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Mars Mission Crew Executes Successful
Landing on Campus
Class work raises plenty of challenges. But for many graduating students, the really tough question — the big unknown — is how to find a job that's interesting, if not inspiring. This week, Rensselaer alumni working with the Mars Exploration Rover Mission visited campus, bringing with them everything from inspiration to sound advice on how to get a foot in the door.
The Rensselaer grads included Kobie Boykins ’96, a staff mechanical engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); Chris Voorhees ’96, JPL mechanical systems engineer; Fred Serricchio ’94, JPL attitude control systems engineer; and Jason Suchman ’94, senior member of the technical staff at Northrop Grumman.
Their return to campus during Grand Marshal Week was part of the Rensselaer Alumni Association Back to Campus Speaker Series.
The event included a look inside the Mars Rovers program, complete with hardware, scale models, photos, and an interactive presentation before a packed gallery at the Heffner Alumni House. Grand Marshal and Alumni Association Board Member Mike Borzumate ’99 hosted the presentation.
Senior Leah Underwood said the presentation was “really cool. They were young alumni we can relate to who are already changing the world.”
Boykins, who helped design the solar panels that power the rover, and Voorhees, who helped design the wheels, credited Rensselaer’s co-op program (a service of the Career Development Center), which placed them in summer internships at JPL. “From there, I never looked back,” Boykins said. “I was taken with the work and the campus-like setting where people do some of the most exciting engineering in the world.”
Like many of the students who turned out to see the Rover alumni, senior Wally Morris used the opportunity to network and find out more about processes and shortcuts to getting hired. “Being a part of the space program is my dream,” Morris said. “The alumni were unbelievably helpful, giving advice and taking resumes.”
All four visiting Mars Rover alumni pointed to the trend of growing retirement among senior scientists and engineers, which is creating a strong demand for new graduates to fill the vacancies.
Rensselaer has a long history in the fields of space research and exploration, with significant roles played by the school, alumni, and faculty. Rensselaer’s 14th president, George Low ’48, led the Apollo Spacecraft Program that successfully landed man on the moon in 1969. He is considered the father of the Space Shuttle program. Alumni Hall of Fame member John “Jack” Swigert ’65 was an astronaut on the Apollo 13 flight.
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