Students gather around the front of S201 to take catch a look at equipment after the presentation. Of the students who apply for the Arduinos Project internship only 14 will be selected to participate and receive a stipend.
The NASA Arduino Project Internship is an opportunity offered to the students of Cerritos College.
The NASA CA Space Grant funds the project budget and offers a stipend to the participants.
Because it is a federal grant, participants who are not citizens or legal residents are not eligible to receive the stipend of $750.
Physics professors Carlos Mera and Janet McLarty-Schroeder expressed that though the internship does put emphasis on STEM, students do not have to be STEM majors to participate.
Mera said, “The students apply online, we try to look for someone who is really willing to commit to this, you have to commit to this for the spring semester and the summer. And then this year we’re are going to have interviews.”
Ashika Mettu, computer science major, hopes to be accepted into the internship and has an idea for a project that would detect temperature.
“I’m interested in it. I’m interested in space, and if get into NASA I can get contacts and an internship if possible. I just graduated [high school] and they’re […] going to help us.”
Mera said that the students learn from each other as well as from himself and McLarty-Schroeder.
He said, “[Other STEM majors] learn to program and the programmers learn a little science like biology and chemistry.”
They especially learn about the research happening at NASA during their webinar sessions.
He said, “They have learned to work in a group, learned to interact with other majors, be able to communicate, share ideas.They learn a lot about the research at NASA”
Isaac Taylor, double majoring in computer engineering and film, was a participant from the last round of project interns.
“It gets stressful, but it’s also a lot of fun. Once you’re in, you need to use the resources you have, which is your immediate group and then the group as a whole.
“Google is a huge friend,”he expressed.
The interns who are accepted are split into groups of three or four and work on different projects.
Taylor’s group was interested in sound.
He said “We designed a rover that detects sound and where it is the softest or loudest.”
Taylor said, “The biggest thing for me was communication. It’s really hard when all of your group members are from different backgrounds and everybody is working and doing school. it made have to step up as leader.”
The project internship has also opened new doors for him.”
He said “We went to NASA Armstrong, […] I’m not really into space, but Armstrong does more in the atmosphere stuff, like planes and helicopters. I actually may have gotten an internship there with them.”
For more information on Cerritos College Physics department and the NASA grant visits http://cms.cerritos.edu/physics/nasa-grant.htm
Applications can be submitted now HERE.
