TEENS LEARN AT DRYDEN CENTER ENGINEERS AT NASA FACILITY MENTOR YOUNG APPRENTICES.

Byline: Daily News

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Paraclete High School senior Lucia Miranda knew only the basics of home computer use when she began her summer internship trouble-shooting computers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center.

``I will take back to high school a new knowledge of computers and I want to study computers in college,'' said Miranda.

``Computers are not what I thought I would be doing this summer, but I love it,'' said Annie Hunter of Littlerock High School, who shares tasks with Miranda.

Miranda and Hunter are two of 10 students from six local high schools who participated in National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP).

The apprenticeship is an eight-week, research-based mentoring program designed for students who excel in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and geography. The program's goal is to increase participation and success rates of students who are traditionally underrepresented in these areas.

Dryden engineer Starr Ginn began her career with NASA as a summer high school apprentice.

``I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up until the summer of 1992, when I participated in NASA's SHARP. I decided after that summer that I was going to be a mechanical engineer and work for Dryden,'' she said.

Ginn continued working in NASA intern programs until her full-time NASA employment began in 1999.

Ginn is mentoring Catlin Level of Lancaster High School. Level is working in Dryden's Structural Dynamics Branch on an inflatable support system capable of lifting aircraft like an F-18.

Level said that before his time at Dryden his focus was on mechanical engineering. His summer experience has provided an opportunity to observe other engineering fields for which he might be better suited.

Some 380 exceptional high school students are participating in this summer's apprenticeship research program at NASA centers and host universities across the nation. The teens were selected from a nationwide pool of more than 2,100 applicants. Some of NASA's top professionals, while working on cutting-edge research, mentor qualified students who earn a salary for their services.

To be considered for Dryden's program, students must be U.S. citizens, 16 years of age, attend school within a 50-mile radius, have an aptitude in science, mathematics or technology, and demonstrate an interest in pursuing a degree in those fields.

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Lancaster High School student Caitlin Level examines inflatable aircraft support system hardware used in vibration testing with his mentor, Starr Ginn, of the Dryden Flight Research Center.