[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 2 - 08:27:55 ]
Hello! NASA Quest's Women of NASA is proud to present a Black History Month QuestChat with engineer Kim Hubbard today at 9 am, Pacific (noon, Eastern). Be sure to read Kim's bio at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/bios/kh.html -- Have your questions ready!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 4 - 08:33:22 ]
A bit about Kim Hubbard -- Kim is a computer engineer at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. She is currently working on a new project called ScienceDesk where she is involved with developing a set of collaborative tools to support the day-to-day activities of science teams distributed around the country. This includes preparing data, conducting remote experiments, managing data and information resources, and tracking scientific progress.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 7 - 09:00:37 ]
Hello! I'm Kim Hubbard and ready to answer your questions!

[ James-JamesWaltner/WichitaStateUniversity - 11 - 09:07:02 ]
Hi Kim, thanks for being here! :) I will be a graduate student next year and am interested in massively distributed processing projects. Is AMES currently doing any distributed research related to the previously completed Whitney Project? Is your research with the distributed science desk related to this type of project?

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 12 - 09:07:02 ]
RE: [Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] Hello
Welcome! Do you have a question for Kim?

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 13 - 09:07:09 ]
RE: [Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] How are you?
Hi, I'm doing well today. How about you? Got any questions?

[ James-JamesWaltner/WichitaStateUniversity - 14 - 09:07:59 ]
sorry about being late... I was in class... had to skip out early to come :)

[ Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam - 15 - 09:08:29 ]
I am doing good today too. Yes my class does have some questions for you

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 16 - 09:09:27 ]
Hi James, I really don't know about the Whitney project. The ScienceDesk project isn't really focusing on massively distributed systems. I'm sure there's other research happening in this area. Perhaps you can look at the Ames Research home page to find out more.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 18 - 09:11:41 ]
RE: [jessica-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] hi
Hi Jessica, Would you like to ask me a question?

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 20 - 09:14:43 ]
RE: [Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] was a space ship recently shuttled?
Hi, Yes, a space shuttle mission has just completed. It landed last night after a successful mission.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 23 - 09:19:41 ]
EVERYONE: How about some questions for Kim about her new job on the "ScienceDesk..." Or about her time in the Air Force... Or about all the math and science courses she had to take to get to where she is today...!

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 25 - 09:23:02 ]
RE: [jessicagold-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] what kind of experiments were preformed on project science desk
Actually we aren't performing an experiement in the usual sense. We're just trying to design and develop a software application that can be used via a web browser. However, to make sure it's really useful, we are working with some scientists here at Ames. They will be using the software and letting us know how well it works for them. We'll use their feedback to make future improvemments.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 27 - 09:27:56 ]
RE: [James-JamesWaltner/WichitaStateUniversity] I found the web site and good information about Ames there. However, when I was looking into that type of research project, I did not find much recent information on that topic besides the fact that it had been completed in 1996. The ScienceDesk project that you are working on, is that like a "desktop" that each person sees the exact same information and everyone can manipulate the data at once so it is like everyone is in the same room working on the project?
James, You got it! In addition, each person has his own space so they can see what data they have collected or stored. You also search for objects of a certain type. We have a sort of object oriented system where the data is represented as a type of object such as project, site, sample, culture. Currently these data object are specific to what the microbiologist scientists work with but we hope to to design a more "generic" version in the next few months.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 28 - 09:29:57 ]
RE: [James-JamesWaltner/WichitaStateUniversity] I just read an article about the Personal Digital Satallite that Ames is working on. Your work with wireless networking in space contributed to this right? Are there completed prototypes (possibly without all of the bells and whistles) ready to launch in the near future?
Yes, the wireless work I was involved in was a prelude to the PSA project. I'm not sure of the current status except that project is indeed proceeding. I haven't heard of any shuttle or station experiments yet.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 29 - 09:32:33 ]
RE: [Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] Do you think that it would ever be possible that we would be ever talking to anyone in space in a chatroom like we are talking to you now?
I think it's possible to do some sort or chat with astronauts of the shuttle today. There's so much to do on a shuttle mission, the crew just might not have enough time. We can already do interviews on the news.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 31 - 09:34:55 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] FROM RURAL HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- 1. How long have you been interested in being a computer engineer? 2. Do you still like math and science?
Hi! I've been interested in computers since I first took a short programming class in high school. I still like math and science, especially biology.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 37 - 09:40:14 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] FROM RURAL HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- 3. What does a computer engineer do? 4. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Computer Engineers can do a variety of things. What I do here at Ames is design and develop software. When I was a little girl was wanted to be differnt things at various times when I grew up such as a house painter, a teacher, a psychologist or psychiatrist, and a lawyer. However, sometime during high school, I thought being an engineer would be a good thing to be.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 40 - 09:43:22 ]
RE: [Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] How much would you guess that it would cost to put in an internet system to be able to talk to the people on space shuttles in your own home?
I don't really know. However, it wouldn't cost you any extra that your current ISP if you are allowed to communicate to the shuttle via the web or e-mail.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 43 - 09:45:42 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] FROM RURAL HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- Did you want to be an engineer right from the start? How old were you when you decided?
As I mentioned earlier, I thought about other career options. I decided on engineering my senior year of high school.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 44 - 09:46:24 ]
RE: [James-JamesWaltner/WichitaStateUniversity] I need to get to class now, so bye! I will check back and read the rest of the transcript later. Thankyou Kim for answering my questions! :) (signing off from Kansas) Bye!
Goodbye James and thanks for your interesting questions! Kim's chat will be archived later this afternoon. Be sure to let us know how we did with this chat today by filling out a short survey form at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys Thanks!

