NASA awards SU student with $10,000 scholarship
Nate Miska stood at the front of the applauding lecture hall, holding his oversized $10,000 check.
‘You going to put that in your wallet, Nate?’ joked the man who had just presented it to him, Col. Gerald Carr, a retired astronaut.
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation awarded this $10,000 scholarship to Miska, a senior biochemistry major at Syracuse University, on Friday.
Every year since 1994, one SU student majoring in engineering, science or math has received a scholarship from the foundation. SU is one of 20 universities nationwide that participates in this program, making Miska one of 20 students across the country to receive the scholarship.
Six of NASA’s first seven astronauts, dubbed the ‘Mercury Seven,’ founded the scholarship foundation in 1984 to encourage and assist future generations of scientists. They believed this was a crucial part of keeping America on the forefront of the technological curve.
Members of the Astronaut Hall of Fame make the award presentations each year. For Friday’s ceremony, the astronaut was Col. Carr, the commander of the third and final mission on the Skylab space station in 1973 to 1974. The mission recorded data about the human body in zero gravity, the Earth and the sun.
Carr, who along with his crewmates held the record for time in space with more than 84 days, was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997. The Hall of Fame has a symbiotic relationship with ASF, said Michelle Hambridge, a communications manager for the foundation.
Carr entertained the crowd Friday for an hour with stories about his time as a fighter pilot and about taking showers and drinking Tang in orbit around the Earth.
Among other achievements, Miska is researching nanotechnology. A possible practical application of this could be using the research on living cells to target malignant cancerous cells.
‘He’s a very articulate young scientist,’ Carr said. ‘He has purpose.’
Miska has been working on his research under the supervision of SU chemistry professor Matthew Maye. Miska has been part of the Maye Research Group for two years.
ASF values skills in research very highly, but also requires excellent grades. Miska has both, Maye said.
‘He excels, both in the lab and in the classroom,’ said Maye, who submitted Miska’s name for the scholarship. ‘Too many people in this field aren’t like that.’
Though Miska excels academically, he said that is not as important to him as building relationships.
‘The relationships you build with people are more important than grades,’ he said. ‘Trust is what academia is all about.’
Published on September 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm
