Jill Hahl is hoping that she will be able to see what it's like in the “real world” — and quite possibly beyond — when she spends nine weeks this summer at NASA Academy at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.
Hahl, a junior mechanical engineering major from Rutland, Vt., was one of 14 juniors, seniors and first-year graduate students selected nationwide to participate in the
program. The NASA Academy, initiated in 1993, serves to provide the participants with a working knowledge of NASA's programs, to show them how NASA Field Centers operate in
consort with the aerospace industry, and to experience research as part of a NASA team.
Hahl will be working with Dr. A.T. Nettles on a project titled, “Characterization
of Impact Damage to Composite Laminates.”
“I'd like to see what it's like in the real world and start to get a grip on what
engineering is,” Hahl said. Unsure of her plans after graduation, Hahl sees graduate
school somewhere down the line, and is thinking about becoming a college professor after
spending some time in the work force.
At Union, Hahl serves as president of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor
society, and as secretary of the Society of Women Engineers. She is also a member of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineers. Hahl
also tutors in the hands-on science program at Elmer Avenue Elementary School in
Schenectady, and she has a radio show on WRUC.
Ronald Bucinell, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is Hahl's advisor.