CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., are the 1st place winners of NASA’s systems engineering paper competition. The winning paper, “Cathode/Anode Satellite Thruster for Orbital Repositioning” earned the team a $3,500 scholarship and an invitation to view a future launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
The competition, sponsored by NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, asked teams of undergraduate and graduate students to submit a paper on an Exploration Systems mission topic. A total of 11 papers from students throughout the country were submitted.
The 2nd place award of $2,500 was presented to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va., and 3rd place of $1,500 was awarded to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Both teams will also receive invitations to view a future launch.
The competition is designed to engage students in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, disciplines critical to NASA’s missions.
For more information on the competition visit: http://education.ksc.nasa.gov/esmdspacegrant/SystemsEngineering.htm
For more information on NASA’s education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education
