SUNY Potsdam Alumni Name Jamie A.D. Szafran '08 a 'Rising Star'

POTSDAM, NY (07/23/2015)(readMedia)-- The SUNY Potsdam Alumni Association recently honored Jamie A.D. Szafran '08 with the 2015 Rising Star Award, at the College's annual Reunion Weekend.

The Rising Star Award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated outstanding professional achievement in the first decade following graduation. Szafran was recognized for her outstanding accomplishments in the field of computer science with NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Jamie A.D. Szafran established herself as a rising star long before teaming up with the NASA Space Station as a full-time employee in 2009. As a student, she was involved in a multitude of areas on campus. With a love for music and science, she majored in both musical studies and computer science, and minored in mathematics at SUNY Potsdam, graduating magna cum laude with two bachelor's degrees in 2008.

Academically gifted, Szafran was a four-year recipient of the Newell Scholarship and was registered in the College's Honors Program. She also directed the Crane Hand Bell Choir and acted as a teaching assistant in the Department of Computer Science. In addition, she served on the Campus Rescue Squad and became an emergency management technician.

But that wasn't enough for the multi-talented student. In the summer of 2007, Szafran was one of 20 selected from more than 1,000 applicants to participate in a highly competitive internship at NASA, which focused on exploration system sand mission control directives. She did such an amazing job at the Kennedy Space Center that her supervisor arranged to have her return the following summer for a co-op, where she attended graduate school for a semester, and then worked at the center in alternating semesters until she graduated.

After graduating from the University at Buffalo with a Master of Science degree in 2010, NASA recruited Szafran to come aboard full-time as a computer scientist/engineer, AST (Aerospace Technologist), for the Kennedy Space Center. She is now a lead developer on the spacecraft command and control system's common services Team, writing software to control ground support equipment for the next chapter in human spaceflight. She is also an engineer, working with the SwampWorks rapid prototyping research and development lab, enabling design and testing of equipment for regolith operations, now and in the future.

Outside of work, Szafran is a half-marathoner and triathlete, a performing musician, a self-styled programming language theorist and serves as the treasurer of FamiLAB, Orlando's hackerspace.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Alumni Association, visit www.potsdam.edu/alumni.

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts. Empowered by a culture of creativity, the campus community recently launched Take the Lead: The Campaign for Potsdam, which aims to raise $32 million by the College's bicentennial in 2016.

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