EDWARDS, Calif. – Shawn Georg spent years on the family cattle ranch near Sabetha with his eyes toward the sky as military fighters and cargo planes flew low-level routes over the property. This love for aircraft led Georg, an aerospace engineering student at Wichita State University in Kansas, to apply for the Undergraduate Student Research Program and an intern position at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.
Georg attributes his love for aviation to those he considers important figures in his life. Most notably is Doug McNary, a distant relative who is a military veteran.
“Sharing his experiences from an extensive, decorated military career, Doug has inspired me to actively pursue a career within the aerospace community,” said Georg. Whether in a government organization such as NASA or a leading company in the aerospace industry, I am sure I will find the right place for me.”
Georg is a structural dynamics intern within the Aerostructures Branch at NASA Dryden. The aspiring engineer is creating a database of ground vibration test results from a computer-based model. He changes model properties such as material, material thickness, mass locations, and then looks for shifts in structural properties over time.
From the age of five, when his parents took him to an air show in Topeka, to his newly earned private pilot’s license, Georg has been fascinated with flying. He considers Dryden a good fit for his future engineering career.
“The first thing I noticed was that everyone at Dryden loves their job,” said Georg of Dryden employees. “It is hard to find a work environment where everyone is so positive. They are highly trained personnel and most positions are only one person deep. Many at NASA Dryden are leading experts in their respected fields of study.”
Georg would like to return to Dryden as a NASA Cooperative Education intern prior to his graduation from Wichita State in May 2011. He is impressed by the assortment of aircraft at Dryden, from former Blue Angel F/A-18s to three 747s and an occasional space shuttle when the center serves as an alternate shuttle landing site.
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Editor’s spelling note: Georg is the correct spelling of his last name.
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