It’s National Intern Day! Across the state, Arizona Space Grant awards over 150 internships each year. Interns play critical roles in the research happening at our universities, research centers, and within local industry. We are extremely proud of our interns and look forward to beginning a new academic year in just 1 month!

For National Intern Day, we want to highlight one of our Arizona Space Grant interns that was placed at JPL this summer. Megan Miller is an Arizona State University Junior in Astrophysics. Megan says of her experience:

"Today is my last day at JPL, and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this incredible journey. Throughout my time here, I've had the opportunity to connect with minds in data science, astrophysics, mission operations, engineering.

For my project, I developed a Python pipeline to filter GUSTO data and graph the attenuated temperature. I ran into a problem with using the original data that I was using so mid-way through my project I switched over to data with a whole other framework. This took me reworking my pipeline to a whole new input. I also overlaid the areas GUSTO scanned with the actual sky using Herschel data.

Beyond coding, I made it my mission to explore every building, floor, and unlocked door at JPL. I've visited remarkable places like the Karman Visitor Center, the Space Flight Operations Facility, the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, the Mars Yard, and Mission Control.

One of the most memorable experiences was discussing my research at ASU with scientists who were already familiar with my project. This made me realize the significance of my work at ASU, extending beyond a college project. After that conversation, they reached out to me again, and we talked about my future aspirations. 

I was also able to be heavily connected with the SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) team which has allowed me to join in on their Science division telecoms.

Being at JPL has been more than just a summer internship; it has been a glimpse into my future. I've also had the honor of being featured in the JPL Space News and on NBC for my involvement in the JPL NASA Pride Parade, and to be on a panel to talk about my experience at JPL to ~50 participants. 

Thank you all for being a part of this unforgettable experience." - Megan Miller