control Engineering Intern

Nicholas is a summer Attitude Control Engineering Intern at NASA. He wants to contribute to scientific innovation and discovery. “Overall, what inspired me to apply and come to work here was to contribute to the scientific exploration of space while learning about unique perspectives and innovative space discoveries.”

Nicholas’s advice for prospective NASA interns is to make the most out of your time here and to be a curious and eager learner.

“Use all the resources that are at your center and ask questions about projects you are working on. Don’t be afraid to talk to your mentor about your plans for the future and ask for any advice you may need, as they are more than willing to help you during your time here,” says Nicholas.

Nicholas and his mentor, Brent Faller, are using software to inform design decisions on a variety of spacecraft.

Nylana Murphy, former Additive Manufacturing Engineering Intern

As an American Indian College Fund ambassador and a Navajo engineer, Nylana Murphy hopes her internship story will inspire others to pursue a career in aerospace.

After attending the American Indian Science Engineering Society Conference, Nylana secured an internship in the additive manufacturing research laboratory at NASA Marshall.

 “My internships have helped me get to where I am,” she says, “There is a career for everyone, where their dreams can become reality. Those dreams WILL become a reality.”

You might be wondering: what happens after a NASA internship Here’s what two of our former interns did.

Loral O’Hara, Astronaut, former intern

Lorel interned at NASA JPL in 2003, and at NASA Goddard in 2004. She earned science degrees from both the University of Kansas and Purdue University.

As a research and project engineer, O’Hara reported for duty in August 2017 and completed two years of training as an Astronaut Candidate. She is projected to fly in Soyuz missions as a NASA astronaut soon.

If she could go back in time, Loral says she would tell her younger self to enjoy the opportunities that come her way—and never stop looking for new ones. “Enjoy the whole journey of…figuring out what it is that you like to do and exploring all different kinds of things.”

Jeff Carlson, Assembly, Test, Launch Operations Engineer

The “7 Minutes of Terror” video piqued Jeff Carlson’s interest in working at JPL. He thought, "That's the coolest thing I've ever heard of. I've got to go be a part of that in some way." While interning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he worked on Starshade, a sunflower-shaped device used to block starlight in order to reveal planets orbiting a star. Later, he went on to work on the team tasked with assembling and testing the “head” and “neck” (officially called the Remote Sensing Mast) for the Mars 2020 rover.

Want to join us in exploring the secrets of the universe? Visit intern.nasa.gov to learn more about open opportunities and requirements!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

Credits: Isabel Rodriguez, Glenn Research Center intern and Claire O'Shea, Johnson Space Center intern

[integratedlearningmodules]

7 Reasons Why STEM Education is Essential in 2022

The future of our workplaces and the world at large depends on it. STEM is one of the top jobs in demand right now, and by 2022, there will be 2 million unfilled STEM jobs in the United States. That's a lot of opportunities. This article will examine why STEM education is essential in 2022 and how we can support and improve it.

STEM Education is Essential for Many Reasons, Such as :

Increased Career Opportunities Industries like healthcare, technology, and advanced manufacturing will generate millions of new jobs. The demand for technically trained workers will continue to grow. STEM skills are in high demand in today's workforce.

Better Working Conditions According to the US Department of Labor, STEM employees earned an average of $86,980 in 2019. It proves that STEM jobs are often the safest and well-paid in the current job market.

STEM Encourages Critical Thinking and Creativity It is one of the major reasons for considering STEM Education as a priority. It also benefits students who do not intend to pursue STEM careers. Students can develop habits that will help them succeed in any field by focusing on logical thought processes and problem-solving skills. STEM curriculum encourages students to think critically and develop their solutions. As a result, students who receive a high-quality STEM education are well-positioned to be the next generation of inventors.

Greater Earnings Potential over a Lifetime Did you know that employment in STEM occupations is expected to increase by 8.8% by 2028? It will also be very beneficial to the healthcare sector. People with STEM skills earn more than those without these skills. An associate's degree in STEM can increase your annual earnings by $10,000.

Technological Advancement The prevailing pandemic has only highlighted the value of technology. As more people use apps like Slack, Zoom, and other tools to communicate with coworkers and friends, it's more important than ever to prepare students to use and develop the technology. So, a solid STEM foundation will prepare students for success in 2022 and beyond.

STEM is More than Just a Career Option STEM education is well known for increasing an individual's innovation and creativity. So, the best innovations will come when STEM becomes a passion rather than just a career option, which can be accomplished by incorporating STEM into toys and games, making it a child's favorite hobby.

