From Boise State to NASA: Engineering senior explores passion for research

When Kadden Tran was a kid, he spent a lot of time watching YouTube and cartoons with engineering-related themes. Between episodes of Phineas and Ferb and videos from Mark Rober and Colin Furze, Tran fell in love with a simple idea: if you can imagine something you can actually build it.

"I didn't really know that engineering was a career path," Tran said. "Once I learned that it was something I could pursue as a career, it felt like a natural choice for me."

That early curiosity carried him to Boise State University's Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, and this past summer, all the way to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where Tran spent 10 weeks as a NASA Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) intern in the Levitation Laboratory, or "LevLab."

Finding the opportunity

Tran didn't set out to land at NASA specifically. The senior was searching online for engineering internships when he came across NASA OSTEM's listings and a project at Marshall that caught his eye - materials levitation research. Before applying, he reached out to Jannatun Nawer, a researcher in the lab, to learn more about the work.

"After learning about materials in levitation, I became really interested in how the experiments were conducted, what kinds of data could be collected, and how that data could be used to develop and characterize new materials," Tran said. "I had never heard of an electrostatic levitator before, so I wanted to learn more about how it worked."

When the acceptance email arrived, it didn't feel real. "There are so many applicants and only so many positions, and I didn't think I had the most extensive resume compared to some of the other applicants," Tran added. "So when I received the email saying I had been selected, it was surreal."

Levitating metals

In the LevLab, Tran studied a class of advanced heat-resistant metals called Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) alloys, specifically two industrial formulas known as MA754 and MA956. These metals get their extreme durability from tiny ceramic particles mixed into the metal, which act like microscopic anchors that keep the material strong even at temperatures expected in jet turbines, nuclear reactor parts and other places where materials face intense heat and stress.

To study them, Tran used an electrostatic levitator (ESL), a device that suspends a metal sample in mid-air using an electric charge and heats it until it melts. His work focused on measuring properties like surface tension, density and viscosity in that molten state; information engineers need to predict how these ultra-high-temperature alloys will behave during manufacturing, including processes like metal 3D printing for aerospace parts.

One unexpected challenge shaped much of his summer: tiny particles in the ODS alloys complicated the experimental data. So Tran helped develop a surrogate material system to better isolate and understand those effects, a level of problem-solving he hadn't encountered in the classroom.

"Solving one engineering problem often requires solving hundreds of smaller problems first," Tran said. "There are so many things you have to understand before you can even begin to answer the larger question."

His weeks followed a rhythm: research, fabricate alloy samples, run ESL experiments, analyze data, then turn results into figures and presentations. A cycle he described as "researching, making samples, testing, and analyzing."

"I'm actually here"

Some moments made the experience sink in. Watching the electrostatic levitator run a sample for the first time was one. Touring Marshall's particle accelerator and visiting the International Space Station Payload Operations Center were others.

"Being able to see the work that happens behind the scenes made the experience feel very real," Tran said. "Those were the moments where I would stop and think, 'I'm actually here.'"

Tran credits Boise State with giving him the foundation to walk into unfamiliar territory with confidence. "A lot of engineering classes give you the fundamentals, but they also put you in situations where you have to figure things out on your own," he said. With that mindset, built through hands-on coursework, Tran made the leap into an entirely new research area. And the experience felt manageable rather than intimidating, he said.

He also points to a skill he didn't expect to sharpen - communication. "I had to ask questions constantly," Tran said. "I learned that asking a good question isn't a sign that you don't know something, it's one of the fastest ways to learn."

A new trajectory

The internship reshaped Tran's plans. Once undecided about graduate school, he now sees research as part of his future. "After spending the summer doing research, I realized just how much more there is to learn beyond the fundamentals you get from a bachelor's degree," Tran said.

Just as importantly, Tran's summer expanded his sense of what was possible, opportunities he once considered beyond his reach suddenly felt attainable.

"There were a lot of things that I thought were probably out of reach for me. Being given the opportunity to work there showed me that those opportunities are actually possible."

His advice to fellow and future Boise State students eyeing similar career building experiences is simple: "You never know what will happen unless you apply," he said. "NASA taught me that you don't have to be the most qualified person in the applicant pool, you just have to give yourself a chance."

Now back on campus for his final year as an undergraduate, Tran is carrying that lesson forward, along with a clearer sense that mechanical engineering's boundaries are wider than he ever imagined. "You can keep learning and find completely new areas that interest you."

That interest has already found a home back on campus. This fall, Jannatun Nawer joined the College of Engineering as an assistant professor, reuniting Tran from his summer internship with a familiar mentor. He's continuing that collaboration as an undergraduate researcher in her lab, carrying the momentum from NASA into his senior year.

For Tran, it's a fitting next step: the same curiosity that once drew him to the shows that shaped his childhood is now driving research back at Boise State, this time with NASA-caliber experience behind him.

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