Addressing "Human Capital" Issues at NASA

NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000

Education Associates Program (Research Internships at NASA)

The CaSGC has been addressing the aerospace workforce issues of NASA for the past four years through its pilot program (called "Education Associates") at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) (Web site). The Education Associates Program (EAP) was initiated in 1998 as a cooperative program between ARC and the California Space Grant Consortium under the authorities of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Act. The EAP is designed to provide university students and faculty with experiential learning opportunities in the space sciences, engineering, science administration, and related fields at NASA ARC. Over the past four years, over 400 students (undergraduates, graduates, Post Doctoral) and faculty from some 90 different colleges and universities around the nation have participated. They have worked with over 250 different ARC sponsors and mentors on projects in every research branch of ARC.

In 2002, the management of the EAP was transferred to the National Space Grant Foundation (NSGF) and to the California Space Grant Foundation (CSGF). The NSGF, a 501(c)(3) entity specifically established to advance strategic partnerships between Space Grant Consortia and NASA, became the logical and appropriate new institutional base for this program. The program supports NASA's science education and training missions and addresses the national need to develop a cadre of trained professionals with competencies in a wide variety of aerospace and related disciplines. Further, it provides NASA ARC with a diverse population of eager, bright student interns as well as more experienced post-doctoral and faculty fellows in support of ARCs varied scientific projects and missions. The CSGF has developed and maintains a dedicated website for the EAP. The EAP website is a multi-purpose capability (Disability Act compliant) providing timely information to students, faculty members and ARC sponsors.

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Edwards, CA 93523-0273

CaSGC Student/Mentor Design, Research and Operations Projects at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

In 2003, Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) and the California Space Grant Foundation (CSGF) jointly executed a Funded Space Act Agreement concerning Student/Mentor Design and Research and Operations Projects

The CSGF is a California 501(c)3, not-for-profit corporation representing all affiliate members of the California Space Grant Consortium. California Space Grant Programs incorporate the following key elements:

• Provides an environment for strong aerospace industry sponsorship and participation of mentors, facilities, and ideas;

• Facilitates and manages the interfaces between NASA and the CaSGC affiliates for aerospace-related R&D, workforce development, and educational outreach;

• Places each student/mentor project under the authority of the NASA Space Grant training and fellowship program;

• Creates an alliance partnership (shared responsibilities, personnel, facilities) between the government, Space Grant, and industry;

• Utilizes a Space Act Agreement vehicle that specifies the shared resources (personnel, facilities, funding);

• Creates a workforce development environment where graduate and undergraduate students participate

• Provides the operational interface, both management and contractual, between industry and the NASA projects.

The Funded Space Act Agreement addresses the following NASA DFRC task areas:

• Aeronautical flight research in support of global civil aviation,

• Development and operations of the Space Shuttle and future access-to-space vehicles,

• Airborne science mission and flight operations, and

• Piloted and uninhabited aircraft testbeds for research and science missions.

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