Archive of Past GVIS Students

Over the years, the GVIS Lab intern team has shifted many times with all kinds of bright and intelligent people. Below is an archive of all our past interns!

Fall 2023 Interns

Kilian Olen

Kilian Olen is an undergraduate honors student, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, pursuing two degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Physics. His concentrations lie in Astronautics and Spacecraft Systems, and he has two declared minors being Applied Mathematics and Computer Aided Design/Manufacturing. Throughout his studies, he has cultivated a deep fascination with bio-inspired robotics and space exploration, and is committed to advance these disciplines in his graduate studies.

Kilian’s planned tasks are to support the development of concept vehicles by designing 3D models and animations of electric aircraft concept designs and hardware prototypes.

During the school year, Kilian serves as an undergraduate research assistant under Dr. Aroh Barjatya at the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab and as an engineering tutor at the Academic Advancement Center. Outside of academics, he enjoy playing soccer, studying biology, improving his French, and exploring different mediums in art.

Lauren Leese

Lauren Leese is a recent graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she double majored in English and astronomy. Her background in astrophysics research and in a wide variety of writing disciplines unlocked her passion for communicating science in a clear and accessible way. As a communications and outreach intern focused on AI and machine learning efforts at NASA, she curates and creates content for the NASA AIML site, and will assist in launching a public site to highlight NASA projects that leverage AI for the benefit of all. She also assists with displays at GVIS Lab outreach events. As a competitive swammer (that is, past tense of competitive swimmer), Lauren enjoys time in the pool and staying active. She also likes reading and writing science fiction and fantasy novels, playing the guitar, and collecting space-themed mugs

Chase Leidy

Chase Leidy is a CGI Graphics Intern under the SCaN department at Glenn Research Center where he works in the GVIS lab. Chase recently received his BFA in Animation from the Cleveland Institute of Art. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio where he developed his passion for computer graphics by watching cinema and enjoying video games. Chase specializes in visual effects. He spends much of his time outside of the office expanding his skills in using industry standard programs for visual effects and simulations. For the summer and fall semesters of 2023, Chase has been tasked with completing 3D productions of SCaN missions, such as Lunar LiTES and Cognitive Communications. When Chase isn’t focusing on his profession, he enjoys socializing with other interns and going on hikes, especially while traveling.

Allison Tee

Allison Tee is a student at Stanford University studying mathematics and music with a coterm Master’s in computer science. Originally from Wichita, Kansas, Allison’s journey now leads them to the forefront of cutting-edge technology. Currently, as an intern in the realm of machine learning engineering, Allison is immersed in the world of retrieval-augmented generation, harnessing the power of GPT-4 for the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) project. Beyond their academic pursuits, Allison enjoys playing the piano, video gaming, and exercising. Additionally, they like the smell of durian more than the actual taste and grows Carolina Reapers.

Anna Nguyen

Anna Nguyen is a third year student at San Diego State University studying computer science. As the Outreach Support for Scientific Computing Visualization Lab intern, she is working on updating the GVIS website with additional and updated projects and events, and all of GVIS’ social media. She is also tasked to enhance the Astrosuit visualization by updating the project settings to support de-facto standard GVIS build settings, clean up project asset organization to move custom assets into their own folders, update the project to the latest release of Unity and the Kinect plug that is used for motion capture, and add keystrokes for switching between different suits and to “reset” the app so it can see new people in the view. In Anna’s free time, she enjoys swimming, skating, and socializing with her friends.

Aiden McDougal

Aiden McDougal is a sophomore at the University of Cincinnati studying Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Astrophysics. Aiden is currently working to improve the flight simulation as well as systems integration for the SUSAN project. Outside of work, Aiden is completing training for his Private Pilot Certificate. He has experience in software development, 3D modeling, and manufacturing processes. In his free time, Aiden enjoys weightlifting, app development, and the outdoors.

Matthew Bigge

Matthew Bigge is a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with degrees in Computer Science (BS, Spring 2023) and Music (BA, Summer 2023). He is currently working in the GVIS lab producing AR/VR visualizations for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) Project. In his time in university, Matthew was a member of various clubs and organizations such as the Cornhusker Marching Band and UNL Quiz Bowl Club. The most important to him was his involvement with Research, Engineering, and Design (RED) Teams at UNL. In this group, Matthew was able to get experience working with NASA by participating in the MicroG NeXT and SUITS challenges. These projects allowed him to travel to Houston to test their work onsite with NASA engineers and develop the skills in both mechanical and software design/production. In his free time, Matthew loves playing jazz and classical music on his trumpet and doing things with my hands. He has worked in his university’s makerspace for 3 years and loves woodworking, metalworking, 3D printing and more that lets him make his own things like furniture.

