For most college students, fall is about new classes, football and “burning
the midnight oil” it takes to make it to graduation.

But while college students Amanda LaZar, Dave Broderick and Andrew Schnell
work toward graduation or advanced degrees, they’re also looking forward to
adding the title of inventor. That credential is expected to come
hand-in-hand with patents on school projects they worked on this summer at
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

As participants at Marshall in NASA’s Undergraduate Student Research
Program, LaZar, Broderick and Schnell suggested innovations that soon could
be used in the nation’s space program to increase safety, facilitate
inspection and maintenance of delicate equipment and create lightweight
structures strong enough to withstand the harsh environment of Earth orbit.

The program offers college students an opportunity to work with a NASA
scientist or engineer mentor on research projects at the Marshall Center —
projects that relate to or directly extend a student’s classroom experience.

LaZar, a Charleston, S.C., native, is a senior in mechanical engineering at
the University of South Carolina in Columbia. When she graduates in May
2003, she expects to have a patented technology under her belt – one she
helped develop as a student researcher at the Marshall Center.

Working as a first-year student researcher in Marshall’s Engineering
Directorate, LaZar found a way to weld joints on the Space Shuttle External
Tank that will both improve safety and reduce repair costs. In the words of
her mentor, Marshall engineer Robert Carter, “Amanda’s contributions this
summer were invaluable. The tool she helped develop will be of great use in
the Shuttle program.”

“Working with such knowledgeable people at the Marshall Center was the
experience of a lifetime,” LaZar said.

The daughter of David LaZar and Marlene Beauston of Charleston, LaZar hopes
to work for NASA after she finishes her degree.

Andrew Schnell’s innovation, also being patented, is a new manufacturing
process that uses balloon-like material inflated with gas and filled with
rigidized, or hardened, foam to create beams or other structures. It has
potential for both space and ground uses — such as space solar power
systems and sporting equipment. One test beam made with this process
withstood a pull of almost 600 pounds, even though it weighs less than 2
pounds. If used in place of conventional space structure materials such as
metal alloys, Schnell’s product could drastically cut payload weights on the
Space Shuttle, which currently cost about $10,000 per pound to launch.

Schnell’s mentor at Marshall, structural dynamics engineer Mike Tinker, said
Schnell “helped me accomplish much more research this summer than I could
have done alone. It’s astounding to give motivated students a task, turn
them loose and watch them run with it.”

Schnell, now in his third year of the student research program, graduated
magna cum laude in 2002 from Tennessee Technological University in
Cookeville, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

He expects to graduate in December 2004 from the Georgia Institute of
Technology in Atlanta with a master’s in mechanical engineering. Schnell is
the son of Thomas and Theresa Schnell of Murfreesboro, Tenn.

“Many engineers dream of working at NASA and I feel fortunate to have done
so early in my career,” said Schnell.

Dave Broderick, a senior in electrical engineering and computer science at
Hartford University in Hartford, Conn., has completed his first summer as an
undergraduate researcher at Marshall. Working with Imaging Team engineer
Jeri Briscoe of Marshall’s Avionics Department, Broderick helped develop a
vision-based guidance system for a miniature robot allowing technicians to
make inspections and repairs — without dismantling the apparatus. While
it’s too soon to file for a patent on the results of Broderick’s work,
Briscoe labels it as a much-needed tool that enables advanced development in
miniature, diagnostic and repair robots.

“Dave’s skills allowed him to make a significant contribution to my
research,” Briscoe said. “He has an unusual ability to grasp new
information quickly while needing very little guidance.”

“Using what I learned at Marshall will definitely put me on the fast track
in the robotics field after graduation,” Broderick said.

Broderick, the son of Jack and Gisela Broderick of Tolland, Conn., will
graduate from Hartford in May 2003.

An applicant to the Undergraduate Student Research Program must be a junior
or senior studying a science, math or high technology discipline and holding
at least a 3.0 average on a 4.0 grade scale. The 10-week summer program is
open to students who attend an accredited college full-time and are U.S.
citizens.

More information on educational opportunities with the Marshall Center can
be found on the Web at:

http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/

About the Marshall Center

The Marshall Center is carrying out NASA’s vision of being the world leader
in space transportation systems. With its rich history spanning more than
four decades, Marshall remains one of NASA’s largest field centers,
occupying over 1,800 acres and employing more than 2,700 civil servants.
More than 23,000 contractor personnel are engaged in work for the Center,
which has an annual budget of more than $2.3 billion.