- Metecs News -

This September METECS is busy visiting Engineering Career Fairs at universities. We have put together a collection of videos, demos, and information so that each student who visits our booth will walk away with an understanding of the exciting work that METECS has to offer.

METECS is a small company based on site at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Our primary focus is on simulation work which relies heavily on programming and utilizing engineering skills. Although each individual at METECS is unique, we all share a strong work ethic, good communication skills, and an overwhelming enthusiasm for contributing to the space industry.

We encourage everyone from freshmen to senior undergraduate students along with graduate students to visit our booth and learn more about us. If METECS sounds like the type of company you envision yourself working for, make sure you introduce yourself to us, ask questions, and give us your resume.

We look forward to meeting you!

Labels: company

METECS is proud to announce the release of version 2.0 beta of PONG. Congratulations to the employees who have put so much great work into this tool.

PONG is a contact dynamics modeling tool that communicates and interacts with Blender, an open source graphics package. PONG takes the creations of users within Blender and exports data files to a real-time contact dynamics engine that can be embedded into simulations. This engine will provide for detection of contact as well as calculation of contact and frictional forces. Also, tools for visualization within Blender are included. With all of these capabilities, PONG has been used to support NASA's need for engineering analysis and training with NASA's TRICK simulations.

METECS would like to graciously thank everyone who has contributed to the development, testing, and usage of the tool thus far. We looks forward to their continued support as we work to move PONG v2.0 out of beta in the coming months.

Labels: announcements

METECS would like to thank our 2009 Summer interns for their hard work this summer.


Jessica Turner, Darius Williams, and James MacLean, all did an outstanding job. Contributions included the prototyping of a real-time contact dynamics engine within our simulations, the development of a 3 DOF translational hand controller for use with space vehicle simulations and simulation development, and the construction of a plastic hand controller grip.

We hope that all of our interns had an exciting summer with us, and we wish them the best in their future endeavors.

Labels: company, team

Drake Deno has been the latest addition to the METECS team and we are very excited to welcome Drake back as a member.

Drake recently graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Drake developed a strong interest in dynamic modeling while attending Purdue and in his previous internships with METECS. As a senior, Drake led a two man team that developed an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (U.A.V.) for their senior design project over the course of the entire senior year. The project demanded initial concept design and reviews, analysis, redesign, final review, and fabrication.

Drake rejoins the METECS team for his fourth time. He was a previous intern here at METECS for three years and contributed to many tools and models. METECS is excited and glad to have Drake back and we look forward to his future contributions.

Welcome aboard Drake!

Labels: company, team

The Metecs team is very excited to welcome aboard two interns this summer.

Darius Williams is from Pearland, Texas and is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin. In the Spring of 2010 he will receive a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and a Bachelor of Art in French. Darius recently participated in the UT/JSC TRICK program, a modeling and simulation initiative where a team of 8 students successfully interfaced OGRE, an open-source graphics engine with NASA's Trick simulation environment. Aside from his interests in dynamics, modeling and simulation, and languages, Darius plays the violin and will spend the summer learning the cello.

Jessica Turner is a senior at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, dual majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering. While she is in school, she stays busy as the president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), vice president of the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, and an active member in Society of Women Engineers. In her free time, she enjoys kickboxing and reading. Jessica has always dreamed of working in the space industry and is excited to contribute to it this summer.

Welcome aboard Darius and Jessica!

Labels: company, team

Hello to all of the Purdue students!

METECS will be attending the upcoming career fair at Purdue University, and we would like to say a special hello to all those who are checking out the website and the company.

As a brief introduction, METECS is a small company currently focused on simulation work at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

This work requires students with strong work ethic, good communication skills (since our employee often correspond with the customer directly), good engineering skills, and a desire to program (the work involves engineering tasks that are normally accomplished through programming simulations).

If a small company with a dynamic work environment is something you are looking for, we would love to talk with you!

See you there.

Labels: company

Angela Reeves is the latest addition to the METECS team and we are very excited to have her as a member.

Angela recently graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. She developed an interest in dynamic modeling and simulation while contributing to a guided missile model at an internship located in her hometown of Plano, Texas. While in school, Angela led a six person team (which included another METECS recent hire, Thomas Brain) in a project which led to gaining Johnson Space Center’s support to launch the Modeling and Simulation Initiative at the University of Texas. This team successfully modeled, simulated, and animated a six degree of freedom rendezvous scenario. This task included interfacing TRICK - the simulation software used at Johnson Space Center - with the animation software in the UT Visualization Lab.

Welcome aboard Angela!

Labels: company, team

We are very happy to announce a new member on the METECS team.

Bryce Kovel is a recent graduate of the University of Texas where he obtained an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering. While in Austin, Bryce was responsible for the rendezvous analysis of LSTAR, a mission design project that won second place in the national Ra-scal graduate competition. His undergraduate work was done at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he obtained his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering.

Welcome aboard Bryce!

Labels: company, team