You may contact the Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education regarding Travel Grants at travelgrant@nasa-academy.org.
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An April 2008 awardee, Emily Tenenbaum,
is a graduate student in physical chemistry at the University of Arizona.
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Emily, who studies the chemistry of
stars using observational radio astronomy, presented [PDF version of Emily's presentation (1.2 Mb PDF)] her discovery of
two P-bearing molecules around two different types of stars at the
International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy in June of 2008. The
discovery of P-bearing molecules in circumstellar space is important for
understanding the development of life, as P is a crucial element in the
building blocks of life.
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An April 2008 awardee, Erin Beck,
is a senior in physics at Washington University in St. Louis.
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Erin, the
project manager and mission planning lead of a team of 60 students
designing and building a flight-ready satellite for the Air Force
Research Laboratory's University Nanosatellite competition, attended
the Small Satellite Systems and Services "4S" Symposium in May 2008. She not only presented [PDF version of Erin's poster (2.8 Mb PDF)] her team's progress but also carried out
her responsibilities for the overall meeting as a member of the
meeting's technical committee.
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A 2006 awardee, Madeline Leong,
is a first--year M.D./Ph.D. student at Duke University.
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Madeline enthusiastically wrote about how her experience leading her Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program team redefined her perspectives on medicine and sparked a fascination with space research. She presented [PDF version of Madeline's poster (1.9 Mb PDF)] the results of her team's study on the influence of gravitational stress on immunity at the National MD-PhD Student Conference in July of 2007.
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A 2006 awardee, John Janeski,
is a senior at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
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John participated in the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program where his team demonstrated electrostatic orbits between two charged spheres. John presented [PDF version of John's presentation (7.4 Mb PDF)] the results of their experiment at the American Association of Physics Teachers meeting in January 2007 in hopes of providing physics teachers with a unique and exciting way to teach basic principles of physics in their classrooms.
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A 2005 awardee, Matthew Gadja,
is a second year graduate student in engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Matthew presented a talk on
the design of "A Lunar Volatiles Miner" [PDF version of Matthew's presentation (1.1 Mb PDF)] at the International Conference on
Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments in
Houston, Texas in March of 2006. Matt has a longstanding interest in space and was a high-performing engineering physics major
as an undergrad while lettering as a member of the University of
Wisconsin football team.
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A 2005 awardee, Nicole Jordan,
is a second year graduate student in the Aeronautics and Astronautics/Technology
and Policy program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Nicole presented a
talk on the "Development and Validation of a Multidisciplinary Spacesuit Model" [PDF version of Nicole's presentation (8.4 Mb PDF)] at the 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in
Reno in January of 2006. Nicole has extensive experience in spacesuit research
and an impressive academic record.
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A 2004 awardee, David Harmon,
was a senior double major in computer science and mathematics at Wofford
College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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David attended the Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics: Computation Science and Engineering conference in February of 2005. He presented the work he did as a summer
intern at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
on Maestro, a software package used to control
the Mars Exploration Rovers during surface operations [PDF version of David's poster (3 Mb)]. David's
application was noteworthy for its outstanding letter of support from
his computer science department chair, who also had served as his
professor in numerous courses. Awarding a Travel Grant to David marks
the second year in a row the Soffen Fund was able to provide support to
a student at a small college outside the mainstream of NASA university
activities.
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A 2004 awardee, Amber Straughn,
was a second year graduate student in physics and astronomy at Arizona
State University in Tempe,
Arizona.
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Amber attended the American Astronomical Society's
meeting in January of 2005 to present her research on
characterization of "Tadpole Galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field"
Dataset [PDF version of Amber's poster (4.2
Mb PDF)]. Amber's application stood out not only for its glowing letter
of support from her advisor, but by her enthusiastic essay.
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| The 2003 awardee, Philip A. Ashley,
was a sophomore studying Physical Science at Harding University in Searcy,
Arkansas. |
Philip presented his work on "Measurement of Diatomic Oxygen in the Exhaust Plume of a Mini-Hybrid Rocket"
[PDF version of Philip's poster (463 Kb PDF)]
at the American Chemical Society's 227th National Meeting in Anaheim, California. |
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| The 2002 awardee, Kristen Bethke,
was a senior
studying Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.
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Kristen presented her work on "Revolutionary Concepts for Human Outer Planet Exploration (HOPE)"
[PDF version of Kristen's presentation (3.2 Mb PDF)]
at the Space Technology and Applications International Forum in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 3rd, 2003. Kristen presented slides 14-26 of the presentation. |
