Department of Aerospace Engineering

Bryce Martin, AER E Alum, Shares What Life is Like after Graduation

 

For Bryce Martin (ISU aero, BS 2003, MS 2005), it's been very busy lately. He tells us, "It is amazing how quickly time flies and how quickly you gain so much knowledge by actually getting out into the industry and start working.  I have been here at Lockheed Martin working on the External Tank Project for just about 2 years now and it seems like it has been 5 years by the amount of knowledge and wisdom I have picked up by working with some great people." 

But Bryce is quick to point out that his steep learning curve had some help. "I must say that I owe this fast learning capability mostly to each one of you (Drs. Shih, Lu, Chimenti, and Rajagopalan) and all of the other professors that instructed me at Iowa State.  Learning the theories and applications of those theories is not only necessary, but also serve as a great foundation; however, from my short experience I was best served by wanting to strive to achieve to the elevated expectations put forth by each of my professors.  By having the bar set high it forced me to improve my critical thinking skills and sharpened my ability to concentrate, focus, and grasp things much quicker than if the higher expectations were not in place."  Bryce, we couldn't have said it better ourselves. Like a true loyal Cyclone, he tells us, "So, thank you for giving me the tools to succeed and making me proud to say that I am an alumni of the Aerospace Engineering Department at Iowa State University."  Needless to say, we're proud of you, too.

Bryce's major focus for the past 18 months has been the Shuttle External Tank. "If you have been following the progress of the Space Shuttle Program you should know that there have been many obstacles to overcome following the Columbia accident in early 2003." We know that the efforts of many dedicated people were essential for the Return to Flight.  "To that end, by working in the ET Launch Integration group as a Systems Engineer I have had the opportunity to work on many things that have made the Space Shuttle vehicle safer to fly that ever before."  Glad to hear that, and so are the astronauts, we're sure.
 
Bryce has worked on the ET-120, "a 'pathfinder' tank for the External Tank Project", as he puts it. Bryce and the team he worked with had to deal with engineering setbacks, extensive inspections of the tank, and even Hurricane Katrina played a role. That's real world engineering.  He tells us, "A Critical Design Review was required by the Space Shuttle Program to recertify ET-120 for flight.  I was designated by my management as the Co-Lead for the design review.  I was responsible for ensuring that all of the documentation... was readily available and complete.  I was also required to develop a presentation to give an overview of all of the activities that were required to bring ET-120 back into service."  That's the way it's done in the world of professional engineering.

But here's the best part, "For my contributions to the successful restoration and flight of ET-120 I (and other key people on the team) will be receiving a Team Excellence award from the Lockheed Martin Corporation.  Additionally, the flight of this tank was considered a key milestone to the fly out of the Space Shuttle Program which could not have been accomplished without the flight of this tank."  Way to go, Bryce!
 
And that's not all. Another interesting point for this tank is that Clayton Anderson (recently inducted to the Aero Dept Hall of Distinguished Alumni) returned on the orbiter Discovery which was the landing of STS-120.

But, as we said, our Bryce Martin is a busy young man these days. He was designated at the Systems Engineering Lead for the Design Certification Review for the Liquid Oxygen Feedline Support Bracket redesign ET-128. The idea is to greatly reduce the formation of ice around the brackets.  Bryce relates, "A very successful preliminary review was completed which allowed the External Tank Project to shorten the time frame required for the review which was accepted by the Space Shuttle Program.  This helped provide some relief to the very aggressive flight schedule."
 
ET-128 will be flying on STS-124 which launched on May 31st, 2008.  Recall that this page ran an article recently about Christi Vigneri (2005 alum), who helped train the astronauts for this mission.  Bryce tells us that he helped teach Christi in the fall of 2003 or spring of 2004, when he was a graduate teaching assistant in the aero dept.  "It really is a small world," Bryce insists.  You bet it is!

Bryce has also played a key role as a team member on the ET-125 Engine Cut Off Sensor System Anomaly Investigation Team. "This was quite a task since the time frame required for testing and analysis was extremely short so that the fix could be implemented to allow STS-122 to launch without having to roll back from the pad."  Bryce works on other things as well, but feels that he's told us enough. I should say.  Now you see why we say he's a busy guy.

In spite of his recent Team Excellence award and rising level of responsibility, Bryce remains a modest young man. "I feel as though I am in an elite group of Aerospace professionals after reading the list of those that have studied at Iowa State University in the Aerospace Engineering Department.  It is a privilege to be a part of the long legacy that has been developed and is continuing to grow from the hard work that each one of you has worked on and are still working on.  I hope that through my own career that I can bring something back to ISU in a way that so many have before me." 

-- Written and submitted by Dale Chimenti, AER E faculty member.

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