Summer 2023 Interns

Olivia Francese

Olivia Francese is a recent graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a bachelors degree in Digital Arts. This summer is her third semester as an intern with the GVIS lab. Currently, she is an Augmented and Virtual Reality Developer, currently working on the NEAT (NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed) project. With this project, Olivia works on 3D modeling, 3D lighting, and 3D texturing to create visualization for the future revised NEAT facility once it is built. In her free time, she likes to draw and explore nature.

Maya Malavasi

Maya Malavasi is a student at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in History and Mechanical Manufacturing. She is working on creating an embedded, interactive animation for the informational page of the SUSAN aircraft, with the NASA GVIS lab, and will later be working on creating 3D models for use in visualization and VR technology. She loves both STEM and the humanities and believes that everyone should have a solid grounding of both no matter what they do. As a student at CWRU, Maya works as a teaching assistant for a MATLAB course, a volunteer counselor for Camp Kesem, and has plans to start a commissions system for her art. In her free time, Maya loves to read, draw and paint (both digital and traditional), write short stories, and listen to D&D podcasts. She also has a very large scarf collection.

Marc Frances

Nicole Nageli

Nicole Nageli is a rising junior at the University of Colorado Boulder studying Creative Technology and Design. At NASA, Nicole is creating a 3D concept animation for The Visualizing a Conceptual Icy Moon Space Mission. In her life outside of NASA, Nicole has won awards for her writing and filmmaking, focusing on pushing artistic and technological boundaries. She also has spoken about how to create a lasting legacy at the TEDxColoradoSprings conference.

Ethan Williams

Ethan “Lake” Williams is a rising senior at the University of South Carolina studying Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.  Raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Lake became passionate about engineering in high school, participating in projects that spanned multiple disciplines.  At NASA, Lake is improving the flight simulation of a hybrid-electric airliner through flight dynamics and controls work as well as systems integration using MATLAB.  He has experience in design and manufacturing work through previous intern and research experiences.  In his free time, Lake is an avid swimmer and weightlifter, and is passionate about fitness all around.

Christopher Toukmaji

Chris Toukmaji is an MS student studying Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. He is an NLP Researcher working on retrieval augmentation in Large Language Models (LLMs) for the open-source Periodic Table of Life project (PeTaL). In his free time, Chris enjoys working out, watching sports, and attending concerts.

Amanda Maeglin

Amanda Maeglin is a rising junior at Vanderbilt University, majoring in Physics, Creative Writing, and the Communication of Science and Technology. As an Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AIML) communications and outreach intern, she is working on updating and expanding the AIML SharePoint site. She is also helping to design AIML educational materials for NASA employees. Amanda is passionate about integrating science and the arts and wants to help expand access to STEM education. She loves to listen to and write music. In her free time, she also enjoys reading, writing, playing guitar, and working out.

Spring 2023 Interns

Eshan Bhargava

Eshan Bhargava is a student at the University of Southern California completing his Computer Science Master’s (MS) degree. Developments in technology, particularly in computing, have revolutionized our way of life. Breakthroughs and innovations are deployed regularly, and we have just scratched the surface of technological advancement. NASA is no exception to such innovation. He believes the work at NASA is both important and fulfilling. He wants to sharpen his skills and learn from the knowledgeable and talented minds of such an institution. Eshan is particularly interested in supporting NASA’s efforts in machine learning, space exploration, and robotics. He is proud of having the opportunity to pursue his Master’s at USC and interning at prestigious companies and research institutions, like CERN, UCSF, and more. Eshan likes to experiment with robotics, read, travel, and play sports on his free time.

Kaushik Kaja

Kaushik Kaja is attending The University of California Irvine where he studies Civil Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. He was involved in in FIRST Robotics in high school where he first got exposed to NASA. Through this competition he visited the NASA center in Houston and Florida. Since then, he has always wanted to work for this company as they are at the forefront of innovation worldwide. He is excited at the prospect of working with others at NASA and learning more about the uses of AIML.

