DREAMING BIG, THINKING BIGGER
For Ethan Corsmo '27, a dream to work with NASA began in fifth grade.
That dream became a reality when Corsmo, a Moeller student with a passion for engineering, was selected for a high school engineering institute at NASA’s John Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
Corsmo found the opportunity online and completed an application describing what he enjoyed about engineering. When the response arrived from NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, he initially thought the email was a rejection.
“I was sitting in the family room, and when I realized I got accepted, I just shot up,” Corsmo shared. “I was so excited and overjoyed.”
After the initial excitement settled, his confidence took over, knowing he could do it. At NASA, Corsmo was immersed in projects that allowed him to experience engineering well beyond the classroom. His work included designing wheels for a model rover, studying the acoustics of engine noise, and examining power management systems for the International Space Station.
The rover project gave him a firsthand look at the engineering design process. He learned that good engineering isn’t simply about coming up with an idea—it is about designing, testing, refining, and testing again.
We would design the wheels on paper, put them into the computer, and then test them on a NASA simulation,” Corsmo explained. “Then we would refine them.” That process helped him understand the persistence and precision required to solve real engineering problems.
His experience at Moeller had already begun preparing him for that environment. During his sophomore year, Corsmo worked with a motherboard and coding, gaining experiences that gave him a foundation he could draw upon during his NASA work.
“I was able to use some of those aspects at NASA with the model rover,” he said. “I felt like I was ahead of the game.”
His NASA experience has continued to influence his academic work at Moeller. For his Capstone project, Corsmo returned to one of the topics he explored during his time at NASA: engine acoustics.
He studied how noise from aircraft engines can affect people who live near airports, including research into the ways prolonged exposure to airport noise may be associated with health effects and increased feelings of stress or fear.
For Corsmo, the Capstone experience has provided another opportunity to explore what he might want to do in the future—and Moeller has given him the space to do that. He plans to pursue mechanical engineering and is considering schools including Virginia Tech, Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, and Duke University. Ultimately, he hopes to design engines, potentially including firefighting engines for the Navy.
Corsmo’s Moeller experience has been more than academics and engineering. When he arrived as a freshman, he was not sure what activities or opportunities he wanted to pursue. What helped him find his place was the people around him—particularly his classmates and the upperclassmen who welcomed him into the Moeller community.
That sense of inclusion stayed with Corsmo throughout his sophomore and junior years. Now, as House Captain, he has the opportunity to provide that same experience for younger students. For Corsmo, the culture of inclusion is one of the things that makes Moeller special and one of the reasons he chose the school in the first place.
He also points to Moeller’s emphasis on faith as an important part of his experience. At Moeller, faith is not separate from the academics and extracurricular experience; it remains at the front of the school’s mission and shapes the community Corsmo has come to value.
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