FAIRMONT — The NASA Independent Verification and Validation Program is celebrating National Intern Day today and the hard work our interns have put in during their time with the program.
Many interns gave final presentations this week summing up their accomplishments and answering questions about their experience. Haley Miller, a strategic communications major at West Virginia University, described her time with the program as uplifting.
“Through having great mentorship, I gained confidence in my skills,” she said. “Also knowing my work was going toward something valuable, I had the motivation to create work I was proud of.”
The most recent group of interns at IV&V worked in science communications, software, and many other niche and wide-ranging fields they can put toward future endeavors.
“Being a strategic communications major, this internship taught me a lot about science communications. Having experience in this niche area of communications will open many doors for me in my future career,” Miller said.
Interning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic led to some challenges and unique opportunities for success. Wyatt Peterman, of Fairmont State, has been with IV&V on and off since 2017 with the last two years as a year-long intern, and he has collected a lot of insight in that time both in-person and virtually.
“I love working for NASA and I’ve met so many incredible people through these internships. For me, that’s probably the best thing about working at IV&V — the people,” he said. “I’ve made lifelong friends over the last five years thanks to these internships and I owe a lot to NASA and the folks at IV&V.”
Madeleine Weber, a WVU student, made the most of her experience by virtually attending multiple discussion forums and presentations across the program and NASA.
“I learned about topics like growing vegetables in space, hidden oceans on Europa, and space suits, just to name a few,” she said. “The way that NASA employees are always trying to learn new things and improve themselves and their skills is inspiring, especially for an intern like me who considers herself a lifelong learner.”
Weber said her mentors had faith in her abilities and skills, and she got to spread her wings as an aspiring engineer. She and all of the interns who have worked with IV&V made real strides in their education and for the program. Some, like Weber, even plan to return next year, and the IV&V Program is ready to continue working with her and others.
“Supporting NASA’s internships is essential to fostering the next generation of explorers and the capstone presentations held this week enabled the students to showcase their outstanding skills and project efforts,” IV&V Program Internship Coordinator Jess White said. “It was exciting to see what our future workforce can accomplish.”
For more info: Clarissa R. Cottrill
Communications Specialist
Clarissa.r.cottrill@nasa.gov