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Alabama students bring invention, ingenuity to aerospace industry

Alabama aerospace

Universities across Alabama have become hubs of aerospace innovation, with student and faculty projects that offer promising contributions for the global industry.

The latest crop of this work involves plum NASA grants, deep dives into weather system data, space craft development and competitions on the national stage.

“The spirit of ingenuity is abundant on Alabama’s university campuses, and it’s an important asset to our aerospace industry partners across the state and around the world,” said Angela Till, Deputy Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“Whether their ideas are coming to life in the lab or the design studio, our students and researchers share a strong desire and curiosity to solve problems and forge new paths,” she added.

Deputy Secretary Till is spreading that message on a business recruiting mission to this week’s 2024 Farnborough International Airshow, the industry’s largest trade event this year.

Representatives of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Auburn University are also on hand at the event, which attracts thousands of industry decision-makers and high-ranking government officials.


“From UAH’s perspective, we’re really excited about the opportunity to be here at the Farnborough Airshow,” UAH President Dr. Chuck Karr said. “There are so many terrific companies here, many of whom have an interest in Alabama and, in particular, in Huntsville.

“From us at UAH, they’re interested in a couple of things. No. 1, they’re interested in the talent we produce and really excited about the quality of students and graduates we produce at UAH,” he added. “They have huge workforce needs, and they understand we can help provide for their needs on that front.”

Here is a roundup of interesting aerospace initiatives taking place at Alabama universities.

Robotics dynasty

At the University of Alabama, the Astrobotics team recently notched its ninth win in a robotic mining competition held in a simulated lunar environment.

In NASA’s Lunabotics Challenge, the students had to create a rover that could dig into a simulated moon surface, collect material and also build a berm, a step up from past years when the requirements were limited to collecting and moving the material.

But the UA students rose to the challenge, committed to it throughout the school year, and during the competition alone, logged more than 200 hours over 10 days.

Other requirements of their entry included a project management plan, technical presentation slide show and a “proof of life” video of the rover. The team finished first for robot autonomy, second for mining/construction and second for their technical paper, landing them in first place overall.

Alabama aerospace
The University of Alabama’s the Astrobotics team recently notched its ninth win in a robotic mining competition held in a simulated lunar environment.

Astronautics competitors

Auburn University students also competed in an aerospace contest last spring, achieving a top 20 international finish and the top spot among Southeastern Conference schools.

The team built a remote-controlled airplane for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design, Build, Fly competition, with a goal of completing three different missions.

The 11.5-pound aircraft, with a five-foot wingspan, had to complete a delivery flight, a medical transport flight carrying a patient (doll) a medical supply cabinet, and an urban taxi flight, maximizing the number of passengers (dolls) on board in proper restraints.

The team’s goal was to complete all missions, as historically, only about one-third of participating teams do so. The students also had to conduct a ground mission to show how quickly they could re-configure the aircraft between flights.

Space missions

At Tuskegee University, students are developing small spacecraft, called CubeSats, which orbit the earth while conducting scientific experiments.

The project, supported by a two-year, $300,000 NASA grant, offers students hands-on experience in the design and launch of space missions. They also will participate in workshops at the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado and the NASA Ames Research Center.

The work involves an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together faculty from Math and Physics with the Aerospace Science Engineering Department. Tuskegee is the first and only historically black college or university to offer a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering.

Detecting lightning

Another NASA grant, valued at $402,000, is fueling the work of two researchers at UAH who are studying lightning flashes detected in space and what they reveal about developing thunderstorms.

UAH’s Dr. Sarah Stough and Dr. Daniel Walker, along with Dr. Mason Quick of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, will analyze the frequency and type of lightning emissions captured by space-based optical lightning sensors over the next three years.

The project is expected to help develop the next-generation of NASA’s space-based lightning detection instrument while also recording key storm data.

Lightning is tied to the updraft of a thunderstorm – little flashes occur near more turbulent updrafts while bigger ones typically happen in calmer areas – and the researchers’ project is expected to provide more insight on how thunderstorms strengthen in intensity.

Dr. Karr said the companies at Farnborough are interested in the aerospace research being conducted at UAH.

“So much of what we see over here is space and defense-related — and that’s right in our wheelhouse at UAH,” he said.

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