Atlanta Metropolitan State College

Students

Atlanta Metropolitan State College at NASA Tanaka Benton

Ms. Tanaka Benton exemplifies what is possible at AMSC when the determination of a student is met with the support and guidance of dedicated members of our academic and student services community.

Tanaka set lofty goals for the summer:
1. She wanted to be selected for a prized internship with NASA. She achieved this goal and spent the summer in Moffett Field, CA at the NASA Ames Research Center, as an Aeromechanics Intern.
2. Also, she wanted to complete her Associate's degree. Rather than delaying graduation by waiting to take her one remaining course during the Fall Semester, she signed up for the College Completion Project and completed the required course online while in California. She has been awarded her Associates Degree in Pre-Engineering.

Tanaka has been a scholar and tutor in the MESA program, member of the Student Government Association, and senator in the National Society of Black Engineers.

Tanaka indicates that her career goals are to "impact society through technological advancements in deep-space travel and energy storage alternatives."

Tanaka's Research

Tanaka is an Aeromechanics Branch intern who is responsible for rotorcraft aeromechanics research activities that directly support the civil competitiveness of the U.S. helicopter industry and the Department of Defense. This project addresses many aspects of the rotorcraft which directly influence the vehicle's performance, structural, and dynamic response, external acoustics, vibration, and aeroelastic stability.
She performs advanced computational methodology research using computational fluid dynamics and multidisciplinary comprehensive analyses are being used to understand the complete rotorcraft's operating environment and to develop analytical models to predict rotorcraft aeroacoustic behavior. Experimental research conducted in the 7 x 10 foot wind tunnel seeks to obtain accurate data to validate these analyses, investigate phenomena currently beyond predictive capability, and to achieve rapid solutions to flight vehicle problems.