My Story
I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Metro Early College High School (Metro). Metro is where my passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) started. Growing up I enjoyed spending my time taking apart, observing, and using machines of all types. However, I never considered a career in engineering until my teenage years. I largely attribute my change of mindset, and the launch of my current career trajectory, to my time with FIRST Robotics team 3324 – The Metrobots. The wonderful mentors who led the team inspired me to work harder and think more critically than I had done up to that point in my life.
In August of 2014 I started my collegiate journey at the University of Cincinnati (UC), where I majored in Mechanical Engineering and minored in Computer Science. Through UC’s cooperative education program, I spent 5 semesters of my undergraduate curriculum working full time in the engineering industry. I began my professional journey working at General Electric Transportation in Erie, Pennsylvania and then followed it with time at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.
It was at UC and my parallel involvement with the UC Cubecats that I began to explore aerospace and systems engineering. My extensive involvement in developing satellites for deployment in low earth orbit led to my aforementioned placement at NASA JSC and ultimately altered my engineering career trajectory towards the aerospace industry.
Currently, I am Graduate Student at the University of Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, and am on track to graduate in the spring of 2022 with a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering. As of April 2020, I have been accepted into the Graduate Pathways Program at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and will be working at JSC for a semester (14-16 Weeks) in the spring of 2021 and 2022 before hopefully starting full-time in late 2022.
If equipment and instruments fail we need to know what causes it to fail AND how it will fail. Will it fail in a high critical state, or will it fail in a low state? Will it happen quickly and all at once, or slowly and gradually? Defining a problem is the first step towards finding a solution.
-Christopher Kraft
Professional Passions
I excel in professional spaces that prioritize collaboration with others, learning from peers, and teaching peers. I firmly believe that learning does not stop at the classroom door and that teaching is one of the best ways to solidify knowledge on a given subject.
My passion for large collaborative team projects and my ability to work well others is one my largest strengths. My success in team projects is furthered by my strengths in analytical reasoning and my ability to resolve problems by using context from similar historical applications.
I specialize in, and enjoy working on, mechatronic systems that are fully or semi-autonomous. My controls, programming, and systems engineering experience coupled with my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering aid in my success in mechatronic research and system development.
In the far future, I hope to use my degrees in mechanical engineering to pursue a career in the exploration of space and our nearest planetary neighbors through the development of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems to aid in Human space flight.
It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.
-Vince Lombardi
Personal Passions
In my spare time I follow my passions of outdoor and other active pursuits. I enjoy backpacking, mountain biking, running, and anything that gets my blood pumping and brain working. I think that spending time outdoors and being physically active is crucial for creativity and improved mental health, which leads to increased productivity and ingenuity.
Fighting for the continued environmental health of this planet and the rights of its many inhabitants is also important to me. I believe that being active in voicing concerns and standing up for those whom are underprivileged helps us all move forward into a better societal future.
For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.
-Carl Sagan
Photography
My primary hobby outside of my career and aforementioned passions is photography. I have shot for magazines and have been credentialed at the Indianapolis 500 and other Motorsport events. While I specialize in sports and landscape photography, I am always willing to use my photography skills to further the goals of any organization I am involved in.
Every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we’re reminded that that capacity may well be limitless.
– West Wing S4E2
Global Citizenship
With the world becoming more interconnected with every passing day, it is increasingly important to experience and understand the cultures that constitute the world which we all share. Although we can not understand the lives that others have lived, we can step into their shoes and try to gain an appreciation for their experiences to be better global and national citizens.
Traveling to and walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain changed my prospective on a lot of things. One item from that experience which has persisted in my personal philosophy is that to be a good team player, a productive member of society, and an overall good human being, one must first find their soul and connect with others.
You don’t chose a life… you live one
– “The Way” (2010)
Reeve Lambert Web Portfolio 