Kaushik is interested in the cross section of Civil Engineering and Computer Science. He wants to be at the forefront of innovation within Civil Engineering with green energy and new efficient building standards. In particular he is interested in 3D printed homes which reduce budling time and costs. In the past he has interned for multiple engineering positions related to design and construction. Additionally, Kaushik loves to enjoy the outdoors and engage in group sports.

Saarah Nazar

Saarah Nazar is a Computer Science student at Purdue University. She is an intern working on the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) team, focusing on building a tool that helps engineers reframe their design challenges using large language models. This tool helps broaden the scope of how biomimicry can be applied to the problem at hand. She is an avid enjoyer of the concept of biomimicry and also enjoys reading, writing, and receiving hugs from Maya in her free time.

Brianna Hobert

Brianna Hobert is a senior Mechanical + Aerospace Engineering student at the New York Institute of Technology. Passionate about aviation, she has become a student private pilot to further her studies in aeronautics. At NASA Glenn Research Center, Brianna has worked on visualization and turbomachinery projects relating to commercial-class hybrid-electric aircraft in the past. Currently, she supports the Scientific Computing & Visualization team by working on a flight simulation project for hybrid-electric aircraft.

Spring 2022 Interns

Michelle Ly

Michelle Ly is a first-year undergraduate student studying computer science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is passionate about programming, education, art, and the intersection of tech and social good. In her free time, she enjoys organizing hackathons, going on road trips, creating digital art, and collecting laptop stickers.

As an intern at the NASA Glenn Research Center, she is excited to contribute to NASA’s Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML) outreach, communications, and data science efforts.

Puja Roy

Puja Roy is a junior majoring in Computer Engineering Technology at CUNY New York College of Technology in Brooklyn, New York. She is originally from Brooklyn, New York but was raised in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York. She has interned at NASA 3 times for 5 semesters during sophomore and junior year. During her previous NASA internships, she worked on web development and project management.

Currently, she is interning as an AI, Machine Learning and Data Science Communications and Outreach Intern on outreach support for the Scientific Computing Visualization Lab at NASA Glenn Research Center. As a NASA intern, she collaborates with another intern by contributing on a variety of web space projects including updating the Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning at NASA (AIML) agency-wide website in SharePoint, implementing web design and outreach elements in the areas of scientific computing, AI/Machine Learning, data science and visualization.

Caleb Cram

Caleb Cram is currently a senior studying games, interactive media and mobile technology at Boise State University. Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Caleb has developed an intense passion for extended reality software development and the seemingly infinite possibilities there are to be explored within the technology as innovation and capabilities grow.

He spends the majority of his free time experimenting with cutting edge AR/VR software for the annual NASA SUITS Challenge. As an XR simulation development intern with NASA at GRC, Caleb is tasked with implementing VR functionality into a series of simulation projects and optimizing the EPFD project for utilization within the GRUVE lab, CAVE environment.

Patrick Demers

Patrick Demers is currently a junior at Iowa State University studying Software Engineering. Growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, Patrick has always been passionate about pushing the boundaries of technology. After being introduced to programming in 6th grade, he felt empowered by the control offered over the computer. Since then, Patrick has helped solve many problems for businesses by building websites and offering process automation solutions.

As a Data Science intern at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Patrick is performing exploratory data analysis on measurements received from testing of hall thrusters.

David Smith

David Smith is from Carleton, Michigan, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Computer Engineering with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Michigan – Dearborn. He also has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with minors in physics and mathematics from the University of Toledo.

He is currently working with the Scientific Computing and Visualization team on the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) project, helping to develop Natural Language Processing (NLP) models where he will be gathering and processing the data to be used in training them.

Jacob Pedersen

Jacob Pedersen is a junior at the University of Washington studying Computer Engineering and Mathematics. Coming from Seattle and being impacted by Boeing and big tech, aerospace has always been the sector he has been passionate about, with a deep interest in everything from commercial aviation to interplanetary rockets. As he works on his undergraduate degrees, he is also working on his own rocketry program with the goal of breaking the collegiate altitude record late next year.

As an electric aircraft propulsion intern at Glenn Research Center, Jacob is creating and integrating exiting models of SUSAN into simulation software for outreach and testing.

