B&E Student Accepted to Compete in NASA-Sponsored Competition

Mathilde Berger, a sophomore business and engineering student, is a member of a five-student team that has been accepted to participate in a prestigious annual student competition on Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in Cocoa Beach, Fla., this June.

Led by faculty advisor Dr. Jin Kang, associate teaching professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering, this team of undergraduate students also includes Drexel engineering students Ian Bournelis, Reuben Krutz, Nik Bournelis and Tania Cai. They will demonstrate their mission objective to repair targeted satellites in Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) by using an economic transport system that would send mini satellites to restore damaged or defective equipment. This project will reveal how the space in geosynchronous orbit can become cleaner and made more available for commercial use, without broken satellites and space debris pollution.

Drexel also has two graduate students, Eric Tran and Derek Feverston, who are partnering with students Hongrae Kim and Byungil Jeon from the Korea Aerospace University and presenting their research and design on the DIoNISIS mission with its primary objective to land humans on a near-Earth object. Their project will show that using existing technology, humanity can obtain a long-term presence in cislunar and interplanetary space.

Both teams will be presenting their mission design to the NASA and Industry panel.

The purpose of the competition is to challenge engineering students to perform research and design projects based on problems and themes that NASA experts provide. Students are tasked with creating innovative solutions and receive the opportunity to work with the NASA program, network with industry leaders and tour the NASA Kennedy Space Center. Teams submit an abstract of their research and design, and are selected to write a report, bring a visual representation of their project, and discuss how it operates at the RASC-AL 2012 educational forum.

Winning teams will be awarded a travel stipend to present their concept at an Aerospace Conference, such as Space 2013. For additional information on the event, visit the RASC-AL home page at http://www.nianet.org/RASCAL/Index.aspx.