Career Fair

Rice sponsored a Career Fair today and, for the first time since I became a grad student, NASA contractors showed up to recruit people for full-time jobs! I had forgotten about the Fair, so I dashed home to put on a suit and tie when I saw that Lockheed Martin and Jacobs were going to be there. I wore the same suit that I wore to the Space Exploration Conference. This maneuver paid off, IMHO.

The Jacobs people were really excited to talk to me and their NASA rep turned out to also be an Aggie engineer. "Mr. Jacobs" took a copy of my resume and says that he wants to bring me in for interviews next week after he gets back from travel. He even asked me about my schedule this semester because they might be willing to hire me even before I finish my thesis, so long as it doesn't interfere with my work for Rice!

After that reception, I had a pretty big grin on my face when I went to talk to the LockMart contingent. It was a smaller group, but their engineering rep was just the man I wanted to see. He is the lead systems engineer for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. "Mr. Orion" seemed surprised that I'd put in my resume at the company website already and not seen it, but then mentioned that LM has been in the process of revising the contract to meet the new NASA requirements since their original bid was accepted. LM should be filling their entry-to-mid level positions in the next couple of weeks, though, so Mr. Orion said he would pass on my resume directly to his hiring managers.

In the course of our conversation, Mr. Orion noticed the Space Exploration Conference pin on my lapel and we talked a little about how I organized the Rice student volunteer group at the conference. I hope that got me a few points. When he mentioned the other offices around the country, I was pretty clear that I want to stay in Houston because my wife is in medical school (and, well, Houston is home) here. Mr. Orion grinned and said that he's married to a doctor, an anesthesiologist. Small world, indeed!

Both of the gentlemen I talked to seemed impressed that I've continued working on aerospace-related research in my graduate studies, especially in a department that isn't well-known for it, and that NASA Ames/Intrinsyx Technologies is going to have me do that part-time work on the Constellation lexicon. Mr. Orion was aware of that project, even, and nodded in approval when I mentioned what I'd be doing for them.

Mr. Orion said flat-out that the long-term work for the next generation of human spaceflight is being done here in Houston. Both he and the Jacobs people said that now is the best time for a young, ambitious engineer like myself to get in on this and lay the foundations for a good career. I've got a good feeling about this. I really do.

Going Back to NASA

NASA Ames called me today. They need someone to work part-time as an engineering liaison with the Constellation program engineering teams down here at NASA Johnson and they want me to do it. The gentleman I talked to is aware that I am a student and is willing to work around my Rice schedule. He hopes that this work will give me enough networking opportunities to lead to a permanent offer down here in Houston after I finish my M.S. in May.

As I understand it, NASA Ames is putting together a lexicon of technical terms to cover the entire program and they need someone to get input from all of the engineering teams here in Houston. My job will be to act as a communications link between the linguists in California and the engineers at NASA Johnson Space Center. I'll get to meet with all of the different teams working on the new launch and crew vehicles.

I am grinning from ear to ear today.