Located in the heart of LA, Los Angeles City College has a diverse student population with more than 58 percent minorities. For the past few months, the California Space Grant Consortium headquarters office has been working with Physics and Engineering Department Chair Jayesh Bhakta on an exciting distance learning project to facilitate an Arduino-driven sensor vest to be used in conjunction with Amusement Park Physics activities. The sensor vest measures the amusement park rider’s heart rate, skin conductivity, and acceleration along 6 axes while on the ride. The vest is also equipped with a GPS sensor.

“This project has allowed more than ten of our students to become involved with a hands-on activity and talk in real-time with engineers in both academia and industry,” explains Dr. Bhakta. “In addition to giving us insight into implementation of Arduino projects, the Skype interactions with a UCSD aerospace engineering student and a Qualcomm engineer provided our LACC students with a glimpse of what it’s like to study at a four-year engineering school and go on to be an engineer in the telecommunications industry.”

Information for upcoming seminar, May 29, 2013:

Speaker: Tim Wheeler, Senior in Aerospace Engineering

Topic: Tim will discuss his work with rockets, drones and near-space balloons and bring to light many of the opportunities available to engineering students at UCSD. Tim will touch upon research with faculty, student competition teams, and industry internships, specifically with his own involvement in research under Dr. John Kosmatka, the UCSD Near Space Balloon Team, the UCSD Autonomous Airplane Team, and an internship at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). “Out of this World” is meant to encourage and empower students to apply themselves and take advantage of the opportunities which surround them.

When: May 29, 2013 from 3:00 to 4:00

Where: UC San Diego’s Jacobs Hall, Room 2512, Henry G. Booker Room

Bio: Tim Wheeler is a 4th year Aerospace Engineering major / Mathematics minor graduating at the end of this quarter. He has been extensively involved in engineering projects throughout his undergraduate career, including four years with the Autonomous Airplane Team and Near Space Balloon Team, autonomous-plume tracking research under Dr. John Kosmatka, work with the Scan Eagle UAV at Scripps, and will be completing his second internship with SpaceX this summer and then attending Stanford University in the Aerospace/Astronomy department this Fall.

For Flyer: Please click here.

For More Information: Please email or call Aundrea Dominguez; (858) 822-1597.

Students were selected based on the following four criteria:

• Academic Achievement (including GPA)
• Proposed Research Project
• Letter of Recommendation
• Leadership Qualities

2012-2013 UROP Selections

Congratulations to all of the 2012-2013 UROP students!

*STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering & Math

UCSD Aerospace Engineering Student Gamer Kesheshe Participates in Distance Learning Activity with Reuben H Fleet Science Center

The UCSD students were located at the Science Center (Balboa Park, San Diego) and equipped with an iPhone 5 (using local wi-fi), a wireless Jawbone headset (connected via Bluetooth), and Skype for software.

Meanwhile, the high school teachers (and their students) were located more than 60 miles away in their physics classroom at Mountain Empire High School. The school site technology consisted of a Macintosh laptop running Skype and Call Recorder – connected to a T-1 line for Internet connectivity and using a wall projector to display the Skype session.

In conjunction with the Skype session between the physics class and the UCSD students located at the Fleet Science Center, the high school students also participated in a hands-on activity that demonstrated the flow of charge in a circuit. Specifically, a magnet was moved by a coil and this generated an electric current which lit up a Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulb. Similarly at the Science Center, the UCSD students were showing an exhibit that also demonstrated how the LED lights up as the magnetic field from the magnet passes by the coil of wires. Seeing this example via both the Skype session and the hands-on activity allowed the students an opportunity to better understand the concept.

Located in rural San Diego County, Mountain Empire High School serves a diverse population of students; the Mountain Empire School District is geographically the largest school district in California.

After the Skype session, the science teacher administered a survey to the 19 physics students that participated in the real-time distance learning activity and results are as follows:

• 84 percent of the students agreed that the information was presented effectively by the presenters, that they are interested in participating in another activity interacting with STEM experts, and that they would recommend this type of distance learning activity to classmates and friends.
• 79 percent of the students agreed that they are more excited about studying science after this activity and that they learned a lot from the students and researchers at the science/engineering site.

The magnets distance learning activity was led by Kimberly Mann Bruch (not pictured) and included UCSD Aerospace Engineering students Grace Jang (right) and Gamer Kesheshe (left) along with Reuben H. Fleet Science Center Public Programs Manager Valerie MacPhee (center).

