So im a junior in high school, and I just got my first job and stuff so Ive been really busy. But I still managed to find time for the Materials Engineering camp at Bradley University this week. Its a lot of fun so far...and the most awesome part is...I am working on parts of debris from the columbia space shuttle...Yea. Not like parts theyve already examined and stuff. Were the first people to get to examine these peices, were doing failure analysis on them. They dont appear to be major peices. A heat tile, a warped I-beam, and part of the leading edge of the wing. Its a super cool experience. Like just realizing what your working with. Its an awesome experience. Im realizing that engineering is my kind of thing really. I cant really grasp the fact that im holding freaking debris from a space shuttle yet. Not like replicas or anything, like REAL debris. Its crazy... I also got into the newspaper a picture of me and a friend running an experiment.

Congrats Dan, thanks for sharing your experience.

cherish it; next year they change your job title to "dilbert", put you in a cubicle in the middle of the building and make you wear a u shaped tie!

Do you also get to reflect on the fact that it is debris from a vehicle in which some good people died?

Congratulations Dan. Hey, haven't you play some online ArmA missions with us before?

Hey dan
That sounds really cool. Keep up the good work in school and you can probably find a pretty cool career. I still remember my first research experience. It wasn't as cool as what you described but knowing that you are the FIRST EVER to do something is a really awesome feeling. There is definitely a need for American students in science and engineering so keep up the good work.