STEM Fosters Project Management Abilities STEM coursework, particularly those in technology and engineering, includes hands-on projects. Students learn time management and how to break down larger projects into smaller steps as part of their STEM education. It is a skill that they will use throughout their lives, whether they are working on a project or doing household chores.

At ILM, we provide a solution by bringing together all the academic and technological resources on a single platform. It mainly contains interactive lessons and project-based modules that can be tailored to any classroom or remote learning environment. For more information, please do contact us.

[girlsinictday]

How COPE leverages esports to inspire youth success?

[zzzzzestforlife]

"Stop Romanticizing Tech" 👩‍💻 Software Engineer's Realistic Day

i've heard a lot of peers in tech say they wish people would "stop romanticizing tech" because of their personal experience with burnout and stress and more recently, AI and layoffs. all their complaints resonated with me and for a time, i also saw each day as a painful slog.

but i think just a pinch of romanticism and optimism can go a long way towards seeing possibilities and opportunities where others may not. we're already here, after all, at this point of uncertainty and chaos. if we tell ourselves that we can't see it any other way, we only suffer twice.

so regardless of your circumstances, i hope that as you acknowledge the reality, you also see everything that could be 💛

morning!! 🌇

woke up 30 minutes before my alarm!! ⏰ been trying to fix my sleep schedule / body clock, so this is a major win!

leisurely morning routine and breakfast before work is sooooo important!! 🥞

peer-review code (~13x!!)🏃‍♀️

fixed a major bug!! 🐛 and two other bugs i found because i'm an overachiever like that 💁‍♀️

went to an interesting lunch and learn!! 😋

afternoon... 🏙️

hot-fix!! 🔥🚒 (for a component that somehow got left out of a recent migration...)

meeting with some beta testers that went really well ☺️ i'm so proud since i led the project and endured a lot... like, A LOT for it 🥲

another meeting, this time to finalize documentation across teams in preparation for release... kinda boring tbh, but necessary 🤝

set up even MORE monitoring in preparation for release + clean up some tech debt while i'm at it 🖥️

evening~ 🌆

meetings with my manager and manager's manager 💼 i can't deal with office politics, tbh, so i just view these as catch ups with older friends who i happen to work with...

internal testing meeting for a colleague's project~ 👏

company-wide meeting~ (basically my time to be nosy about all the other departments) 👀

💌: until next time~! 🧡

[amokslime]

Modern AU ⁠— Gusu trio walking home from a party, in the snow, during the wee hours of the morning.

Yunmeng bros are about to have (yet another) snowball fight. Huaisang is trying to get someone to carry him the rest of the way home, even though he's the least drunk person there by a wide margin. Please he's sooo tired omggg

[queersolarpunk]

Getting that solarpunk career

For the people that, like me, want to find jobs having a somewhat positive environmental impact but struggle to find out how the fuck to find the right companies:

Did you know there are websites exactly for that? Sorry if that's common knowledge but my depressed solarpunk ass just discovered that that's a thing. So first I found Work on Climate and felt like my (so far non existent) career isn't a completely lost cause.

They basically built a community of people working in climate related jobs or having started companies, they host online events, offer one-on-one sessions with experts to help you learn how your skills are useful in climate (for free!) and collected different resources to find jobs. So through them I then discovered Climatebase which is basically LinkedIn specifically for companies/jobs that work on climate solutions.

They also offer these "fellowships", which are several week programms where you learn about a bunch of different aspects of sustainable development. It looks amazing but is sadly expensive af

I'm about to finish my studies and I was basically just stuck, paralysed at the options of selling my soul working in biopharma or something, simply because they pay well, or rotting away in academia (don't get me wrong, that'd still be an option but it often feels so far removed from any active change).

Solarpunk communities here focus so much on aesthetics, the literature part of the movement, on gardening, and nowadays also a lot more on the political and punk apsects - and I love all that! But what about the science? I'm a science girly at heart, it's what I'm good at. I'm getting my degree because I felt inspired by solarpunk and I want to use my opportunities to get really highly educated to actually do something. I want to help find ways to make the cool technologies in those beautiful pictures reality.

[xxkatkatastrophexx]

Always love people’s reactions when they take one look at me and go “are you a hair dresser/makeup artist?” And I’m like “no, I’m going to school for physics to persue a STEM career”

LOL why are they always in such disbelief? Cause I have pink hair and piercings and I’m good at math?

Silly. Goofy.

[sunshinephysics]

12.06.22 Being 22 is basically just freaking out on the daily because you don’t know what you want, with intermittent moments of clarity where you remember that you’re not supposed to know what you want.

