Mitchell Harger graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering in the Spring of 2016. However, before he left Ames, he still had one more thing to do. As a member of the Iowa State football team, Harger wanted to finish his final year of eligibility with the team before pursuing a career in aerospace engineering. After …Continue reading “From the gridiron to the galaxy”
Michaela Spaulding, a junior in aerospace engineering, was selected as a Brooke Owens Fellow for 2017. The Brooke Owens Fellowship Program is an organization that offers internships at leading aviation and space companies for women seeking careers in aviation or space exploration. Spaulding was one of 36 recipients of the fellowship, and will intern at …Continue reading “AerE student Michaela Spaulding selected as a Brooke Owens Fellow”
Stuart Barkley, a PhD student in mechanical engineering, was recently named a fellow for the Iowa Space Grant Consortium. Barkley’s research project is titled “Microwave Plasma Control of Composite Solid Propellant” and aims “to develop an entirely new approach for throttling and extinguishment control of solid propellant flame though microwave plasma enhancement.” Rachel Pick, an undergraduate aerospace …Continue reading “ME grad student named Iowa Space Grant Consortium fellow, AerE undergrad awarded scholarship”
This summer, the NASA sponsored Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) returned to Iowa State. The ISGC, which is part of NASA’s National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, was founded in 1990, establishing its first headquarters at Iowa State University. Iowa State, along with Drake University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern …Continue reading “NASA Iowa Space Grant returns to Iowa State”
Researchers in Iowa State University’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) are harnessing the potential of photosynthesis – one of the fundamental natural process that exists on Earth – with an eye on someday using photosynthesis to help humans live on Mars. Richard Seagrave Associate Professor Dr. Wenzhen Li is leading a study to …Continue reading “An eye on Mars: Li’s photoelectrolysis research could take human benefit to new levels”
Iowa State background leads junior professionals to selection for NASA leadership development program The Foundations of Influence, Relationships, Success and Teamwork (FIRST) program at NASA takes young professionals with excellent technical skills and helps them to learn about themselves and their workplace to become better leaders. “At NASA, people are incredibly technically competent, but they …Continue reading “Engineering alums complete prestigious NASA leadership program”
While he was growing up on a farm in the small community of Maynard, Iowa, Chase Grimm spent hours tinkering around with farm machinery and equipment, beginning his drive to learn more about manufacturing systems.
Professor Emeritus Richard Pletcher passed away September 12, 2015 at the age of 80. Dr. Richard (Dick) Pletcher was born in 1935 in Elkhart, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering in 1957. He married Carol Robbins on June 9, 1957 in Elkhart, and from there the couple left …Continue reading “Professor Emeritus Richard Pletcher passes away”
Twelve undergraduates will learn lessons in operational thinking during the second Spaceflight Operations Workshop to be offered by Iowa State’s Department of Aerospace Engineering. The students will learn from Clayton Anderson, a workshop coordinator who retired from NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013. Anderson said the workshop’s goal isn’t to train the next generation of astronauts. It’s to help students think in new ways.
Throughout his career, Clayton Anderson has covered a lot of ground, both on and off this planet. Anderson, 56, served as a NASA astronaut and traveled twice to the International Space Station. Following his retirement from NASA in 2013, he began working as a distinguished faculty fellow in aerospace engineering at Iowa State University. And now, Anderson can also call himself an author.
Early in the week, the mining robot of Cyclone Space Mining was mostly a pile of parts in the team’s campus workshop. And that pile was still too small. So team members were working at a bank of nearby computers, designing more parts for their mining machine. And Tyler Broich, the team’s vice president, was getting ready to order a few more blocks of aluminum that could be turned into all those new parts.
Aerospace engineering alumni are part of successful NASA test flight mission NASA began a new era of exploration with the Orion test flight on December 5, 2014. The Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) was a two-orbit and nearly five-hour mission to test critical Orion systems, including the avionics, parachute and heatshield. This program would not be …Continue reading “Cyclones advance space exploration while working on Orion’s first test flight”
Civil engineering senior Toby Cruz has experienced a notable internship and extracurricular activities while pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Iowa State University. Soon after completing final exams in December 2013, Cruz completed a NASA internship application and gathered faculty recommendations within one weekend. One month later, NASA offered him two internships during summer 2014. He accepted …Continue reading “Toby Cruz: NASA intern, Air Force ROTC cadet, civil engineering student”
