A look inside Whittier’s Science & Learning Center will show some recent upgrades, thanks to Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Jordan Hanson and his partnership with the Navy.
Hanson, who teaches everything from Introduction to Physics to Advanced Electromagnetism and more, is curious about the natural world. He’s done expeditions to Antarctica and, more recently, has participated in a Navy summer faculty research program three years in a row. He created courses for their sailors and engineers and worked on a specialized phased array radar design. During a gap year, they developed an educational partnership agreement in which the military supplied roughly $150,000 to $200,000 worth of equipment — such as spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, and 3D printers — to his lab.
In addition to research, Hanson is a professor because he enjoys giving back to the community and seeing Whittier students thrive. The partnership includes sending students to bases for 10 weeks, such as Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division, in Norco.
Hanson said it’s a way for them to prepare for careers in government or at a local aerospace corporation, where they would work on satellites, missiles, planes, and other technology.
“They need workers, and students need the skills and knowledge,” Hanson said. “They need a venue to grow. This is the kind of thing that I love about academia.”
Third-year student Loren Grey was the first student from Whittier to intern at the base this summer. The integrative computer science major enrolled in the 3-2 Engineering Program said it was her first real job experience.
“I was excited to see what it looks like, and what a real working environment might look like when I'm finished with college and stepping into my career,” Grey said.
A data-heavy program that featured about 30 other interns, Grey studied machine learning, linear regression, and how the Navy uses them in different defense systems. The internship also included presenting to students from multiple high schools and lending a hand at the Naval Engineering Education Consortium Festival.
She’s interested in returning next summer to focus on higher-level, hands-on projects.
“I would definitely recommend it to other students,” Grey said. “Going into it, I had a narrow view of what the Navy was, picturing people in uniform at boot camp. But there's a whole other technological and engineering side of it for people that don't want to actually enlist in the military, like myself.”
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