Among the many ways Aerospace shapes the future of the nation’s space enterprise, one of the most impactful is by providing meaningful mentorship and hands-on learning opportunities for the brightest minds of the next generation. Aerospace’s participation in the U.S. Air Force Academy’s (USAFA) Cadet Summer Research Program (CSRP) exemplifies its commitment to supporting its government partners.
“We have an opportunity to show these cadets the role that Aerospace serves as the Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) for national space. They are all going to work for the Department of the Air Force, either as an officer in the Air Force or in the Space Force and they're going to interact with Aerospace,” said Marcus Roberts, Director of the Space Planning, Readiness, and Operations (SPRO) department in the Engineering and Technology Group (ETG). “This program not only gives us a chance to bring in a cadet to perform a technical project during the summer, but it also helps us strategically in the long term to familiarize them with what we do at Aerospace.”
Connecting Early Talent with Real-World Research Experience
The CSRP pairs cadets with mentors in their field of study to explore industry leading projects leaning on support and resources offered by the partner organizations. Participants are primarily rising seniors, who interface with industry and gain real-world research experience related to their degree curriculum. In addition to Aerospace, these partner organizations include government organizations such as AFRL, the intelligence community and SSC, FFRDCs such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Labs, MITRE, Sandia National Laboratories as well as industry partners such as Amazon, Google, and Firth Rixson Limited (FRL). Cadets in the program will graduate to become officers in the Air Force and Space Force and the CSRP provides them an opportunity learn first-hand about the research capabilities offered by partner organizations. The program aims to not only help cadets explore career paths but also increase their familiarity with a professional workplace environment. During the summers of 2024 and 2025, Aerospace sponsored 12 USAFA cadets supporting Aerospace experts in various capacities.
Formalizing Aerospace's Role in the CSRP
Aerospace leadership played a crucial role in establishing the CSRP program, with key figures like Roberts, Lauren Hale, John Cinnamon, Gretchen Lindsay and Lina Cashin driving its success. These leaders spearheaded the initiative, recognizing the potential benefits for cadets and formalizing a partnership agreement in 2017. Since then, the dedicated support from these leaders has allowed Aerospace to sponsor and mentor over 40 cadets in the past seven summers, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from all involved.
“I've been working with Marcus Roberts since we wrote the initial CRADA for the Air Force Academy. Marcus has led this program, coordinating with the US Air Force Academy and Aerospace since the inception, making it the successful program it is today,” said Lina Cashin, Senior Project Engineer in the Defense Systems Group (DSG).
The program itself is coveted among cadets, with only about 20% of applicants selected for the opportunity. Selections are based on a combination of academic and military performance, as well as candidate interviews within their academic departments and with partner organizations.
“Cadets only get three weeks of leave during the summer. In CSRP, they're typically giving up two weeks of that limited leave period to participate in the internship,” said Roberts. “They're sacrificing [their personal time] to come join us and the positive responses we've received since we started is an affirmation that we're doing the right thing here.”
The value of the CSRP is not just in engagement with the cadets, but also in the opportunity for Aerospace to interface with new talent who help grow the corporation’s support for its government customers. With Aerospace’s consistent efforts to shape future space leaders, CSRP has been a successful experience for the cadets and their future career objectives. Many employees at Aerospace, including Roberts, are also Air Force Academy graduates and can relate their experiences with these cadets as they prepare for their professional futures. These partnering efforts help strengthen the pipeline of talent within Aerospace and its government customers to lead, collaborate, and operate across the space enterprise.
“The program builds our brand as technical experts by demonstrating to the cadets we are people who care and support one another,” said Cashin. “The program is beneficial to the future leaders of the Air Force and the Space Force, providing them with experiential research and caring mentors. Building long-term relationships provides a lasting valuable connection for both Aerospace and the cadets.”
A previous version of this article was originally posted internally on December 7, 2023.
