Many engineers and scientists
would consider working for NASA the career opportunity of a lifetime. Thanks
to a long running partnership between NASA and Worcester Polytechnic Institute
(WPI), many WPI students will get that opportunity before they even receive
their bachelors degree. Over the past six years the Goddard Space Flight
Center has served as a hands-on training ground for more than 100 WPI students
to work on real-world projects at NASA.

The most recent group of Goddard projects are near completion and WPI
undergrads will be giving their final oral presentations on Tuesday, October 8
at the Goddard Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Fred J. Looft, professor
of electrical and computer engineering and director and founder of the WPI
Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center, recently advised nine student
teams at the Center. The program gives students the chance to present
solutions to complex problems on topics ranging from spacecraft model
development to x-ray telescope design.

“The Goddard Center gives students applied engineering experience that
can’t be taught in a classroom. All of the students who participate in the
program not only learn a great deal, but are much better prepared when the
become a part of the workforce,” said Looft. “We’ve had great success in our
partnership with NASA and plan on expanding the program in the years to come.”

The Goddard Space Flight Center isn’t just a great opportunity for
undergraduates. It exposes the students to the same issues NASA’s top
engineers face everyday. NASA recognizes the value of WPI’s hands-on approach
to education and many WPI students end up working at NASA following
graduation.

“The work WPI students do at NASA isn’t the back-burner kind,” says Alda
D. Simpson, Associate Director of the Applied Engineering and Technology
Directorate at the Goddard Space Flight Center. “It’s research that’s integral
for current NASA initiatives, and gives WPI students practical experience only
found on the job. That makes them better candidates when they graduate.”

Here are the most recent WPI-NASA projects, conducted by students aiming
for the stars:

  • Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Falconsat – Spacecraft Model Development
  • Students will develop a detailed and complete model of the ST-5 Spacecraft

using Matlab/Simulink and based on work started at the USAF Academy. One of
the main functions of this model will be to ensure that the satellite’s power
margin will be sufficient at all points in the orbit. The model will be used
to verify the operational scenarios and, if beneficial, may become a mission
operation center tool.

  • VHDL Algorithms for Image Processing

    This is the third year of a program to convert Landsat 7 image processing
    algorithms written in the C programming language, into re-configurable code
    (VHDL Algorithms) that can be downloaded into programmable hardware. The
    reason for doing this are, first, the hardware algorithms run about 20x faster
    than the C code and, second, the costs associated with re-configurable
    computing platforms are significantly lower than those for full custom
    systems.

  • Goddard Radio Interferometry Testbed (GRIT)

    GRIT is a tool for studying radio interferometry techniques using a
    hardware implementation in the lab. The students on this project team will
    write software to control the positioner, implement and test data acquisition
    software, test and characterize the X-band receivers, and write signal
    processing software (in Matlab).

  • Optical Encoder Design and Implementation

    The students on this team will implement a modular integer DSP system that
    can be used to align and then process data from the Leviton encoder. Tasks
    include implementing a modular signal processing system), implementing a RS170
    TV standard output channel, redesigning the associated analog electronics to
    improve switching speeds, and testing and calibrating the final system.

    • Technical Communications
    • History of Solar Cell Development
    • The purpose of this project is to write a history of spacecraft solar

    cells, including key individuals and technical developments. Specific
    interests include identifying funding sources and programs that resulted in
    the dramatic increases in solar cell efficiencies. Outcomes of this project
    will include a paper presented at a Solar Cell conference, and a poster
    session at a second NASA conference.

    • Mechanical / Aerospace Engineering
    • Soft X-Ray Telescope Design
    • The goal of this student project team is to design and analyze an overall

    composite structure (OCS) for the Spectroscopy X-ray Telescope (SXT) of the
    Constellation-X telescopes. The primary task includes performing a trade study
    on the current proposed SXT to determine its most feasible design.

  • Electro Hydrodynamic (EHD) Loop Design

    The purpose of this project is to generate and analyze the performance
    curves for two micro-scale electro hydrodynamic (EHD) pumps. This goal will be
    achieved through detailed laboratory experiments, construction of the
    necessary systems and experimental equipment, data collection and analysis
    using LabView, and appropriate background research.

  • Orbital Modeling for Multi-Spacecraft Formation Missions

    The student team will explore orbit designs for multiple spacecraft which
    meet either a given set of virtual aperture metrics or which give rise to new
    and interesting metrics for formations that may enable new earth-orbiting
    distributed spacecraft science mission concepts.

    • Computer Science
    • Autonomous Nano Technology Swarm (ANTS): I and II – D. Brown
    • The specific goal for these two project teams is to develop a framework

    into which low level Artificial Intelligence for simulated ANTS satellites can
    be embedded. The simulation program will model two satellites and an asteroid.
    It will be the tasks of the two satellites to work together to obtain a high
    quality X-ray spectrum of the asteroid and transfer that data to a data
    repository.

    About WPI

    Founded in 1865, WPI was a pioneer in technological higher education.
    Early on, it developed an influential curriculum that balanced theory and
    practice. Since 1970, that philosophy has been embodied in an innovative
    outcomes-oriented undergraduate program. With a network of project centers
    that spans the globe, WPI is also the leader in globalizing technological
    education. WPI awarded its first advanced degree in 1898. Today, most of WPI’s
    academic departments offer master’s and doctoral programs and support leading
    edge research in a broad range of areas. WPI’s approach to education has
    prepared generations of problem solvers whose new ideas and inventions have
    literally changed the world. They include Robert Goddard ’08, father of modern
    rocketry, Harold Black, inventor of the principle of negative-feedback; Carl
    Clark, inventor of the first practical airbag safety systems; Richard T.
    Whitcomb, formulator the Area Rule and developer the supercritical wing, and
    Dean Kamen, inventor of the first wearable drug infusion pump, and the stair-
    climbing wheelchair.