Academic All-American Pursues Dual Degrees at Embry-Riddle

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USA Today Academic All-American Ryan Olson Pursues Dual Degrees at Embry-Riddle

Daytona Beach, Fla., Aug. 26, 2005 -- When MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory named an asteroid after teenager Ryan Olson to reward his performance in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, it was a fitting tribute to a young man who wants to be a NASA researcher and test pilot.

Now a freshman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he’s pursuing dual degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Aeronautical Science, Ryan spent his high school years winning multiple awards in top-level math, science, and engineering competitions sponsored by NASA, Intel, and Siemens Westinghouse, among others, as well as excelling at the International Space Olympics in Russia.

His research and design proposals have focused on the practicality of a flying car, multiwing configurations suitable for freewing aircraft, and an extravehicular stereo camera for the space shuttle. The camera idea is particularly apt as NASA looks for ways to improve safety.

“A remote-controlled infrared/visual-range camera would let the astronauts inspect the exterior of the space shuttle for damage from inside the vehicle,” Ryan says. “That makes more sense than sending an astronaut out of the spacecraft to do the same thing.”

Besides his numerous triumphs at science and engineering fairs, which in themselves made the 18-year-old from Pearisburg, Va., a natural for Embry-Riddle, Ryan’s extensive list of high school accomplishments reveal that he was also captain of his school’s varsity tennis team, an Eagle Scout, a math and physics tutor, and was active in his church. In the seventh grade he began taking courses at a community college, graduating with an associate degree in general studies in the summer of 2005.

“Ryan is an admissions counselor’s dream student,” says Sally Carlson-Ditmyer, assistant director of the Admissions Office at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus. “He’s bright, industrious, goal-oriented, and incredibly accomplished. In many ways he’s exemplary of all our students.”

Embry-Riddle isn’t alone in spotting Ryan’s talents. In May 2005, USA Today named him to its All-USA High School Academic First Team, which recognizes the top 20 high school seniors in the nation for excellence and leadership. Ryan’s sister, Courtney, won the same honor in 2002 and is now enrolled in Brown University’s medical school program.

Ryan was introduced to Embry-Riddle as a high school junior when he took part in the Careers in Aviation summer program at the Daytona Beach campus. “It was a fun program that gave me a broad view of the tremendous opportunities Embry-Riddle offers me in the areas of aerospace research, robotics, and flight,” he says.

Following his first experience at Embry-Riddle, Ryan and his mother, Pam, visited the campus several times to meet with admissions counselors and faculty and to check out the university’s state-of-the-art labs, facilities, aircraft, and simulators.

Ryan says it’s the strength of his two chosen degree programs at Embry-Riddle that attracted him to the university. Not only are Aerospace Engineering and Aeronautical Science the largest such programs in the nation, but in August 2005 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges guide ranked Embry-Riddle’s undergraduate Aerospace Engineering program No. 1 in the nation for the sixth year in a row.

The year-round flying weather in Florida was another factor in Ryan’s choice of Embry-Riddle. A flyer since age 12, he holds private pilot and commercial pilot licenses with an instrument rating and will earn additional ratings while pursuing his Aeronautical Science degree at Embry-Riddle. In addition, he’s planning to join the school’s precision flight team, the sport aviation club, or the model airplane club and looks forward to internship opportunities, especially with NASA.

On top of dual degrees and a busy extracurricular schedule, Ryan is also participating in Embry-Riddle’s challenging Honors Program. “We select the best and the brightest students for this program, students who are both scholars and leaders,” says professor and Honors Program director Dr. Geoff Kain. “Ryan’s achievements are truly remarkable for someone his age. It’s clear he could have attended virtually any university he chose.”

What was the booster that rocketed Ryan to early success in his life? He credits an inspirational speech by astronaut-senator John Glenn six years ago and the support of a mentor, a retired engineer who shares Ryan’s love of aviation and has advised him on his competition projects.

If Ryan’s future is as bright as his past, an asteroid named after him is just the beginning of his destiny in space.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering and meets the needs of students and industry through educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 30,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through distance learning.