NASA Glenn Academy 2006

NASA Academy 2006
Glenn Research Center
2006 GRC Academy Home

Kathryn C. Johnson

University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC

Chemical Engineering
Bachelor of Science, May 2007

NASA Academy Research Project

Polymer Cross-linked Aerogels for Spacesuit Insulation
NASA Principal Investigator: Dr. Mary Ann Meador

Education

I grew up in North Augusta, SC, and attended high school at Augusta Preparatory Day School, where I graduated as valedictorian. I began attending the University of South Carolina in the fall of 2003 as a chemistry major, then switched the next semester to chemical engineering. In the fall I will be a senior in chemical engineering with additional coursework in biology. I have recently won a Goldwater Scholarship.

Experience

Last summer I participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the University of Virginia, where I studied electrochemical oscillations under Dr. John Hudson. I presented a poster of that research at the 2005 AIChE National Student Conference in Cincinnati, OH, and in a poster competition at the University of South Carolina. Since August 2005 I have been researching the self-assembly of the protein amyloid-beta and its role in Alzheimer’s disease under the direction of Dr. Melissa Moss at USC. Next fall I will be a co-vice president of the USC student chapter of AIChE and recording secretary for the USC chapter of Tau Beta Pi. Having taken four years of Spanish in high school and a semester more at USC, I jumped at the chance in the summer of 2004 to spend five weeks in Spain as part of USC’s language-immersion study abroad program. I was happy to find that I could use my Spanish well enough to survive in another country.

Extra-Curricular Activities

I’ve been a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity, for the last two years. We run a night shuttle on campus, help at the food bank, visit an animal shelter, and work on many other projects that happen to come our way. I’m not athletic, but I like to be active indoors or outdoors, whether taking a walk, swimming, or riding my bike. My favorite place to be is at the beach, where I go with my family (mom, dad, younger sister) every year for at least a week. I also like to cook, and I enjoy trying new recipes. I’m definitely a big science fiction fan, having grown up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my family and reading books by Heinlein and Asimov. In the third grade I had the opportunity to have my signature included on a disk on the Cassini spacecraft because my father managed the facility that processed the craft’s nuclear fuel. Both these experiences contributed to my interest in all things space-related and also showed me how exciting science could be.