ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command recognizes employees who go above and beyond in support of science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational outreach.
For its next honoree, RDECOM salutes Cassandra Reilly.
Reilly is a chemical engineer with RDECOM's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center. She has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Lehigh University. She began working for the Army right out of college.
"I applied through the career website that we had at Lehigh," Reilly said. "I got an email one day saying the Army was looking for engineers. I wasn't sure if they meant people to be in the Army or working for the Army. I thought about it for a day and I was like 'You know what? I'll just apply.' "
Reilly said she came to APG for an interview in May 2012 and was offered the job.
"I work for the power division [at CERDEC]," she said. "I started off testing batteries. I've since moved to solar. One thing we do is use a solar simulator to test solar panels for their efficiencies; the power they can provide. We'll do environmental testing with them, different temperatures, different situations just to make sure they're performing how they should."
Reilly didn't get involved with STEM outreach right away, wanting to establish herself on the job first.
"About eight months later an event came up," she said. "It was Arbor Day/Earth Day. My mentor at the time said he was involved with it and asked if I wanted to do it. I said, 'Sure, why not?' "
"We demonstrated our reduced trailer, a hybrid alternative energy system. We had it powering a TV. The kids loved that," Reilly said. "What they were seeing on the screen was coming from the sun and that blew their mind. That was really great!"
She also served on a STEM panel at a local high school. The event was for STEM students to get questions answered by working engineers and scientists.
"It was really informal," she said. "The students had questions they had written down ahead of time. When I was in high school and applying, I really didn't know too much about it, so actually being able to share my knowledge on it was, I think, by far my favorite event so far."
Since that time, Reilly became a judge for the Army's eCYBERMISSION science competition for sixth- through ninth-grade students.
"It was online judging," she said. "I got mission folders that kids had done, different kinds of projects ranging from bacteria on hands to safety on bicycles. They had to do a regular hypothesis, work through a problem and write how it affected their community and their results. It was kind of like an online science fair.
"They submitted online, it was blind," she said. "I didn't meet anybody. I just went through folders and graded them based on certain criteria."
Students competed online at local, state and regional levels. Regional winners traveled to Leesburg, Va., for the eCYBERMISSION National Judging and Educational Event. Reilly volunteered and served as a mentor at the NJ&EE, working with sixth-grade student finalists during the week.
She said it was very rewarding and she would encourage other engineers and scientists to take time out of their schedule to get involved with STEM outreach.
"You never know what is going to be said or done to pique a child's interest in STEM," she said, "and you could be that difference."
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CERDEC is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to develop technology and engineering solutions for America's Soldiers.
RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness -- technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment -- to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC delivers it.
Related Links:
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Army.mil: Science and Technology News
Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center
Army Educational Outreach Program
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