{"id":9635,"date":"2023-11-28T18:01:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T22:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/aero-engineer-brings-nasa-into-hawaiis-classrooms\/"},"modified":"2023-11-28T18:01:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T22:01:53","slug":"aero-engineer-brings-nasa-into-hawaiis-classrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/aero-engineer-brings-nasa-into-hawaiis-classrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Aero Engineer Brings NASA into Hawaii\u2019s Classrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aero Engineer Brings NASA into Hawaii\u2019s Classrooms<\/h2>\n

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On the left, NASA Ames engineer Evan Kawamura on his first day of sixth grade with teacher Kristen Stoker of Hanalani Schools. On the right, Kawamura reunited with Mrs. Stoker when speaking to her students about his work at NASA. <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The field of aerial vehicle autonomy focuses on self-reliance, building the flight equivalent of puppets without puppeteers. Behind the scenes, however, is a rich network of people and systems that work together to develop frameworks, test new technologies, and inspire a pipeline of engineers to create the breakthroughs of the future. Encouraging kids to dream big and pursue their STEM passions is especially important to Evan Kawamura, a guidance, navigation and control engineer in the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

Kawamura takes mentorship and STEM outreach as seriously as his work in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)<\/a>. He extends his duty as an engineer from his office to classrooms across Oahu, Hawaii, where he lives. He has led drone-building workshops, presented about his journey to NASA, and connected with hundreds of students and educators. Most recently, Kawamura returned to his alma mater and reunited with his sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Kristen Stoker, to talk to her students about his work at NASA.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince my family, teachers, advisors, mentors, and professors provided me with wonderful opportunities and experiences that inspired and prepared me for engineering, I feel that it\u2019s crucial to continue to inspire the next generation,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we do not protect, inspire, and educate our children, then the future is dark and uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Evan Kawamura, computer guidance, navigation, and control engineer, with two hexacopters in the NASA Unmanned Aircraft System Autonomy Research Complex.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA\/Dominic Hart<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kawamura writes code that helps aerial vehicles launch, fly, and land without intervention from human operators. One of his early proud moments was in the summer of 2019 when, with the help of his team lead and mentor, Corey Ippolito of NASA Ames\u2019 Airborne Science Program, he successfully programmed a six-propellered hexacopter to launch from and return to a defined point in space without a human driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very rewarding and fulfilling to see our efforts pay off both in simulation and in a real world flight test,\u201d Kawamura said. \u201cThe work also became the baseline autonomy code for others on our team and my graduate school research too, so I felt a lot of pressure during development but a huge relief when it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kawamura comes from a long line of builders and engineers, back to his boatbuilding great-great- grandfather who moved to Hawaii from Japan in 1909 with his nine-year-old son. Evan\u2019s father, a software engineer, bought him science and engineering books, and entertained endless questions about how things work. His grandfather, a contractor who built the house Evan\u2019s dad grew up in, was a fan of origami and spent countless hours teaching Evan to fold boats and planes. His family inspired in him a fascination for the ways different materials could fit together like trains and LEGO to make something new, but sometimes he didn\u2019t get to play with his creations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got excited to create a battle with all the paper planes and boats my grandpa and I made,\u201d Kawamura said. \u201cBut he fell asleep before we could start playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The cool and strange thing is that I see the aloha spirit at NASA Ames, which was one of the main reasons that made me want to work at NASA.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"Evan<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Evan kawamura<\/p>\n

NASA Engineer<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kawamura joined Ames as an intern while getting his PhD at University of Hawaii at Manoa. He completed his first internship in 2018, returned in the spring of 2019, and accepted a NASA Pathways internship later that summer. In 2021, Kawamura converted to a remote full-time employee at Ames. All along the way, he relied on the guidance and support of his family, mentors, and teammates. That experience drives him to pay forward the inspiration and encouragement that helped him get where he is today.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in Hawaii fosters a \u2018togetherness\u2019 mindset that is very inclusive and family-oriented,\u201d he said. \u201cHelping others, sharing burdens, and having each other\u2019s backs opens channels of communication to build friendships and foster collaboration, which is what aloha is all about. The cool and strange thing is that I see the aloha spirit at NASA Ames, which was one of the main reasons that made me want to work at NASA.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nArezu Sarvestani <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The field of aerial vehicle autonomy focuses on self-reliance, building the flight equivalent of puppets without puppeteers. Behind the scenes, however, is a rich network of people and systems that work together to develop frameworks, test new technologies, and inspire a pipeline of engineers to create the breakthroughs of the future. Encouraging kids to dream [\u2026] Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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