Wright Scholars experience first-hand research projects

  • Published
  • By David Levine
  • Wright Scholar program participant
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. --  During the hot summer months of June, July and August, most high school students spend time relaxing at home, hanging out with friends or working at a local restaurant/ store.

However, as a Wright Scholar, I, and other students who are passionate about future careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, spent the summer working beside scientists and engineers who take pride in their work. Every year, the Wright Scholar program offers internships to high school seniors and graduates who excel in the classroom and take a clear interest in STEM topics and places them with various mentors across Air Force Research Laboratory. These mentors help guide the students through research projects and show them what it means to be a scientist or engineer.

Being interested in mechanical engineering, I was placed in the Aerospace System Directorate's Combustion Branch with Dr. Vince Belovich. Working a 40-hour week in the directorate provided a better understanding of what it means to work in a laboratory, and it has shown me how people of different educational backgrounds can come together, solve problems and discover new things about the world.

While I've always told other people that I am going to work in an engineering field, I don't think it really clicked as to what that would entail in a research laboratory until I got a firsthand look at how researchers and engineers boost advancements for the Air Force.
Here, researchers are proposing and designing new experiments, while engineers are creating and machining items for a test rig so their experiments can function just the way they should.

My main project is to create a Rijke tube presentation. These tubes have wire mesh within them, and when the mesh is lit with a Bunsen burner or torch, they create a standing wave by causing the tube to vibrate at its resonant frequency.

While I spent much of my time focused on this project, I also attended seminars, lectures and tours with other Wright Scholars, exploring a wide range of topics -- one day learning about nanotechnology and the next taking a tour in a decommissioned nuclear reactor.
We received insight into different fields and how we can really change the world as engineers and scientists.