Greetings from Singapore! Just yesterday night, a business colleague and I landed at the Changi International Airport after completing delivery of a brand new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, Scoot Airline’s newest addition to their fleet! This summer has been packed with activities so far, and my internship as an Aerodynamics Engineer at The Boeing Company has been at the forefront of my focus and my excitement throughout the summer months. The fantastic reality of being an aerospace engineering major for me has always been the huge array of projects that require aerospace knowledge. And, of course, the amazing people and places they connect you to.
When I first was given a work assignment with Boeing, I was slated to work on the new 777X, investigating
My brief stint of Captaining the Dreamliner
new techniques for integration of various systems, such as the folding wing to accommodate standardized gate spacing parameters. However, my work assignments shifted with work requirements, and I was assigned to work within the NAMS (Nautical Air Mileage) Team. This team works mainly to determine the Fuel Mileage (or MPG’s) of the aircraft that Boeing delivers to customers. Using Flight Test databases that provide a nominal performance value, we draw comparisons between customer delivery flight performance and baseline (flight-test) performance, so that customers are guaranteed both a safe and efficient new product.
While I tend to get very excited about my work, my summer wouldn’t be nearly complete without getting out of the office and exploring my new home in Seattle, or enjoying my other hobbies.
Hiking near Mount Rainier National Park!
Last weekend, along with a USC buddy of mine, Michael, and some of his high school friends, we embarked on a 2-day backpacking trip near Mount Rainier National Park to an alpine lake. Goat Lake sits around 6500’, which proved to be a low enough elevation for us to be able to take a dip albeit a very icy one. The 13.5 mile round trip was framed by panoramic views of the mountains and glimpses of Mt. Adams in the distance.
Finally, it wouldn’t be another summer without me continuing my flying. Ever since my rising junior year in high school, flying during the summer months is something that I completely adore, and not only is it a fantastic way to enjoy flight, but also a great way to explore new places, so for me, seeing Seattle was no better done than from the air. For those of you familiar with the Puget Sound area, I’m even training with Kenmore Air at the end of July to earn my Seaplane Pilot’s License! Just as I love that USC provides me with amazing professors that excite me to learn, Kenmore Air provides charter flight service to hundreds of people per day, and learning from one of the most well established charter operations in the Pacific Northwest sounded like a great idea to me.
Finally, between trying to play tennis and go running as much as I can in between all the amazing activities above, my summer has been flying by, (yes, pun intended) but I can’t say that I’m sad at all, because the end of another summer simply means the beginning of another amazing year at USC.
Fight on from Singapore, and I’m excited to see everyone in the Fall!
-Naish