Dedelolia Olungwe

Dedelolia Olungwe is a senior majoring in Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Dedelolia has a passion for data science. Her drive to succeed in data science and biomedical engineering continues as she witnesses how important the two are in collaboration. Data science is critical to the healthcare system and engineering overall — its efforts to mimic and decode the human brain and engineer a better healthcare system are crucial.

Dedelolia has worked with NASA twice prior, and her tasks entailed experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) and developing automated and semi-automated mechanisms using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning. This spring at NASA, she is working on the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) project, which encompasses training deep neural networks, data mining, text classification, User Interface design and other machine learning techniques.

Spring 2022 Hathaway Brown Students

Four high school students from Hathaway Brown, a local K-12 school, work on projects in GVIS Lab as mandated by the Space Act Agreement of 2016. The unique collaboration between Glenn and Hathaway Brown provide high school students the opportunity to develop skills in critical thinking, communication and digital literacy, as well as provides one-on-one mentoring and hands-on exposure to advanced technology.

Avery Simon

Avery Simon is an eleventh grader at Hathaway Brown School using machine learning and 3D simulations to create an autonomous Mars rover. She is currently utilizing the Unity game engine and is collaborating with researchers working on ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization).

Kristina Martinez

Kristina Martinez  is working on a new project to create a virtual reality simulation of NASA’s VIPER Lunar Rover project. This simulation will be used for the GVIS Lab’s outreach. Kristina’s past project consisted of creating a virtual reality (VR) app and using it along side an EEG (electroencephalogram) headset to control a virtual drone in VR, as pictured above.

Shereen Ahmad

Shereen Ahmad is working on a project that focuses on making planetary terrain accessible to a wider audience by 3D printing areas of Martain terrain that can be used by people with vision impairments. The intention is to use the models for outreach work in collaboration with the Cleveland Sight Center and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Fall 2021 Interns

Brianna Hobert

Born and raised in New York, Brianna Hobert is a junior Mechanical + Aerospace Engineering student at the New York Institute of Technology. As a student private pilot, self-taught artist, licensed air technician, and engineering student, she has a deep passion for learning about anything that she can get her hands on.

At NASA, Brianna is a first-time 3D modeling intern. She enjoys shaking things up, and does so by combining her self-taught design skills with her technical expertise to support the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, the High Efficiency Megawatt Motor (HEMM) project, and more.

Carlos Cielo

Carlos Cielo is currently a senior in Aerospace Engineering at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He is from Colorado Springs, CO but originally grew up in Nayarit, Mexico.

Carlos has been passionate about aerospace flight dynamics and simulations. He has begun work on his private pilot’s license and has built flight simulations all throughout his undergraduate career. At NASA, Carlos is tasked with creating a high-fidelity flight simulation of future hybrid-electric aircraft platforms which serve as platforms for further improvements in the field.

Caleb Cram

Caleb Cram is currently a senior studying games, interactive media and mobile technology at Boise State University. Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Caleb has developed an intense passion for extended reality software development and the seemingly infinite possibilities there are to be explored within the technology as innovation and capabilities grow.

He spends the majority of his free time experimenting with cutting edge AR/VR software for the annual NASA SUITS Challenge. As an XR simulation development intern with NASA at GRC, Caleb is tasked with implementing VR functionality into a series of simulation projects and optimizing the EPFD project for utilization within the GRUVE lab, CAVE environment.

Patrick Demers

Patrick Demers is currently a junior at Iowa State University studying Software Engineering. Growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, Patrick has always been passionate about pushing the boundaries of technology. After being introduced to programming in 6th grade, he felt empowered by the control offered over the computer. Since then, Patrick has helped solve many problems for businesses by building websites and offering process automation solutions.

As a Data Science intern at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Patrick is performing exploratory data analysis on measurements received from testing of hall thrusters.

Sherhonda Rhodes

Sherhonda Rhodes is a senior Architectural Engineering student at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.  Sherhonda is a model student on campus where she leads an organization on campus, is a student lecturer for an architectural design course, and collaborates with her peers on research. After her undergrad degree, she wants to further her education into Business.

During her internship at the Glenn Research Center, Sherhonda will work with the Graphics and Visualizations Lab (GVIS) as their outreach and communications intern this fall. She is enthusiastic about coordinating STEM events, updating the GVIS website with new articles, and blog posts.

