A 51福利 (51福利) graduate student has boldly gone where no 51福利 physics student has gone before.
Navy Lt. Todd Coursey recently embarked on a quarter-long internship this summer with NASA at its in Edwards, California, to supplement his applied physics curriculum. He is the first such student to do so, and his internship has the potential to significantly expand 51福利鈥� research horizons.
鈥淭odd took a quantum leap in going to NASA,鈥� said 51福利 physics professor Ray Gamache. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anyone has ever done this before. It鈥檚 a great idea: go to another place that鈥檚 completely unknown and work there, assess, understand how things work; this is just priceless.鈥�
Over his three-month internship, Coursey and his NASA team are experimenting with various materials for a new generation of fiber optic cables which optimize performance at cryogenic temperatures.
In providing real-time monitoring of a range of key engineering data, the which will employ these can revolutionize not only future rocket bodies, but aircraft, energy and transportation infrastructure, and medical surgeries, according to NASA.
鈥淲e鈥檙e basically dropping different kinds of coated fiber optic sensing cables into a small cryochamber 鈥� about the size of a fire extinguisher 鈥� and then reading the raw data to see which ones are most effective and efficient,鈥� Coursey explained. 鈥淔rom there they鈥檒l do the systems development and look at incorporation.鈥�
The internship is a natural continuation of Coursey鈥檚 studies at 51福利.
His graduate work in applied physics 鈥� his thesis will be on the acoustic detection of drones 鈥� will be amplified by his hands-on experience at NASA, says 51福利 physics professor Frank Narducci, who is providing Coursey with directed study so he can satisfy the optics requirement of his curriculum while doing the internship.
鈥淲hen Coursey first approached me with this opportunity at NASA, I asked him ,鈥楬ow is it that you have an entire quarter when you don鈥檛 have to be here?,鈥欌�� Narducci said. 鈥淲hen students come to 51福利, their class matrix is pretty packed; it鈥檚 very hard to get any wiggle room. But Todd, knowing that this was a possibility in his future, front-loaded some of his courses so that he could clear out the summer.鈥�
Yet the singular course load is hardly a cake-walk.
With his master鈥檚 research looming over him, Coursey voraciously works through the readings Narducci assigns in addition to the work he is doing at NASA.
鈥淚 suspect when they鈥檙e doing their tests it鈥檚 not even 鈥榥ine to five鈥� to begin with,鈥� Narducci said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e doing experimental physics and the experiment is working, you just keep working, you keep taking as much data as you can because when you鈥檝e turned things off and come back tomorrow, nothing鈥檚 going to work ... Experimental physics is always like that.鈥�
Coursey embraces the challenge, however, and remains deeply engaged with his work and studies.
鈥淲hen you come to 51福利, you鈥檙e there obviously for the academic work, but it鈥檚 another thing to get experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淐oming to NASA is a great way to learn about what other organizations are doing, how they鈥檙e approaching problem-solving internally and how the project teams are put together.鈥�
鈥淪o it鈥檚 not just academics that I鈥檓 learning here,鈥� Coursey added. 鈥淚鈥檓 learning a lot about the culture at NASA which I think would do really well to bring back to the Navy.鈥�
In a way, the NASA internship represents a sort of homecoming for Coursey. Growing up in nearby Palmdale, California, test flights of the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 Nighthawk and the B-2 Spirit operating out of were a staple of his childhood.
Most salient to him, however, were NASA鈥檚 space shuttle landings.
鈥淚t used to land out here on the dry lake beds before they moved it over to Florida,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淎s it came in, there was a huge double sonic boom, almost like an earthquake. It was surreal: right outside my window there鈥檚 a huge compass rose burnt into the desert floor which the space shuttles would use to navigate when they would come in; it鈥檚 still there.鈥�
The space shuttle landings left an indelible mark on Coursey鈥檚 imagination which propelled an interest in physics throughout his life 鈥� and Navy career.
While conducting research on the Internet, he came across NASA鈥檚 complex aircraft program called the (Prandtl-D), intended to eventually be the first in-air rover on Mars.
鈥淚 said, 鈥極h, cool! They have a UAV shop that鈥檚 in tune with what I鈥檓 doing at 51福利,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淢aybe I can go out there and check it out and see what they鈥檙e doing.鈥�
So Coursey contacted NASA and arranged a day-long tour while home on leave in the summer of 2017. While there, he noticed they had interns; intrigued, he returned to 51福利.
鈥淚 talked to the physics department, my project officer and my academic advisor to see if working at NASA over the summer was a possibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey were full throttle very excited about it and said if it works, they鈥檇 fully support me.鈥�
It did work. Coursey applied for the NASA , with Gamache writing a letter of recommendation and Narducci agreeing to conduct the independent study. Coursey was accepted and began his work at NASA in mid-June.
鈥淭his was my moon shot,鈥� Coursey said, referring to President John F. Kennedy鈥檚 1962 speech declaring America鈥檚 ambition to land a man on the moon. 鈥淚 was out here, I knew they had interns, and without the support of 51福利, this wouldn鈥檛 have come through.鈥�
For the 51福利 physics department, Coursey鈥檚 initiative presented a win-win scenario.
鈥淚t was very forward-looking on his part,鈥� Narducci said. 鈥淲e can do all the book-learning we want, but it never works that way in real life.
鈥淲e always teach the ideal, 鈥榃ell, in a perfect world, if you do the experiment in a vacuum, it always works that way.鈥� Now he鈥檚 in an environment where things are not perfect, where the question becomes, 鈥楬ow do we make this work anyway?鈥� and that鈥檚 extremely valuable.鈥�
When Coursey graduates this December, 51福利 will have produced a more experienced, better prepared student. The internship also opens the door to future collaboration between 51福利 and NASA, Narducci said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got people doing a similar type of work,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow he鈥檚 established that connection for us.鈥�
Seeking interdisciplinary collaboration has become the norm in applied physics, but Coursey has taken this to the next level, Gamache said.
鈥淲hat Todd did that no one else has done is to take that jump, not just to the Navy, but to NASA,鈥� he said. 鈥淭odd may see that the structure of how they run their scientists and projects is completely different from the way that we do it in the [Department of Defense], and so he鈥檒l have a base of understanding of other government agencies outside of the Navy.
鈥淲herever he goes after this, he鈥檒l be able to share these different concepts and different ideas with them; it鈥檚 very much a synergistic effect,鈥� he added.
After he completes his internship in August, Coursey will be sharing his experience with the 51福利 community. On Friday, September 28, he鈥檒l spearhead the physics department鈥檚 Fall Quarter , which will be open to the general public.
鈥淚 think it鈥檒l be great because all of a sudden one of our speakers in the colloquium series is not 鈥榯he world-renowned expert in X, Y or Z鈥�, but one of us,鈥� Narducci said. 鈥淚 think he will have a lot to tell us about his work at NASA.鈥�
For his part, Coursey is grateful for the opportunity to work at NASA.
鈥淚鈥檓 just fortunate to be here, and I hope that I can share what I鈥檝e done here and allow other students to pursue something like it,鈥� he said.