With mechanical and space engineering degrees from Vanderbilt and Caltech, former IACMI intern Brayden Aller is one degree away from pursuing a career – and dream – in the aerospace industry.
While interning with IACMI over a span of four years, he gained industry leading insight into various aspects of the composites industry by working with different materials and processes.
At Vanderbilt University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 2019 in mechanical engineering and a minor in Materials Science and Engineering, Brayden spent two summers at the Laboratory for Systems Integrity and Reliability (LASIR). It is here where he worked on in-line monitoring systems for manufacturing with composite materials.
In 2018, he spent the summer an IACMI intern at TPI Composites in Newton, IA where he helped start-up a new composites manufacturing plant that will produce composite bus bodies for Proterra, an electric bus company.
In 2019, Brayden’s IACMI internship took him to Port Angeles, WA at the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC). At the CRTC, he assisted in the development of a materials characterization testing procedure to better identify unknown prepreg composite materials so they can be better used and recycled.
Next stop for Brayden… Pasadena, CA and The California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He earned his Master of Science in Space Engineering earlier this year and is now pursuing a PhD in Space Engineering at Caltech which he plans to have in 2024 and then on to a career in the aerospace industry.
Brayden credits IACMI for sparking his interest in composites. “I will continue to work with composites in the near future,” he explains, “and part of my graduate research will involve working with composite materials in the context of space structures.”
Part of IACMI’s mission is to help develop a strong talent supply chain for the advanced composites industry. A critical part of that mission is creating awareness of the many career pathways available in the composites industry.
“We are committed to cultivating the workforce of the future by offering opportunities for students to become immersed in real-world learning experiences through programs such as our internship program,” IACMI Workforce Director Joannie Harmon said. “Our program is unique in that we retain our interns year after year, offering them a variety of experiences to have a better understanding of the different career options available.”
Joannie said Brayden spent four years in the IACMI Internship Program, starting in the program’s first year in 2016. “Brayden became a mentor to newer interns, as well as featured presenter at several industry events sharing about his intern experience. I am so proud of all of his accomplishments and wish him continued success in his studies,” Joannie Harmon.