Julie LaFranzo

Julie LaFranzo is a senior physics and astronomy major at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. Julie is from Oswego, IL, a suburb of Chicago where she went to a small private Montessori school from the time she was three until graduating high school at seventeen. She now goes to Drake University where she studies physics and astronomy with research in astrophotography.

As a Glenn Research Center intern working in Communications and Outreach, she spends her time updating the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML) website with new articles, blog posts and events. In outreach, she gets to create AIML programs and is currently working on one that involves both AIML and Astronomy.

Rebecca Lipton

Rebecca Lipton is a Senior at American University studying Data Science with a concentration in Justice, Law, & Criminology. She is also pursuing minors in Statistics and Computer Science. Rebecca spends her free time practicing calligraphy and training for a 5K.

During her first NASA internship, Rebecca is working for the PDMA team on their data and API integration efforts. She is passionate about applying her data science skills to enable powerful change and is excited to apply her programming skills to NASA’s wide range of data for these reasons.

Luna Chen

Luna Chen is currently a freshman studying computer science at the University of Washington. She is from the Greater Seattle Area. At NASA, she will be working on the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) project and helping with the data pipeline and data visualizations. She has always been passionate about utilizing technology for social good and is looking forward to learning more about the intersection of biomimicry and artificial intelligence.

Sunny Gandhi

Sunny Gandhi is currently a sophomore studying computer science with minors in applied mathematics and international relations at Indiana University in Bloomington. He is from the suburbs of Chicago, IL and has lived there his whole life.

He has always had a passion for computer science, creating little home automation tools around his house like a Raspberry Pi sump pump overflow warning system. At NASA, he has been tasked with creating a full stack interface to upload and analyze any and all records that are created by NASA through AI/ML techniques.

Amir ElTabakh

Amir ElTabakh studies Mathematics with a concentration in Data Science and Statistics. He is based in New York City and attends CUNY Queens College. He has worked with NASA across three sessions, where he automated processes and workflows, applied Machine Learning, and practiced NLP and image processing.

This fall he will be interning at Glenn Research Center, where he will apply his knowledge in AI/ML, Natural Language Processing, and Image Processing to automate the data management procedures. He has interned for New York Universities School of Public Health where he researched biostatistics, epidemiology, and agent based modelling with NYU faculty members. He is fluent in Python, R, SQL, and JavaScript.

Marcos Hung

Marcos Hung is currently finishing his last semester at San Jose State University studying computer science. He has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area all his life and this is the first experience he has working with NASA.

He is currently working on improving the data science pipeline for researchers across the agency to benefit from. Projects can range from a variety of different categories such as improving AI model explainable to introducing new data management tools. One project involves applying the AI explainable tool on an AI model for materials classification to identify how each feature contributes to the materials’ reliability.

Summer 2021 Interns

Sophia Stiles

Sophia Stiles is from California and is a rising senior at Dougherty Valley High School. She is interested in all things related to computer science, biomimicry, and design. This summer, she will be working with the PeTaL team to write scripts that get biomimicry papers ready for machine learning.

David Smith

David Smith is from Carleton, Michigan, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Computer Engineering with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Michigan – Dearborn. He also has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with minors in physics and mathematics from the University of Toledo.

He is currently working with the Scientific Computing and Visualization team on the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) project, helping to develop Natural Language Processing (NLP) models where he will be gathering and processing the data to be used in training them.

Kelci Mensah

Kelci Mensah is from Aberdeen, Maryland and currently attends Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey where she is studying Computer Science. 

She has experience with Web Development as well as Computer Programming and Digital Art, which are skills she will be using to help with STEM Outreach and Engagement in the GVIS Lab this Summer. In early September 2020, Kelci was a part of a good hackathon team at NASA which won an award for Best Use of Technology! This is her third internship with the NASA Glenn Research Center GVIS Lab and she is excited to learn more from the team.

Pratima Roy

This is Pratima Roy‘s second time interning at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Pratima is from New York, United States and attends CUNY The New York City College of Technology studying Computer Engineering Technology. Pratima has interned for the Spring 2021 internship on a PeTaL project. She is currently working on a project named Refactoring Data Pipelines using Scientific Workflow and learning about chemical propulsion and thrusters.

