UA College of Engineering Student Selected to Participate in NASA Summer Research Program

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama College of Engineering senior Rob Davis has been selected to participate in this summer’s NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

The Montgomery resident is one of about 30 undergraduate students selected from more than 300 applicants for the intense 10-week research and activities program. Applicants to the Undergraduate Student Research Program must be a full-time junior or senior studying a science, math or high technology discipline and holding at least a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. The average GPA of students accepted this year is 3.5.

“I am honored and excited about this opportunity,” Davis said. “I will be working in the area of propulsion control systems, which is my primary interest. I’m hopeful that this opportunity will put me on a viable path to eventual employment with NASA.”

Dr. Michael Polites, associate professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics, encouraged Davis to apply to the program. “This is a unique opportunity, and we are proud that he has been selected for such a competitive program.”

The program offers college students an opportunity to work with a NASA scientist or engineer mentor on research projects that relate to, or directly extend, a student’s classroom experience.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 90 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.