[thegoodmorningman]

I've done extensive research into Magic and scientifically speaking, it's Awesome!

[shy-forceghost]

I recommended Radio Silence to one of my best friends a few days ago and she asked "oh, and is it good?"

I answered: "It was the pivotal point for my career crisis to start showing"

She said: "Oh. That good."

[barbielore]

Over the years Mattel has really tried to push that Barbie "Can Be Anything" -- there's multiple doll lines with that very branding. But there's been a few missteps over the years when it comes to STEM - "math class is tough", the computer engineer Barbie who needed help from her male colleagues, and so on.

So I thought I'd go back and look at some of the early Barbie STEM careers, to see how she has evolved over the years.

Depending on how you define STEM, the first STEM Barbie may have been Nurse Barbie in 1961. This is a tricky one because I cannot think of a reason why nursing would not be considered a STEM field, except for the fact that it has historically been a female-dominated field since before there was a bigger push for women in STEM. Sexism in action, really. Anyway, here's Nurse Barbie (1961).

The collectors edition rerelease in 2009 shows the same outfit on an actual Barbie.

The earliest STEM career that seems completely unambiguous as a STEM Barbie was astronaut, back in 1965 - making Barbie technically the first American to walk on the moon, but who's counting?

Naturally this was also historic enough to see a rerelease in the My Favorite Career series in 2009.

Barbie explored other fields of medicine in 1973 as Doctor Barbie - who appears to be wearing a surgical gown.

(Note this is also a rerelease, as I can't find a picture of the original 1973 Barbie.)

There were a few more over the years after this but it wasn't really until the 2000s that she started regularly seeing STEM careers in her history. (There are several from the 90s - but the 2000s is really when it began to pick up steam.)

One of my favourites among the more recent is Astrophysicist Barbie, released as a tie-in with National Geographic.

[turtletoria]

why does he look like austin powers

[miss-biophys]

There are many postdocs in academia, but not so many permanent researchers.

A new paper shows a statistics on where hundreds of Biomedical Sciences PhD graduates eventually ended up 10 years or more after graduation.

What strikes me there:

1. Sooo many postdocs go to administration positions after their postdoc is finished.

And it's true! I know so many people in administration who were good scientists before!

The following graph shows that from 418 PhD graduates, 325 went for a postdoc and 93 didn't. 145 administration/management/operation (AMO in the graph) positions in the end is for me a bit shocking.

2. The time for a postdoc in academia to actually get a permanent/non trainee position can be up to 13 years!

Only half of the people makes it in 6 years after PhD graduation. That's much longer than getting a permanent job in administration. I do not want to be 13 years postdoc. This is also one of the reasons people quit academia.

There are many more facts in the original article. Go read it if you're interested.

[girlsinictday]

Learn what opportunities; technology can offer.

In this first event of a two-part series, hear from women who are changing the world of gaming. You’ll learn about the tech powering the future of this fast-growing sport, as well as the exploding career opportunities technology can offer.

Join our broadcasts taking place around the world featuring eSports, the fastest growing sport in the world!

[zzzzzestforlife]

Software Engineer Dairies: Sprint Kick-off 🏃‍♀️👩‍💻

Stand-up 🙌

I was actually social this morning 🦋☺️ (it was standard "how was everybody's weekend?" fare but it got me invited to book club which i'm really excited about because we're reading Howl's Moving Castle!! 📚)

I have to take over more work from a senior colleague who's behind with his own work, which is fine(?) since I know what to do and my help is being acknowledged by leadership at least and I finished all of my existing work already... Should I slow down on purpose so this doesn't keep happening? 😂

Retrospectives 👀

These meetings always feel like getting a bad grade (sometimes good, but more often bad) 🥺 I know it's important to evaluate and improve and that it's not just on me but the whole team... Everyone else seems to be in a good, relaxed mood and taking things in stride, though... so I'll try to take these less personally in the future, too!

Planning 📑

I led a technical planning meeting like a hot mess but done is better than perfect and I got what I needed and got the hell out 😂 Now I have lots of follow-up tasks to deal with~

My senior colleague (not the same one whose work I needed to takeover) led a different planning meeting for his project — I was just there for moral support 😅

I'm also leading our sprint ceremonies now which means I can't multitask during our meetings anymore 😛

Code 🖥️

My pet peeve at work is when people take forever to review my code, so I am always the most responsive peer-reviewer on the team and my colleagues have said many times that they appreciate it and have come to return the favor 😌

I managed to fix an high-priority bug in between all these meetings! 🐞 (I was then immediately assigned another high-priority bug, unfortunately 🙃)