Students in the University’s Department of Construction Management and Industrial Engineering are working with NASA, going above and beyond — the great beyond — to help maintain a sustainable, long-term human presence in outer space.
The students are designing living habitats that will be able to endure the extreme environmental conditions of the moon, Mars and stellar asteroids where future astronauts could potentially live.
This project will allow students within the College of Engineering to explore designing systems that will support sustained life on other planets and celestial bodies, as well as give them the opportunity to interact with NASA engineers and learn about potential careers with NASA and its contractors.
“The students involved will also create a project that will allow them to involve local elementary school children at Buchanan Elementary in their design,” Department of Construction Management and Industrial Engineering Interim Chair Craig Harvey said.
NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate asked for the development of a course in engineering that would look at the design issues related to living in outer space about a year ago, Harvey said.
Industrial engineering professors Laura Ikuma, Gerald Knapp and Harvey then proposed to NASA “an interdisciplinary senior design capstone course.”
In the proposal, they offered a class that would focus on how to build a habitat designed for safety and functionality in outer space.
NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate then awarded a $54,728 grant to the University’s industrial engineering program to develop the course.
As part of the grant, Harvey, Ikuma and Knapp developed course material that could be used by other universities in their senior design capstone courses.
“What we’re doing this year is what we call a pilot test of the course,” Harvey said.
The students taking the course are the first in country to do so before NASA makes the course available to all engineering programs throughout the country, Harvey said.
The 20-person class includes biological, mechanical and industrial engineers and a construction management student.
“I’m really enjoying this class. It’s one of the few classes I look forward to,” said industrial engineering senior Christina Koffskey.
The students are split into five groups, concentrated on subjects like growing plants in space or solving sleeping issues, Harvey said.
Other groups are studying the actual design materials that should be used, the hazards of lunar dust, radiation and a nutrition delivery system.
“We have a NASA liaison that actually reviews the design projects and gives us comments and about whether our design projects are reasonable and fit within the NASA mission,” Harvey said.
Industrial engineering junior Justin Alfred said he’s excited about the class.
“I really like it, ” Alfred said, “What really drew me to the class was aerospace, and I’m interested in that, but when I found out it was funded by NASA, I said, ‘Sign me up.'”
The students will implement their designs by building small scale models or simulations in the spring.
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Contact Julian Tate at [email protected]