Auburn’s Allman to work with NASA’s Robonaut during internship

NASA’s Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP) selected Auburn's Ashley Allman to complete a 15-week Robonaut Tool Development Project at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Jan. 10-April 1.

January 6, 2011 7:00 pm
Auburn’s Ashley Allman is heading to the Johnson Space Center as a National Community College Aerospace Scholar. In the background is a projection of the rover design she submitted as part of her application materials.
Auburn’s Ashley Allman is heading to the Johnson Space Center as a National Community College Aerospace Scholar. In the background is a projection of the rover design she submitted as part of her application materials.

NASA’s Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP) selected Auburn’s Ashley Allman to complete a 15-week Robonaut Tool Development Project at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Jan. 10-April 1.

Allman, a Seattle Central Community College student and Auburn High graduate, is one of two community college students selected nationwide to intern at the Space Center.

“As an undergraduate student, it is so exciting to have an opportunity to work alongside NASA’s engineers on a project that will really go into space,” Allman said. “I know that the work experience will help me further my career after graduation.”

Allman is one of 713 USRP applicants from across the country, 175 of whom received a spring 2011 internship. She is one of 25 who will intern at the Johnson Space Center.

“Ashley was selected specifically for the Robonaut Tool Development Project because of her prior experience working with robotics at NASA (her Washington Aerospace Scholars and National Community College Aerospace Scholars tours), her academic excellence, and her enthusiasm for NASA robotics missions to Mars,” said Courtney Crooks, USRP Coordinator for the Johnson Space Center. Ashley will work under the mentorship of NASA Space Station Flight Controller Margaret Gibb.

In May, Allman was selected by NASA as a National Community College Aerospace Scholar. She was one of two students from Washington state and among 75 other scholars nationwide who traveled to the Johnson Space Center to participate in a variety of hands-on experiences at the space center.

Allman graduated from Seattle Central in June with an associate of science transfer degree, with an emphasis in engineering. She is continuing at Seattle Central for the remainder of the year before transferring to the Aeronautics/Astronautics Department at the University of Washington. She is a recipient of The Boeing Company Endowed Scholarship for 2010-2011.

Seattle Central has an extensive outreach program to increase the number of students, particularly women and underrepresented minorities, who enroll and succeed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) subject areas. Seattle Central’s science and mathematics programs receive funds from NASA, National Institute of Health, National Science foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Carnegie Foundation.

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For more information about NASA’s USRP, visit: http://usrp.usra.edu/

For more information about Seattle Central, visit: www.seattlecentral.edu