Former ME student works on rover to be sent to Mars

Dr. Uitenham,

I just wanted to give you an update on where I am and what I’m doing. The year that you became the Department Chair I was ASME Student Chapter Chair. Since then I know I called and spoke with you a couple times while I was struggling through an Aerospace graduate degree at Virginia Tech. Well I finally graduated, nearly 2 yrs. ago, and I haven’t looked back. I been working for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory since I graduated and have been loving every moment. One of the biggest things I’ve been working on is the next rover that we are sending to Mars. It is called the Mars Science Laboratory and is scheduled to launch in 2011.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know where I was working and that I’m doing extremely well. As a matter of fact now that I almost have 2yrs of work experience I will be eligible to apply to the U.S. Astronaut Corp. the next time that positions become available. Hopefully that will be this year because I’m looking forward to applying.

Lastly, I learned that JPL and A&T had a close relationship some years ago where we had groups of A&T students doing internships and research on lab. I don’t know why the program ended but if you speak with Dr. Cheek and you two are interested in revitalizing that program then let me know and we can start working towards that end.

Curtis T. Wilkerson, Jr.
Quality Assurance Engineer
Office: (818) 354-2876

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove; M/S 83-204
Pasadena, CA 91109-8099