Thoughts from a Techie

The last two months we had the opportunity to work together as an E-Team for No Boundaries Competition.  It has been hard work but the biggest reward is to know that other students will benefit from this website and that we accomplished something that many others would not even attempt.  We have learned a lot from this exciting opportunity.  It doesn’t matter the distance between us,  we all worked together to make this website the best!  It is amazing how technology helped us so much in the communication of our group and the development of our project.

The fact that we live thousands of miles apart was the biggest challenge. Although the website had its challenges, the most rewarding part of this experience has been overcoming the challenge of collaborating with different people living thousands of miles apart.  We had no idea when we started this project how it would turn out.  We did not even know each other! It has been so rewarding to see a group separated by distance use communication through technology so effective to the extent that we practically could be next door neighbors!

The most important thing while doing work like this is to feel the satisfaction that you did a good job.  Of course, we wish our E-Team to win, but if we don’t, we are still very grateful to have this experience.  We discovered so many important things in two months, things that we didn’t learn in our whole lives!  We know that the three of us have done our best, that is why we also wish that you find this website useful.  So, enjoy!

E-Team

The Lunar Regolith is the thin layer of unconsolidated debris that covers the lunar surface.  The thickness of the regolith varies from 5 m to 10 m on highland superficies.  The regolith can be used to for the production of substances like Oxygen and Hydrogen.  The regolith is also useful to make a kind of concrete for making a lunar base for the space shuttles and rovers.  The Regolith can be very useful in the construction and exploration of the Moon.  This topic is still under investigation but it is very interesting.

You can find more at:

 http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/letss/Regolith.pdf

- Nathasha

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Like all of you might know, we are all members of the NASA’s INSPIRE Program. INSPIRE means Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research and Education. Through INSPIRE we are participating in an Online Learning Community (OLC). We have resources and experiences that help us develop our abilities and interest in STEM.

As part of INSPIRE we applied for some summer opportunities. The opportunity was based on our grade level and our residential area. Karishma and I got selected. We are still waiting to hear news about Christine. This means that Karishma and I will be attending the Kennedy Space Center in summer. This is a great opportunity to learn about STEM careers and it is a wonderful experience for any student interested in STEM. So motivate, maybe next year you can be one of the privileged people that is participating in this unique program.

~Nathasha

Some people say Engineering is not worth the time, but, is that true? You wouldn’t survive without Engineers. How would you feel if somebody tells you that you have to walk from your house to every place because there is nobody to design a car?

Almost everything we touch has to pass through the hands of an Engineer. There are a lot of disciplines in the Engineering field. Engineers not just design things such as cars, airplanes, and houses, like we often think. There are Mechanical Engineers, Civil Engineers, Biomedical Engineers, Geological Engineers, etc. Engineers investigate heat transference, make mineralogy studies, design airplanes motors, and improve medical instruments, between others.

How would be our lives without the Engineering? There wouldn’t be any of the technology advances we have. Engineering really have an important role in people’s lives.

~Nathasha

As a child, I had the typical dream of becoming a doctor.  This was the only way I knew how to help people.  I had no idea that engineers helped people in a great way also.  When I thought of engineers as a child, I would think of people building computers or high tech electrical equipment.  Little did I know that this was only a small portion of engineering.  There are a variety of engineering majors that I had no idea existed.

  This school year, in biology class, we studied genetics.  I become very interested in the idea of genetic mutations and disorders.  This is when I first became interested in biomedical engineering.  I had had my heart set on becoming a doctor, but once I learned about biomedical engineering, I knew it was for me.  Instead of using current methods to cure diseases, I could be the one creating new and improved methods to solve medical problems.  I figured out that I had wrongly judged engineering.  I am now interested in something I had no interest in before.  I never thought engineering was “my kind of thing.”  So think about it again. Engineering may be for you, but you just have not realized it yet.

-Karishma

Hey you guys.  This website  was created for the NASA No Boundaries Competition.  It is going to focus on mechanical engineering.  I am really excited about getting this site up and working.  I’m looking forward to learning new things and teaching my peers about the benefits mechanical engineering.

Our team is made up of four people from various locations.  We are one of the few E-teams (if not the only one) in the competition.  The exciting part is that if we win, we will be able to meet each other at a NASA shuttle launch.  Amazing right?  We would go from being a group of complete strangers to four close companions in a matter of a few months.  Even if we do not win, the opportunity of meeting new people like this would definitely be worth all the work.

-Karishma