Emerald Ridge student part of esteemed aerospace program

Senior-to-be Alex Moyer hopes to pursue flight-based career through U.S. Air Force

Neil Pierson

of The Herald

Alex Moyer’s junior year at Emerald Ridge High School was far from easy.

In addition to his regular classroom assignments, Moyer decided to apply for an elite and highly-competitive study program known as the Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) program. Moyer, who sports a 3.50 grade-point average, was drawn to the program through Jeff Coleman, his aviation teacher at Emerald Ridge.

Last October, Moyer began working on phase one of the WAS program, which consists of web-based tests and essays. Moyer also had to complete a final project and he chose to study the origins of the moon. Assignments were due at midnight every other Tuesday, he said, and he was often working right up to the deadline.

Nearly 250 students across the state participated in phase one, but only 160 were accepted into phase two, a six-day internship at Seattle’s Museum of Flight. Moyer was one of them and as it turns out, phase two was more of a challenge than he had planned.

“I was expecting … a week of hanging out and going through tours and stuff,” he said. “It wasn’t that at all.”

The students were split into four 40-person teams and were busy at least 14 hours each day, Moyer said. The groups collaborated to design a human-based mission to Mars but the bulk of their time was spent designing and constructing models for rocketry, lunar rover and payload lofting competitions.

The schedule was grueling on many levels, he said, but the students had to quickly grasp the mental and physical challenges facing aerospace engineers and scientists.

“If they see you not paying attention or falling asleep, it goes against your team for the final scores,” Moyer explained. “The first day, I kind of learned that the hard way.”

The students also toured several facilities, including the University of Washington’s engineering labs, Redmond-based Aerojet and Boeing’s commercial airplane assembly plant in Everett.

Students who qualified for phase two had their expenses covered through the WAS Foundation, which is funded by groups like Boeing, Microsoft and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Moyer’s dream is to be a pilot but poor eyesight will likely disqualify him from that career path, he said. Becoming an aeronautical engineer is a nice backup plan and his senior year figures to be consumed with landing a spot at a prestigious school like the Air Force Academy or Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

“I decided that (the WAS program) would be a really good place to see what engineering was all about and it really was,” he said. “It was a really big eye-opener.”

Moyer’s influences include his deceased grandfather, James Mello, a former member of the U.S. Navy who regaled his grandson with tales of basic training. Moyer’s experience with WAS has him excited for what lies ahead after high school.

“This has definitely encouraged me,” he said of the WAS program. “I’m planning on making a career out of the military but also, afterward, moving into some sort of career with NASA.”