The sector of aerial car autonomy focuses on self-reliance, constructing the flight equal of puppets with out puppeteers. Behind the scenes, nevertheless, is a wealthy community of individuals and programs that work collectively to develop frameworks, take a look at new applied sciences, and encourage a pipeline of engineers to create the breakthroughs of the long run. Encouraging children to dream huge and pursue their STEM passions is particularly vital to Evan Kawamura, a steerage, navigation and management engineer within the Clever Techniques Division at NASA’s Ames Analysis Heart in California’s Silicon Valley.
Kawamura takes mentorship and STEM outreach as critically as his work in unmanned aerial automobiles (UAVs) and Superior Air Mobility (AAM). He extends his obligation as an engineer from his workplace to school rooms throughout Oahu, Hawaii, the place he lives. He has led drone-building workshops, offered about his journey to NASA, and related with a whole lot of scholars and educators. Most lately, Kawamura returned to his alma mater and reunited together with his sixth-grade trainer, Mrs. Kristen Stoker, to speak to her college students about his work at NASA.
“Since my household, lecturers, advisors, mentors, and professors offered me with fantastic alternatives and experiences that impressed and ready me for engineering, I really feel that it’s essential to proceed to encourage the following era,” he stated. “If we don’t defend, encourage, and educate our youngsters, then the long run is darkish and unsure.”
Kawamura writes code that helps aerial automobiles launch, fly, and land with out intervention from human operators. Considered one of his early proud moments was in the summertime of 2019 when, with the assistance of his workforce lead and mentor, Corey Ippolito of NASA Ames’ Airborne Science Program, he efficiently programmed a six-propellered hexacopter to launch from and return to an outlined level in house and not using a human driver.
“It was very rewarding and fulfilling to see our efforts repay each in simulation and in an actual world flight take a look at,” Kawamura stated. “The work additionally grew to become the baseline autonomy code for others on our workforce and my graduate college analysis too, so I felt a variety of stress throughout improvement however an enormous reduction when it labored.”
Kawamura comes from an extended line of builders and engineers, again to his boatbuilding great-great- grandfather who moved to Hawaii from Japan in 1909 together with his nine-year-old son. Evan’s father, a software program engineer, purchased him science and engineering books, and entertained countless questions on how issues work. His grandfather, a contractor who constructed the home Evan’s dad grew up in, was a fan of origami and spent numerous hours educating Evan to fold boats and planes. His household impressed in him a fascination for the methods completely different supplies may match collectively like trains and LEGO to make one thing new, however typically he didn’t get to play together with his creations.
“I bought excited to create a battle with all of the paper planes and boats my grandpa and I made,” Kawamura stated. “However he fell asleep earlier than we may begin taking part in.”
Evan kawamura
NASA Engineer
Kawamura joined Ames as an intern whereas getting his PhD at College of Hawaii at Manoa. He accomplished his first internship in 2018, returned within the spring of 2019, and accepted a NASA Pathways internship later that summer season. In 2021, Kawamura transformed to a distant full-time worker at Ames. All alongside the best way, he relied on the steerage and help of his household, mentors, and teammates. That have drives him to pay ahead the inspiration and encouragement that helped him get the place he’s immediately.
“Rising up in Hawaii fosters a ‘togetherness’ mindset that could be very inclusive and family-oriented,” he stated. “Serving to others, sharing burdens, and having one another’s backs opens channels of communication to construct friendships and foster collaboration, which is what aloha is all about. The cool and unusual factor is that I see the aloha spirit at NASA Ames, which was one of many fundamental causes that made me wish to work at NASA.”
