The support and guidance began day one, with the assistant professor of physics and astronomy leading Natasha's first-year writing seminar. The connection continued into Hanson's physics classes, as well as in one-on-one meetings; Hanson is one of her faculty advisors, a professor that Whittier students have to mentor and guide them from orientation to graduation.
This semester, they're doing research together on algorithms and reconstructing neutrino properties. Hanson also helped Natasha find internships, including her first STEM internship with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Scholars Program. The summer after her sophomore year, Natasha worked at the AFRL in New Mexico, writing code to model the communication capabilities of satellite constellations.
"I also got tours of laboratories, attended educational seminars, and got to present at the Small Satellite Conference in Utah the following summer about my research at the AFRL," she said. "I ended up also spending the fall semester of my junior year continuing my internship at the AFRL so I could continue developing my project."
The summer after her junior year, she interned at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, Florida. There, she created programs for analyzing performance of infrared search and track systems.
This past fall, she enjoyed the opportunity to present at a conference at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on how a liberal arts education is beneficial for success in careers in the aerospace industry.
"There are so many opportunities to work directly with professors," Natasha said. "By getting to know my professors, I have gotten to do research with them, get good recommendations for internships, and received advice on how to best pursue my career goals. I was so surprised about how small the classes are here…this semester, my largest class has six students! It has been so great for my learning to be able to interact with the professor and other students during lectures."
Recently, Natasha joined a start-up company called Proteus Space in Los Angeles as a part-time software developer. After she graduates this spring, she will be starting as a full-time satellite engineer.
Read more about professor Hanson's mentorship.