Pratima was a Software Engineer Micro intern at Bitly through the Break Through Tech NY program formerly known as WiTNY (Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York). She is researching and learning new things at NASA. Pratima hopes to work in something related to Full Stack at any company in the future.

Katie Schaefer

This is Katie Schaefer’s third internship with the NASA Glenn Research Center. Katie is originally from Lima Ohio and recently graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a bachelors in animation.

Katie’s project for this session focuses primarily on 3D modeling and 2D graphics/animation. Katie will also be a peer leader for a group of interns during this session.

Francine Wooley

Francine Wooley is a rising senior at Lawrence Upper School. She is interested in astronomy and animation. As a result, she is working on a virtual tour animation for GVIS (Graphics and Visualization Lab) at the NASA Glenn Research Center. She is thrilled to be part of such an internship experience! Francine hopes to use what she learned at NASA to help build and refine her animation skills for college and career searches.

Samantha Bianco

Samantha Bianco is a rising senior at Vanderbilt University studying computer science, scientific communications, and astronomy. Sam has assisted with exoplanet research at Vanderbilt for the past two years, and she was named a coauthor on a recent publication. She is originally from the Chicago suburbs.

While interning at NASA, Sam will be focusing on data science outreach efforts for GVIS. One of her duties will be to maintain a SharePoint website about artificial intelligence and machine learning at NASA. She is very excited to be a part of Glenn’s internship program, and she looks forward to learning as much as she can.

Savanah “Savvy” Barnes

This is Savanah Barnes’ first internship at NASA. Savvy is a rising junior at Michigan State University and is studying dual-degrees in Computer Science Engineering and Psychology, with minors in Philosophy and Cognitive Science. They are interested in all things AI, outreach, and mental health advocacy. Savvy is expanding their horizons and working on graph databases and data visualization using Neo4j and a suite of other programs for NASA Glenn Research Center. In their free-time, Savvy enjoy reading and listening to music.

Kaya Jones

Kaya Jones is from Memphis, Tennessee and this is her first time interning  at NASA’s Glenn Research Center while working on data integration and visualization  with the PDMA team. She recently graduated East High School and will be attending the Illinois Institute  of Technology in the fall studying computer science. Kaya is up for the challenge to make new connections, learn new things, and gain more experience  for her future endeavors.

Eric Kong

Eric Kong is excited to be a new intern at NASA’s Glenn Research Center this summer! Coming fresh out of the Master’s program in Computer Science at UCLA (go Bruins), Eric has dived into data mining, deep learning, and natural language processing, with a side dish of bioinformatics algorithms. As an intern Eric will work with the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) team at GRC to classify research articles into a taxonomy of biomimicry approaches. He hails from foggy (and occasionally sunny) San Francisco, CA.

Alexandr Sein

Alexandr Sein comes from many backgrounds, but he currently calls Texas home. He received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (and a minor in Mathematics) from Texas A&M University in May of 2021, and is now working on a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the same university. His current work at Glenn Research Center (similar to his previous internship here) involves touching up 3D models of concept aircraft and GRC buildings, as well as creating virtual reality (VR) visualizations of those 3D models using Unreal Engine 4 and Unity paired with the Oculus Quest and the Looking Glass holographic display. In the past, he’s worked extensively with Unreal Engine 4 and VR in general, including a semester of VR visualization of hazardous work environments for human factors analysis at Kennedy Space Center.

Spring 2021

Jacob Hamer

Jacob Hamer is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University. His research concerns exoplanets – planets around stars other than our Sun. He studies how some of the most extreme exoplanet systems change over time. Originally from New York, he now lives in Baltimore, Maryland. In his first internship with NASA, Jacob will be working to help develop a more reproducible workflow for machine learning analyses.

Kathryn Gansler

Kathryn Gansler is from Baltimore, MD. She has a degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and is finishing an astronomy major and planetary science minor at the University of Maryland, College Park. This is her third term interning with NASA. Last summer, she used a random forest algorithm to map stratigraphy visible in the ice on the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet while working at Goddard Space Flight Center. After interning at Headquarters in the fall, this spring, she will be creating and curating content for the AI/ML SharePoint site at Glenn Research Center to prepare it for publication.

Shruti Janardhanan

Shruti Janardhanan is a returning software engineering and data science intern on the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) team, focusing on developing a taxonomy labeling and ranking system for the BIRD Search Tool, as well as supporting other machine learning efforts. She also previously led the GVIS NASA DT hackathon team in building a scientific search engine, winning Best Use of Technology.

