Clarkson Student Receives NASA New York Space Grant Student Support Fellowship for Advancing Engineering Education through University Ground Stations
Michael Buchwald, an undergraduate Honors Program student and researcher in Clarkson’s Astronautics and Robotics Laboratory (ASTRO Lab), has received the NASA New York Space Student Support Fellowship to help cover travel costs to attend the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) 2023 Conference. Buchwald presented his research on the construction of a low-cost university ground station and the development of respective pedagogy for undergraduate aerospace engineering students at the Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. This research project is overseen by Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of ASTRO Lab Michael Bazzocchi.
“I am thrilled to receive the NASA NYSG Student Support Fellowship, which allows me to have the opportunity to present my research at the 2023 ASEE Conference. I look forward to meeting people within both the aerospace engineering and engineering education communities at the conference,” Buchwald said.
The goal of this project is to develop and test a university ground station to educate students on telecommunications, orbital mechanics, and data collection and analysis. Developed were 15 learning objectives, along with five laboratory activities used to teach students the background on ground stations and how to use the SatNOGS network (Satellite Networked Open Ground Station), and various satellite tracking software. Once all testing is completed for the ground station this research will be integrated into space courses at Clarkson, where students in those courses along with students in ASTRO Lab can utilize the ground station as a resource.
This research is partially funded in part by New York Space Grant. Funds were used to cover costs associated with attending the 2023 ASEE conference.
Read more about the Astronautics and Robotics Laboratory (ASTRO Lab) at astrolabresearch.com.
