Karen Gundy Burlet -

I am a researcher in a field called computational fluid dynamics.  I use computers to 
simulate the aerodynamics of aircraft engines.  Generally the aerodynamics of aircraft 
engines are investigated in a wind tunnel.  It can be a bit tough to do though, because you 
have to stick probes into engines that are rotating about 12000 rotations per minute.
The experimental equipment has a bit of a tough time taking that! 

 I generally work with aircraft engines....but I have developed a code which can also do 
spacecraft.  A friend of mine at NASA-Marshall has used it on various components
of the Space Shuttle Engine. Recently, another friend used the code to look at the engine on 
the F119.  He was able to identify some problems with the engine that will save Pratt and 
Whitney about 95 million dollars. 

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What kind of aircraft engines - are these space craft?

I am a researcher who develops the codes....so I generally don't work with "real" engines.  
I simulate "test" engines. They are bigger and slower than real engines, so
experimentalists can instrument them with probes and pressure taps.

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What do you think about the recent discovery of possible life on Mars?

About life on Mars.....I feel it is possible that once, long ago, there was an elementary 
form of life on Mars.  Whether or not the recent meteorite find really verifies it is
the question.

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Is a lot of your work for commercial companies and do they hire you to do work? 

As for commercial companies....I do work closely with them. They do not "hire" me 
though! They can send a grant my way to help me buy equipment that will enable me to
develop my code better for them.  My work is in the public domain, so I have to be very
careful getting involved with company proprietary work.

Research has a lot of different aspects too.  When I start a project, I first have to read the 
literature to see what other people have done.  Then I have to develop equations, figure out 
how to solve them, program them up and then verify that they actually do give the correct 
answer.  A big part of my job is to write papers and present them at conferences to tell 
everyone else what I have done.

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Is it a good idea to have an internship as a high school student?

I think it is a great idea!  That is the way I started out, and the students I
have mentored have gone on to do some amazing things!  One started a networking
company and another has won the international science fair a couple of times.

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What aspect of your job do you enjoy the most?

My job is very varied, and there are a lot of things I really like about it.  I love working 
with students.  I also really enjoy research!  It is a lot of fun to figure out how aircraft 
engines work and how to make them better

Who do you present your research to?

I generally present my work to other members of the turbomachinery  
community....although sometimes pure computer scientists are interested also.  I also do
non-technical talks on my work for K-12 students

Who gets to go to your talks for students?

I go out to the local schools for my talks...so anyone at the school is welcome to come as 
far as I am concerned

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Is a lot of your work funded by grants?

Grant funding varies a lot. When I first started this project, we were getting lots of funding 
from the Office of Naval Research.  We bought computers with the money and
also used it to hire support personnel.  Recently, I haven't had any funding, so I work on 
my own with the resources I have here anyway at NASA-AMES.

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Is most of your work for space design?

I don't do much work with spacecraft engines....although one of my friends uses my
research to investigate the space shuttle engine.

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Perhaps a bit about myself would help.  I have 2 children...Olivia who is 4 and Elena who 
is 1.  I work at home 2 days a week so I can have more time with them.  My hobbies
are horsebackriding, reading and gardening.  My horses (a 26 year old quarter horse and a 
pony) are in our backyard.

Do you find you are more productive working at home?
Is that normal for NASA employees to work from home?

I get an amazing amount of work done at home!  The phone doesn't ring off the hook at me 
and I don't have people dropping in all the time.  My kids are still in daycare those days, 
but since I don't have to commute to and from work, I get to spend more time with them 
too.

Do your kids like computers? What kinds of things do they do with computers? When 
should kids start using computers? 

It is funny....I do so much work at work with computer that I only have a simple terminal 
at home!  We haven't bought a PC.  My daughters do have fun playing at the terminal 
though.  Some day we will actually buy one.  I know my 1 year old has a great time 
bashing at the keyboard.  If a child has an interest in playing with a computer, then I 
believe they should be able to enjoy it.  I don't think there is any hard age

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Did you always like math? What kinds of grades did you get?

I always liked math!  I had a great time with math competitions in school.
I also do a lot of logic puzzles and math puzzles...they are fun and they let me see
how numbers relate to each other.  I got A's in math and most of my other subjects.

When did you know what you wnated to be?

When I was growing up, my dad and grandmother used to tell me stories about one of my 
great uncles who flew biplanes. He did aerobatics with a wing walker in this area.  I knew
I wanted to work with airplanes after hearing those stories. When the opportunity came up 
to work at Ames when I was 16, it really confirmed that was what I wanted to do.

Our 6th grade students are having a hard time understanding what you do and what kind of
background you have. Is it more math, science, or technolgy?

I need a pretty wide background for what I do which is trying to understand how engines 
fly.  There are equations which describe how air flows....so I need math.  I need to 
program them up on a computer....so I need computer science. I need to understand the 
aerodynamics the equations predict so I need to know aeronautics.I need to be able to 
explain what I found clearly to other people....so I need english. 
I think most fields of science are like this.  You need to have a broad background to be
really effective at it. 

It sounds like you  always had good study habits? What do you atribute this to?

I always had to work hard to understand my homework....it didn't come easy to me, so I 
had to learn good study habits early.  I felt a bit sorry for the students who didn't have
to work much in K-12 to get good grades.....when they got to college, they didn't have 
good study habits so they didn't do as well as they should have.

What would you suggest to a young girl who is interested in becoming an aeronautical 
engineer?  Where should she start?

Young girls should try the best they can to get a good, wide background in math, science 
and develop good skills.  It doesn't matter what field they choose...they will be ready for it 
then!

Do you think most of your knowledge is learned then on the job and the formal
schooling just prepared you? 

School gave me a good foundation for my job.  Because I do research, a lot of what I do is 
so new that it isn't taught in schools.  I have to figure it out for myself... so that good 
foundation is essential.

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 Do you think you will stay at NASA?

I would very much like to stay with NASA...I just got my 15 year pin as a Civil Servant 
and I was here even before that as a high-school and college student.  I really enjoy my job.

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Good bye!  Nice chatting with you! 

We just got the hang of this and now it's time to go. We'll be back again. Thanks  

Thank you very much Karen.