Lake Area Tech will be recognized at Acts of Excellence event

The Acts of Excellence program, sponsored by Sanford Health, connects us with individuals and organizations who are building a culture of excellence in South Dakota, one act at a time. Please join us and area inductees to celebrate this Act of Excellence on Thursday, April 15th, 2021, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm CT at the Lake Area Tech College, Event Center Level 4, in Watertown South Dakota.

Lake Area Tech Students Reach for the Stars

Over the last five years, students in Lake Area Technical Institute’s Electronic Systems Technology, Robotics, and Aviation Maintenance Technology programs have successfully landed competitive internships with NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, at sites across the nation. Securing internships are program requisites for many students in higher education, including those at Lake Area in Watertown. The students in the Electronic Systems program have shown that the sky really is the limit. 

The internships with NASA involve a complex application process overseen by the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium (SDSG). Lake Area students apply to SDSG for funding. If approved, the students then move on to NASA’s application process. NASA personnel and SDSG’s management team jointly review the applicants. 

An example of the kinds of internships available is the one earned in the summer of 2019 by Watertown student Jacob Pagel. Pagel received an internship at the Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base in California. He spent 10 weeks in the program, which included hands-on experience in maintenance repair and integration of flight experiments on support and experimental aircraft. 

Other Lake Area students have been located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. During the internships, the students interact with NASA engineers and others to learn more about careers in science and engineering. Funds have been earmarked for the NASA internship program through 2023. It’s just one of many ways Lake Area Technical Institute uses partnerships and collaborations to give its students the best possible educational experiences.