Shruti is from the San Francisco Bay Area, California and currently an undergrad at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, studying computer science and natural resources conservation.

Fall 2020

Samantha “Sam” Stesch

Samantha “Sam” Stesch is from Woodstock, Maryland and is a sophomore at the University of Maryland, College Park studying physics and astronomy. Sam is doing outreach for the GVIS Lab, with a focus on K-12 outreach and education. They are also helping to prepare NASA’s internal Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AIML) website for launch. 

Sam was a member of the “Vizzies” team in the 2020 DT Hackathon. They did documentation and reporting for the team’s project, which was developing a prototype “Semantic Search Engine for Scientific Literature”. They will be doing similar work for the upcoming 2020 GRC Machine Learning Hackathon. 

Christian Chiong

Christian Chiong is a student at UC Berkeley majoring in Computer Science. Christian is from Sunnyvale, CA and is working with the Program Data Management and Analysis team to visualize space communications data from around the world. Christian’s hobbies include playing in trivia tournaments and playing video games with friends. Christian has side interests in Star Trek and reading about history. He hopes to work in something related to space exploration in the future. 

Summer 2020

Alejandro Romero

Alejandro Romero is a Computer Science and Psychology undergraduate student at Brown University with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction, Mixed Reality, and User Interface/User Experience. He is currently working on Mixed Reality software solutions to facilitate remote collaboration in 3D environments using Virtual and Augmented reality.

Ethan Netsch

Ethan Netsch is a Computer Science student at Purdue University’s Indianapolis campus (IUPUI). This is Ethan’s third NASA internship and he is returning to the GVIS Lab after completing an internship at the Kennedy Space Center in the Fall of 2019. This summer Ethan will be continuing work on increasing the usability of an icing risk analysis tool by developing a python-based Application Program Interface and Graphical User Interface. For this project he will be collaborating with another intern, Joseph McGee. In addition to this work, Ethan will help develop a visualization tool for gridding inside a jet engine for computational fluid dynamics work.

Grace Merry

Grace Merry is a 3D modeler who just graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA in Animation. She enjoys creating character models for animations and games, playing video games, and baking. She currently lives in Chicago with her boyfriend, brother, and their Pomeranian.

Joseph “JJ” McGee

JJ McGee is from from Aurora, Ohio and is currently a senior at Lawrence High School. This summer JJ will be working on increasing the usability of an icing risk analysis tool by helping to develop a python-based Application Program Interface and Graphical User Interface. For this project he will be collaborating with returning intern, Ethan Netsch. JJ is a Future Connections intern.

Katie Schaefer

Katie Schaefer is a Senior in Animation at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Katie is from a small town in Ohio called Lima. This is her first internship with NASA and her role is support for the 3D Immersive Cave Automatic Virtual-reality Environment (CAVE). Katie creates 3D models, animation and virtual reality work for her project. Before her internship, Katie attended the Space Apps Challenge at the Glenn Research Center. This experience was so fun and inspirational to Katie that it had a big influence on her decision to apply for a NASA internship. During the school year, Katie is also a Resident Assistant and will now be working on her thesis project.

Kiya Shareef

Kiya Shareef is from Euclid, Ohio and goes to Euclid High School. She loves art and animation, makes art or watches  animated tv shows in her free time. Kiya is excited to be an intern this summer and she will be creating thumbnails for the GVIS YouTube channel. Kiya is a Future Connections intern.

Kyle Kelley

Kyle Kelley is a recent graduate from the University of the District of Columbia where he received his BBA in Information Systems, and Logistics & International Trade (LIT) Analytics. Kyle started his first NASA internship at UDC in the spring as a MIRO Research Intern. This research focused on artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. Kyle is very happy to be a part of the NASA family for a second time during the summer.

Currently, Kyle is a part of the Scientific Computing and Visualization Team where he is responsible for communication and outreach for data science efforts. During his internship here at the GRC, Kyle will help create the agency-level artificial intelligence and machine learning information portal. This site will include the work and accomplishment of data scientist and others who use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for their work at NASA. The main projects Kyle is working on this summer are the utilization of AI/ML in aeronautics, heliophysics, PeTaL, and the Space Launch System (SLS). These projects will be highlighted on NASA’s artificial intelligence & machine learning site to emphasize how AI/ML have transformed the way scientists are able to sort and analyze data, and ultimately open the doorway to new discoveries.

