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High school students and graduates as well as college and Air Force ROTC students furthered their studies in STEM by interning with the 509th Maintenance Group’s research and engineering shop over the summer.
The interns worked in specialized teams to help assist the 509th MXG RE in not only creating tools and new machinery for specific mission needs but also to learn the demands and experience of active-duty military life.
“I’ve learned a lot in terms of the stuff we’ve done while interning in the STEM field,” said U.S. Air Force Cadet Varun Potlury. “It’s definitely been an enlightening experience I’d say.”
1st Lt. Ian Roberts, 509th MXG RE software engineer, said the interns were split up into three groups based on their skills and fields of study, with all of them working on different projects for the base.
“We all have our main projects that we work on, but some days you are just kind of waiting on prints,” said Brayden Kulpa, a Warrensburg High School student. “So, sometimes you’ll have projects that are offered to us and then we’ll just jump on whatever opportunity they give us.”
The projects have been diverse, ranging from reverse-engineering a fuel pump for the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, enhancing the MXG’s technical data collection, to developing tools specialized for the 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chiefs to facilitate towing aircraft.
“I highly recommended it to pretty much anyone who’s old enough to do it,” said Drew Fundaburg, a Warrensburg High School student. “It’s beneficial to you and from what I’ve seen, it’s beneficial to the people around here.”
Not only were the interns able to work on important projects, but they could also participate in a variety of programs and activities at Whiteman AFB.
“Being able to be a part of the STEM Fest was stressful, but it was also cool to be able to actually help and see that so many people were interested,” said Rochelle Elkes, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology student.
As the school year begins and the MXG RE program draws to a close, the interns can use the skills and knowledge gained to lay a strong foundation for their future careers in STEM and perhaps the Air Force.
| Date Taken: | 08.20.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2024 10:09 |
| Story ID: | 482194 |
| Location: | WHITEMAN AFB, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 9 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Interns gain hands-on STEM experience with 509th Maintenance Group, by A1C Bryce Moore, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
