We spoke with Mathematics Graduate Student, Hunter Rehm, regarding his internship with NASA Glenn Research Center:
"Over the past summer and fall, I interned with NASA GRC where I had the opportunity to work on two separate projects; one related to medical risk and another on satellite communication. My mentor, Lauren McIntyre, works as the technical lead for the MEDPRAT team at NASA. Our goal was to determine a risk metric which allows us to accurately compare medical conditions. We were able to use techniques from graph theory and linear algebra to understand how each medical condition progresses, which lead us to the rick metric that we are using today. We are currently writing a technical manuscript on these results to be published with NASA.
Additionally, I worked with Dr. Robert Short to determine which satellites are the most important for lunar and terrestrial communication. We are developing an algorithm which allows each satellite to calculate their own importance at any given time. We recently applied for a grant to continue this work over the next year. Future work on this topic will involve my advisor, Dr. Puck Rombach, and will be a part of my PhD dissertation. Overall, my internship at NASA was amazing and I would recommend that anyone who is interested should apply for one!"