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 45 - 09:47:29 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] FROM RURAL HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- 5. Are you still enjoying working at NASA? 6. How many total years did you spend preparing for your career by going to college?
Yes I'm still working at NASA. I attended college for four years to get my bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. I spent another two years taking computer science classes. I still take other training classes to develop new skills.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 47 - 09:49:15 ]
EVERYONE: There are about 8 minutes left in our chat with Kim today. Keep your questions coming...

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 49 - 09:50:41 ]
RE: [James-JamesWaltner/WichitaStateUniversity] I am really interested in doing research Ames. Who would I contact for this, would you contact the department or a specific researcher? Also about how you got your job at NASA... Did were you just spending so much time doing consulting work that NASA decided to hire you, or how did you actually get your job? Are most jobs at NASA filled through the "foot in the door" approach?
When I was an independant subcontractor, I only worked part time. I guess NASA thought I was doing a good job so I was asked to apply for a fulltime civil servant position. You can either contact the department of a specific researcher if you are interested in employment at NASA.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 50 - 09:50:58 ]
RE: [James-JamesWaltner/WichitaStateUniversity] I need to get to class now, so bye! I will check back and read the rest of the transcript later. Thankyou Kim for answering my questions! :) (signing off from Kansas) Bye!
Nice chatting with you James!

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 51 - 09:52:23 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] FROM RURAL HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- 9. As a child, did you ever dream you would be part of the air force? 10. How long have you been writing books?
No I never expected to be in the AirForce. They found me during my junior or senior year of high school. I don't write books but I read a lot.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 53 - 09:53:32 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] FROM RURAL HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- 11. When you were in elementary school did you like all parts of math or just some of the parts?
I liked math a lot during elementary school, although I did find learning long division hard at first.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 55 - 09:54:47 ]
EVERYONE: At the end of today's chat with Kim, please help us on the Quest team to know how we're doing weith our chats by filling out a very short survey form at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys -- Thank you!

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 57 - 09:55:36 ]
RE: [MsMiller-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] Do you think that it would be reasonable to have a media person on a shuttle mission to commuticate to people who want to chat
Just being in space is very difficult physically due to a lack of gravity. Also there isn't that much room on the shuttle. There's also a lot of experiments to accomplish in a very short time, so I'm afraid a media person just might be somewhat in the way.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 60 - 09:57:06 ]
RE: [Newton-Lim/UCSD] Sorry to be very late I overslept since I was programming until 3:00 a.m. last night for my compilers class. Anyway, aside from the ScienceDesk project you are working on right now, what other projects are you involved in? What type of courses do you suggest for someone to take in order to get into the communications field aside from DSP and Network Systems?
ScienceDesk is my only project. It keeps my busy enough. I think the area you've suggested are good for the Communications area.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 61 - 09:57:47 ]
EVERYONE: I'm sorry to say that our time chatting with Kim has come to an end :-( Kim will answer the remaining questions in the chat room, but no new ones. THANK YOU for coming and for asking some very good questions! Please be sure to check out our chat schedule at -- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events -- And, Kim's chat will be archived later this afternoon.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 62 - 09:58:11 ]
RE: [Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] How much money do you think they will use to build the internet system in space when they are totally done?
I don't know. I don't want to guess. I'd have to do some research on this.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 64 - 09:59:41 ]
RE: [Newton-Lim/UCSD] How many people do you work with usually?
I usually work in small teams of 5-6 persons

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 65 - 10:00:27 ]
RE: [Gen-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] bye
Bye Gen! Thanks so much for chatting with us today :-)

[ Newton-Lim/UCSD - 66 - 10:00:54 ]
All right... Thanks for your time. Sorry for being extremely late. I wish I could have participated in the chat a lot more. Bye.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 67 - 10:01:14 ]
RE: [MsMiller-Ms.Miller/GOLDTeam] What human factor issues were evaluated with the WNE
The WNE used small handheld computers that hadn't been used by the crew before. We wanted to know how well they like using them in space in a microgravity environment.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 68 - 10:02:31 ]
It's been fun chatting with you today. I'll still be on for a few minutes to answer all the questiongs that have been submitted that I haven't answered yet. Have a fun day!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 69 - 10:02:41 ]
RE: [Newton-Lim/UCSD] All right... Thanks for your time. Sorry for being extremely late. I wish I could have participated in the chat a lot more. Bye.
We're glad you made it, even if it was just for a short amount of time! There are tons of other opportunities to chat, just check out our schedule page at-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events -- Hope you can join us again soon :-)

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 70 - 10:02:50 ]
RE: [Newton-Lim/UCSD] All right... Thanks for your time. Sorry for being extremely late. I wish I could have participated in the chat a lot more. Bye.
Thanks for your questions!

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 71 - 10:04:27 ]
RE: [Newton-Lim/UCSD] What is it about engineering that attracted you to it? For me, it's just the idea of being part of creating something new or making something better. Of course, I'm still in school but would like to do that ASAP. But what is it that made absolutely sure you wanted to be an engineer?
I like the opportunity to build things. That's one of the reasons I left the Air Force. I wanted to do more "hands-on" work instead of only management.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 72 - 10:06:24 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] FROM RURAL HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- 7. Why did you attend a high school for girls instead of a regular high school? 8. Have you finished your project?
I attended an all girls school because it was better that the public school I would have attended and I received a scholarship. The ScienceDesk project is still ongoing.

[ KimHubbard/ARC - 73 - 10:07:35 ]
Thanks, It was fun as usual. I hope I answered well enough.