Blog 13 – 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

~Definition of mentor.

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
1. I do my mentorship with Eric Fodran. For the most part, we have only been meeting in places where it is easy for both of us to get to. Being able to do mentorship in his workplace is not really necessary because the majority of our work only requires the use of computers/electronic devices with internet capabilities. This is because my senior topic, Aerospace Engineering, is more about research; however, in some of our meetings, we have worked with actual objects/parts that can be found in aircraft.
2. Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?
1. My mentor is  Dr. Eric Fodran. He works in Prod Ops Manufacturing Technology Development at Northrop Grumman in El Segundo, California. He is considered to be an expert in Aerospace engineering because of his education and experience working in the Aerospace field.
3. How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).
1. As of January 5th, 2015, I have done a total of 24 mentorship hours and 11 Independent Component 1 hours. More information about my hours can be found in the document “Senior Project Hours” in the right hand side of my blog.
4. Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.
1. For our first meeting, my mentor and I actually met at Northrop Grumman so he can show me some of the work they do. For most of the mentorship hours I’ve done, I have been working on research with my mentor. This doesn’t mean we just spend time on the computer doing research; we take notes and discuss certain topics that can be helpful in finding an answer for my essential question. We have worked very well together and I have learned a great deal from the hours of mentorship I have done with him. He is very helpful and always encourages me to think of possible answers to my essential question. Moreover, he is the one that guides me with my independent component and is currently helping me find a way I can move forward with my topic (Aerospace). I plan to complete my remaining hours by doing the same thing. While my essential question–how can an aircraft best utilize today’s technology in order to be cost efficient–may seem simple, there are actually countless of possible answers to this. My mentor and I hope to find the best answers through experimentation, like my independent component, and literature/research.

Blog 2 – Summer Mentorship

Senior Project Hours

~A photo I took of Space Shuttle Independence outside the Space Center Houston. During the summer, I was also able to go to the Space Center Houston, part of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I figured it would actually be a good idea since it directly relates to my senior topic.

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.
• Name: Eduardo Quevedo
• Phone number: (626) 290-9384
• Organization: Boeing
2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?
• He is an aircraft mechanic who graduated with an associates degree in aviation maintenance from Mt. Sac in 2010. Although he does not hold a high position, I found Eduardo to be an expert in my topic choice because of his experience as an aircraft mechanic.
3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.
• How will the growing competition between aircraft manufacturers and commercial airlines affect the quality of aircraft?
• What are some of the biggest milestones in Aerospace and how have they changed the industry?
• Should aircraft manufacturers be more reliant on new technology? Why or why not?
4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
• The most important thing I gained from this experience was knowledge about typical complications aircraft mechanics face while working with aircraft. I found this to be the most important thing from the experience because learning about the problems of the aerospace industry would give me a better understanding my topic.
5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.
• My senior project is going to be about the aerospace industry. While I still do not know if it will be about aerospace engineering or aircraft maintenance, having my mentorship in the latter topic helped me hone down to those two. During my mentorship I learned about some of the problems old aircraft go through which is important because seeing how something behaves in the real world is sometimes a lot different than how it should be on paper. While I did enjoy this topic it was very difficult to get the initial approval from administration because of all the security protocols. Now that I have the approval and some experience though, I believe finding mentorship in aerospace engineering or continuing with aircraft maintenance should be much easier.