Episode 27: Jenna Ruddock
08.22.07
: Jenna Ruddock, NASA co-op student
(0:00) Intro
(0:20) The pre-registration deadline for "Remembering the Space Age," a free conference on the 50th anniversary of the Space Age, is Oct. 5, 2007.
Remembering the Space Age: 50th Anniversary Conference →
NASA History Division →
(1:33) Interview with Jenna Ruddock. Recent University of Alabama in Huntsville graduate Jenna Ruddock describes her transition from NASA co-op student to full-time employee.
NASA Cooperative Education →
International Space Station
(9:44) End
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Transcript
Deana Nunley: This is NASA Student Opportunities -- a podcast connecting high school and college students with learning opportunities inside America's space agency.
Episode 27. Aug. 22, 2007. I'm Deana Nunley.
Fifty years ago, the launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth, marked the beginning of the Space Age. Continuing with the launch of the first U.S. satellite and the formation of NASA in 1958, the exploration of space had begun.
To commemorate these early beginnings, the NASA History Division and the National Air and Space Museum Division of Space History are sponsoring a free conference on the 50th anniversary of the Space Age. It's at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Auditorium in Washington, D.C., Oct. 22-23, 2007.
The conference is titled "Remembering the Space Age," and will focus on "National and Global Dimensions of the Space Age" and "Remembrance and Cultural Representation of the Space Age."
The conference is free, but registration is required. The pre-registration deadline is Oct. 5, 2007. On-site registration will be permitted, but pre-registration is encouraged.
To find out more about the Remembering the Space Age conference, go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast. Click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast, and follow the links in this week's show notes.
[Music]
Jenna Ruddock graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in May with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. She worked as a co-op student at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and transitioned to full-time employment this summer in Marshall's Training and Crew Operations group in the Mission Operations Laboratory.
What are you doing in your NASA job?
Jenna Ruddock: I am currently an ops [operations] lead. We do training for the astronauts that perform experiments on board the space station. We also train the ground support personnel, [who are] the people who send the commands to the space station on specific experiments that are being operated on board.
Deana: When you came in, how did you end up as an ops lead?
Jenna: That was really a surprise for me. A lot of new people don't get to come into that kind of position. With my co-op background, I had a lot of experience in the field, and I was really excited about it. I actually get to have a little bit of experience with the astronauts.
Deana: Do you do hands-on training with the astronauts?
Jenna: Yes. I have to write the procedures for their experiments. And then before they actually go aboard the space station and operate the payloads, they do kind of a dry run, and I will get to make sure that they know how to operate the payload.
Deana: Do the astronauts go through their training at Marshall Space Flight Center, or do you usually go to Johnson Space Center to train them?
Jenna: They usually do that at Johnson, but they also travel around the world, particularly when they have some system stuff. They may travel to other countries, but they usually travel for their payloads just to Houston.
Deana: During your co-op tours, did you train the astronauts?
Jenna: I didn't get a chance to go down there. I did get to work on some training opportunities for the astronauts, but I left one semester to go back to school, so I didn't get a chance to go down there and actually help train.
Deana: So now that you are in your real job, this will be your first experience getting to do that?
Jenna: Yes, it will, and I am very excited about getting to do something like that.
Deana: Let's talk about your co-op experience. How did that prepare you for what you are going to do now, and how important has that been as far as your career?
Jenna: Just co-op in general has been very important to me. It helped me grow professionally and helped me understand how to work in a professional environment. Also, it gave me a little bit of experience, and when I was in school -- you know, you take classes and you learn certain skills. And then when you get in your job, and in particular a co-op job, you actually learn how to apply some of your classroom activities and skills there. At NASA, I came in and got to learn all the language -- it is a completely different language here -- and I think it really prepared me for being out of college.
Deana: Describe the co-op tours that you had at Marshall.
Jenna: When I first came in, I started in the group I got hired into for my full-time position. That's the training group. And I started out just learning the language of NASA. I helped do some of the training for the astronauts. I did that for about three semesters. I didn't actually get to go and train them, but I scheduled training and prepared the requirements.
There was also another tour where I took the inputs from the payload developer, which is the person who develops the experiments, and I put that into a system so that they can model what kind of resources they need, such as power, water and vacuum.
Then I also rotated down to the POD [Payload Operations Director] office, which is a ground support position here at Marshall Space Flight Center. I coordinated training for them and also a little bit of scheduling at a higher-level management-type view. Then I also did my last rotation with a software group who actually helps to design the software for the particular payloads that operate on board the space station.
Deana: How important do you think the co-op experience is for students who are looking for a career in a technical field?
Jenna: I think it's very important. I think it should almost be required. It gives you just real-world experience and teaches you how to think in a different way outside of school. It helps you to apply your skills, so I think it is very important. And, also, when you have some experience when you graduate college, it is very good on a resume that you actually have work experience, and so that makes you a little more marketable for a job position.
Deana: If you could pick one highlight of the entire co-op experience that has stretched across several years for you now, what would that be?
Jenna: I think that would have to be working in the training group. I think it was my second and third rotation that I had done, and that's where I worked with the astronauts and the astronaut office in developing training for the astronauts.
Deana: As you have worked the various co-op tours across these years, did you always have a mentor that was helping you along?
Jenna: Yes, every rotation that I did, I had a mentor. I had one mentor in particular who was my favorite. He helped me the most and he helped me understand the most. He let me actually do some real work. It wasn't just stuff to just learn about. He actually let me do parts of his job, and gave me a little bit of visibility and showed me how to work professionally.
Deana: How would you describe the working relationship with the mentors?
Jenna: They are all very good, very helpful. Any questions that you have, they will answer, and they really try to show you how NASA operates and how they operate in their particular position. And then as you do the rotations with different people, you can actually see how everybody works together.
Deana: Do you have any advice for students that are considering NASA learning opportunities, perhaps a co-op or some other NASA experience?
Jenna: I think co-oping or any kind of opportunity where you get to go into a real-world work environment is very good, especially to get some experience outside of just the classroom experience.
Deana: Was it as hard to get into NASA as you expected?
Jenna: No. It was actually easier than what I expected. When I was growing up, I always wanted to work at NASA, and I thought that you had to be a mechanical engineer in order to work at NASA. When I got into college, I was a mechanical engineer and I changed my major to industrial engineering, and I applied for a co-op position through the school. I got a call within a few days with an interview, and then after I interviewed I was offered the position. So it was easier than I thought to get in to work with NASA.
Deana: Are you excited to be a NASA employee, officially, to be a civil servant?
Jenna: I am actually very excited about it. I get to do things every day that not many people get a chance in their lifetime to do, so it makes me very proud that I received a position with NASA.
Deana: Are you planning to be a career NASA employee?
Jenna: Yes, I hope to have this job for a lifetime. I think they have various different areas. If I don't enjoy particularly one area, I think I can always move somewhere else. And it is such a changing place here. We get to do all kinds of different things, so I don't think I will ever get bored with NASA.
Deana: Check out this week's show notes if you're interested in more information about NASA cooperative education or the International Space Station. Go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast, and click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast.
We want to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about NASA learning opportunities, send an e-mail to:
educationpodcast@nasa.gov
Thanks for listening.
NASA Student Opportunities is a podcast production of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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