When her parents told her not to play with fire, Melissa Hinojosa obviously didn’t pay much attention. She is now with the Air Force Institute for Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health Risk Analysis and first entered the HAMMER project (Hazardous Aerospace Materials Mishap Emergency Response). HAMMER, a project dedicated to fire, safety, and health issues impacting mishap response, investigation, clean up, and disposal, was almost a year into its initiation when Melissa was signed to the burn study.

Set in Panama City Beach, Fla., at Tyndall Air Force Base, Melissa and others spent three weeks conducting the burn test in a fire test facility. “The goal was to determine composite fiber and chemical exposure to advanced composite material during the activities in a mishap recovery, investigation, clean up, etc,” Melissa instructed. The group burned two A-6 wing tips after crushing them with a bulldozer to simulate crash conditions. After a total of three composite burns, the crew performed recovery procedures. Melissa served as a field technician and collected air samples, which were then sent to a lab for analysis.

“In this case we were sampling for chemicals that would be present during an aircraft crash,” Melissa explains. “Air sampling allows an industrial hygienist to determine the exposure levels of certain chemicals. Personal air sampling determines the amount of chemicals in the immediate breathing area of a person, and area air sampling determines chemical presence in a whole area.” She then went on to explain since the activity was a simulation, the recovery team walked around the area, while wearing sampling pumps, and rummaged through debris. Other exercises included clean-up and disposal, which 

involved the crew moving the burned material, wrapping it up in plastic, and then disposing of it into huge crates. The analysis report is being prepared, and the information will be provided to recovery personnel for the appropriate personal protective equipment and respiratory protection, Melissa says.

While attending Texas A&M University and working on her degree in biomedical engineering, Melissa took safety-related technical electives, which allowed her to receive a System Safety Engineering Specialty Certificate. While working on her senior project, which was based on safety issues in the neonatal intensive care unit, Melissa says she didn’t imagine working in this field. “I wanted a clinical engineering position,” Melissa declared, “but when I heard about this [ORISE] opportunity I jumped on it right away.”

Melissa says the next project she is scheduled to work on is a Personal Protective Suit Evaluation for jet fuel cell workers. Her team will confront the concerns that health hazards are involved when a person becomes exposed to JP-8 fuel (the fuel that powers Air Force aircrafts). The team will test and evaluate four different protective coveralls in addition to the current cotton coverall. Charcoal patches will be attached to the workers on the coveralls, the workers will perform the activity, and the patches will be removed and placed in a vial for analysis by a laboratory. “This is pretty much a presence/absence test to determine a breakthrough,” Melissa says. “I’m really excited about it.

 “I’ve really enjoyed my time here and have had a great share of opportunity to learn and participate,” Melissa concludes. “ORISE has given me this opportunity to gain experience in a field that I really like and probably wouldn’t have had a chance to get a job in since I didn’t have the background. I am now focused on a career field in industrial hygiene.”

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