NASA INTERNSHIP HELPS STUDENTS SOAR 10 HIGH SCHOOLERS LEARN FROM DRYDEN PROGRAM.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Ten local high school students are spending their summer examining the flow of electricity, working on equations that calculate heat stress and working with a computer simulator to obtain more accurate airplane data.

The teens are participating in NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center's Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program, or SHARP, a mentoring program designed for students who excel in engineering, geography, math, science and technology.

``I learned a lot about the work ethic that is here at NASA because mainly people think only about the space side. No one thinks about the aerospace side,'' said Allen Wong, a Highland High School senior. ``People here do work that is maybe even harder than on the space side, and they don't get as recognized.''

The program, which began June 20, runs for eight weeks. The teens work a full eight-hour day and get paid $8.10 an hour.

Nationwide, some 370 high schoolers are participating in this summer's program at NASA centers and host universities. They were selected from a nationwide pool of more than 2,900 applicants.

To qualify for NASA's Dryden apprenticeships, students must be U.S. citizens, at least 16 years old, attend school within 50 miles of Dryden, and have an aptitude for and demonstrate an interest in pursuing a degree in math, engineering or science.

``We select students that we bring out here as sort of apprentice engineers. They work under the mentorship of engineers and technical people and become part of their teams and part of the research or technical work that they do,'' said program coordinator Robert Garza, a retired teacher who taught physics and chemistry at Antelope Valley High School.

This year, 62 students from 13 area high schools applied, and 10 were chosen.

Besides Wong, the other students are Leighna Baxter of Quartz Hill High, Alexandra Guzman of Paraclete High, Laura Bookman and Felicia Kaltz of Antelope Valley High, Alan Tepe and Benjamin Coleman-Levy of Lancaster High, Elliot Mork of Mojave High, and Rebecca Hicks and Ronalynn Ramos of Desert High.

Wong is updating a 2002 facility electricity study and is often seen in search of electrical panels, with blueprints and clipboard in hand.

``It's strenuous. The electrical systems are not located in one location. I have to go throughout the entire Dryden base and go to every single location,'' said Wong, 17.

Wong said he plans to study electrical engineering in college and maybe come back to work for NASA or Lockheed Martin, where his father works as an electrical engineer.

Bookman, 17, wants to be an engineer and her experience in the summer program now has her thinking of studying aerospace engineering in college.

``I'm now looking toward being an aerospace engineer, just from working with people here and talking to people and finding out more about what it's about and what exactly they do,'' Bookman said.

Bookman has been working with meteorologists and researchers on refining something called the wet bulb globe temperature equation, which is used to determine heat stress warnings and how much time people should spend working outside.

``The instrument itself measures heat stress. That's important out here because of the higher solar radiation and higher winds,'' Bookman said.

Mork and Tepe are working on finding the best way to model an airplane on a computer to get more accurate data.

``It's really helped me narrow my job interests. I've always wanted to be an engineer and since this is more aerospace-centered, it interests me a lot,'' Mork, 17, said. ``I like the work. It didn't feel like work. It was interesting problems you figure out instead of work you had to do.''

Tepe said he heard about the apprenticeship from friends in Lancaster High's robotics program.

``They said they liked it and said it was fun. You earn money over the summer, work at NASA and it's a good educational experience,'' Tepe said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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(color) NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center's high school summer students pose with the program's coordinators at Edwards Air Force Base.