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Raritan Valley Community College students Kaitlin Rock of Washington Township (Warren County) and Mark Romero of North Plainfield have been selected to participate in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) project. Rock and Romero, who are both RVCC Engineering Science majors focusing on Mechanical Engineering, are among a group of 304 community college students from across the U.S. taking part in NCAS. Their participation began this summer in an online program focusing on such topics as Mars Rovers, traveling to Mars, NASA research, the effects of space weather, and the changing climate.

The five-week online scholars program will culminate with a four-day on-site event at Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, September 25-28. The experience will offer students the opportunity to interact with NASA engineers and others as they learn more about careers in science and engineering. While at NASA, students will form teams and establish fictional companies interested in Mars exploration. Each team is responsible for developing and testing a prototype rover, forming a company infrastructure, managing a budget, and developing communications and outreach. The on-site experience at NASA also includes a tour of facilities and briefings by NASA subject matter experts.

NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars is a project funded in part by the Minority University Research and Education Program, or MUREP, which is committed to engaging underrepresented and underserved students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in authentic learning experiences to sustain a diverse workforce.

With this activity, NASA continues the agency’s tradition engaging the nation in NASA’s mission. “NCAS not only inspires community college students to advance in STEM fields, but it also opens doors for future careers at NASA. NCAS has a legacy of alumni moving from NASA internships to and ultimately entering the NASA workforce. It is rewarding to see the progression of a student from NCAS participant to NASA colleague,” said Joeletta Patrick, Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Manager.

For more information, contact National Community College Aerospace Scholars at JSC-NCAS@mail.nasa.gov or call 281-483-0493. For additional information, visit http://ncas.aerospacescholars.org. To learn more about MUREP, visit www.nasa.gov/education/murep. For updates on social media, follow #NCAS2017.

Raritan Valley Community College’s main campus is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 29, 2017

Media contact: Donna Stolzer, 908-526-1200, ext. 8383

PR #12