Summer Program

What is the Wright-Scholar Research Asst. Program?

The Wright Scholar Research Assistant program is an Air Force Research Laboratory initiative designed to expose high school juniors and seniors to various disciplines of engineering and science in an effort to further their interest in future STEM career options. Wright Scholars are competitively selected to work as full-time, paid interns for 9 weeks during the summer. Selected students are assigned to a workplace and mentor to work on a research project for the duration of their internship. The GRILL is one of the workplaces where Wright Scholars are assigned to work. Wright Scholars that have expressed interest in computer science, engineering, and aerospace often are assigned to The GRILL. 

What do Wright Scholars do at the GRILL?

When at the GRILL, Wright Scholars get to choose a simulation to develop from a list of projects. Then that Wright Scholar, along with the others who chose that project, work together using off-the-shelf gaming technology such as Unreal Engine and Unity to create their simulation. All projects given to Wright Scholars are real projects, which have been requested by customers of The GRILL. Wright Scholars must communicate with the customer, implement the customer's requests in their simulation, and turn in a final copy to the customer at the end of the season. You can see previous projects done by Wright Scholars in our projects page. (Note: Not all projects listed were done by AFRL Scholars)

Example Of An Wright Scholar Project

Over the summer of 2020, Wright Scholars made this VR simulation of the laser dazzle effect. The user must perform tasks normally, then perform them again with a virtual laser shining in their eyes intermittently.

Gallery

Wright Scholar working on Laser Dazzle (2020)

Wright Scholar demonstrating the Satellite Ops project (2021)

Wright Scholars talking with team leads (2020)

Wright Scholar calibrating the EFAST trainer simulation (2020)

Wright Scholars modifying the Multi-UAV Sim (2020)

 Wright Scholar testing the AR Maintenance Trainer (2021)

Wright Scholar presenting VR Straining project (2021)

Wright Scholars resolving Git merge conflicts (2020)