Melissa Kazazic

Melissa Kazazic is from Cleveland, OH and is an incoming freshman at Olin College of Engineering. She is an intern working in Virtual and Augmented Reality simulation development with NASA Glenn’s GVIS Lab. Currently, Melissa is working on a project involving the HoloLens 2, the visualization of aircraft and airflow, and interactive and shared augmented reality experiences. She also interned as a Hathaway Brown High School student with GVIS in the past.

Nicole Pishnery

This is Nicole Pishnery’s second time interning at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Nicole is from Cleveland, Ohio and is currently in school studying mechanical engineering. Her project largely consists of creating a website that will be a resource for Glenn employees to learn how to use important computer applications that they use daily.

Nicole is also a peer leader of a small group of interns and she’s taking advantage of her time at NASA to meet one-on-one with engineers in order to learn about mechanical engineering. Nicole’s time here has been rewarding, challenging, and motivating. And to those who are thinking about an internship here or elsewhere, Nicole’s advice is: go all in, take advantage of all the opportunities you run across because you will certainly get what you put into the experience.

Nora Peterson

Nora Peterson is a third-time Media Specialist and Outreach intern for the GVIS Lab and greater Scientific Computing and Visualization Team at NASA Glenn. She is also a senior at the University of Minnesota and studying to obtain a BFA in Film and Illustration. Nora runs the GVIS social media pages, designs assets for GVIS PR materials, advertises GVIS events, sleuths out solutions to creative challenges at GVIS, and edits and updates this website. Nora’s past design work includes the current GVIS and GRUVE Lab logos, the new GVIS T-shirt, the media repository in the GVIS shared drive, and current social media assets. She also began the process of redesigning the GVIS website in the summer of 2019 which fellow intern Nicole Pishnery recently finished. Nora’s outreach work during her past GVIS internships was extensive and included a trip out to the EAA Airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for a week of virtual reality demonstrations to visitors. She was also heavily involved in FIRST Robotics Team #6355: Robots Over Parma – a NASA sponsored robotics team local to the greater Cleveland area. Due to the pandemic Nora has not been involved in as much in-person outreach and she misses it very much.

Nora’s current work includes designing and writing a new GVIS informational brochure, collaborating with fellow intern Kyle Kelley on the helio-analytics and PeTaL articles, figuring out how to virtualize the Lab’s outreach initiative, adding alt-text to make GVIS images accessible to the visually impaired, helping fellow intern Kiya Schareef with her graphic design projects, and serving as a general resource for all of the Lab’s media needs. Nora’s advice to aspiring interns is to never underestimate NASA’s need for artists, creatives, and good writers in all areas, not just social media.

Hathaway Brown School Students – Summer 2020

Four high school students from Hathaway Brown, a local K-12 school, work on projects in GVIS Lab as mandated by the Space Act Agreement of 2016. The unique collaboration between Glenn and Hathaway Brown provide high school students the opportunity to develop skills in critical thinking, communication and digital literacy, as well as provides one-on-one mentoring and hands-on exposure to advanced technology.

Avery Simon

Avery Simon is an eleventh grader at Hathaway Brown School using machine learning and 3D simulations to create an autonomous Mars rover. She is currently utilizing the Unity game engine and is collaborating with researchers working on ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization).

Kristina Martinez

Kristina Martinez  is working on a new project to create a virtual reality simulation of NASA’s VIPER Lunar Rover project. This simulation will be used for the GVIS Lab’s outreach. Kristina’s past project consisted of creating a virtual reality (VR) app and using it along side an EEG (electroencephalogram) headset to control a virtual drone in VR, as pictured above.

Shereen Ahmad

Shereen Ahmad is working on a project that focuses on making planetary terrain accessible to a wider audience by 3D printing areas of Martain terrain that can be used by people with vision impairments. The intention is to use the models for outreach work in collaboration with the Cleveland Sight Center and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Shubhee Gandhi

Shubhee Gandhi is currently working on making a virtual fitting room app that will allow users to try on astronaut suits. The app, which will use the Microsoft Azure Kinect DK to sense the location of the user and is being programmed using the Unity game engine, will be used by the Lab for tours and outreach events.