“We were pleased with the outcome of this activity,” says Valerie MacPhee, Public Programs Manager at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. “And, we are hopeful to participate in additional such distance learning studies in the future with the California Space Grant.”

A video of the archived distance learning activity is available on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSFZD_59wT0&feature=youtu.be.

Photographs are available at: http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/kimbruch/library/Magnets%20Distance%20Learning.

Additional CaSGC archived distance learning activities include:

• Mars Science Laboratory – http://casgc.ucsd.edu/?p=3334
• Amusement Park Physics – http://casgc.ucsd.edu/?p=3122

Information for first seminar, May 8, 2013:

Speaker: Deepak Atyam, sophomore in Aerospace Engineering

Topic: Deepak will speak about his experiences at NASA centers working on projects such as Curiosity and the Mars 2018 three-stage mission. He will also discuss research he conducted at Langley Research Center last summer that concluded in a Technical Paper presented and awarded at the AIAA Region VI Student Conference this fall.

When: May 8, 2013 from 3:00 to 4:00

Where: UC San Diego’s Jacobs Hall, Room 2512, Henry G. Booker Room

Abstract: A new photogrammetry system manufactured by Vicon has been tested as a means of determining shape and dynamic behavior of a rotorcraft model in a low speed wind tunnel facility. The Vicon system is able to utilize a series of cameras to triangulate retro reflective targets in 3D space with a high degree of accuracy. The Vicon system is an off the shelf system, primarily in the entertainment industry, used to produce accurate 3D biomechanical reconstructions of human movements. It was created for the tracking of biomechanical operations but will be evaluated in this case for its accuracy in measurements of rigid body motion. A discussion of the utilization of the entertainment industry system for tracking rigid body deformation including the lighting, design, calibration, and testing process is included. The successful tests were conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) 14×22 Low Speed Wind Tunnel.

Bio: Deepak’s interests are in rocketry and space travel. During the past three summers he interned with NASA’s JPL, Marshall Flight Center, and Langley Research Center. Atyam will intern again at Langley this summer in the Space Launch System Projects Office. He is currently leading an undergraduate group conducting research on 3D-Printed Rocket Engines for Marshall Space Flight Center and hopes to continue his research into graduate school.

For Flyer: Please click here.

For More Information: Please email or call Aundrea Dominguez; (858) 822-1597.

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)…

NASA Kennedy Space Center Pre-Service Teacher Institute (PSTI)…

Caltech’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)…

2013 Helicopter/UAV Program (CTSGC)

Rock On! 2013 Rocket Workshop (CSGC)

SNC Dream Chaser Intern Position (Sierra Nevada Space Systems)

2013 International Space Apps Challenge (NASA)

2013 NASA Academy…

• Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Summer Internship

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is offering summer projects for students interested in working on NASA missions or space-related research opportunities at APL. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is engineering the future of space exploration examining Earth’s near-space environment, our Sun, planetary bodies and the outer solar system.

• NASA Kennedy Space Center Pre-Service Teacher Institute

The NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Pre-Service Teacher Institute (PSTI) is a ten-day residential opportunity for minority junior or senior college students majoring in elementary education or secondary science education. NASA KSC PSTI is
designed to increase pre-service educators’ skills in teaching science using NASA themed educational activities. During
PSTI, pre-service teachers will participate in many hands-on NASA science educational activities and learn how to integrate
the activities into classroom curriculum. Participants will receive a financial support package.

For additional information visit: https://opportunities.nasa.okstate.edu

• 2013 NASA Academy

The Academies are intensive educational programs which emphasize group activities, teamwork, research, leadership and creativity. The curriculum balances direct contact with science and engineering R & D with an awareness of the managerial, political, financial, social and human issues faced by aerospace professionals. Included are seminars, informal discussions, evening lectures, supervised research, visits to other NASA Centers and facilities, group project/s, tours, posters/presentations, and assessment. Additionally, most weekends are filled with group activities, team building and off-site trips. One free weekend is scheduled.

The Academy is not a 9-5 summer research internship program. It is a rigorous, immersive experience that will challenge you and push you outside of your comfort zones. It offers participants an intense learning experience that is either Space- or Aeronautics-based. All academy students will be immersed in a NASA environment where they will experience the agency from both inside and outside perspectives. Additionally, added interaction with NASA collaborators in industry and academia will provide unique, exciting and unforgettable summer experience designed to engage and capture students within the NASA family.

View the poster here

Friday, May 3, 2013 4:00 – 6:30 PM

Speaker: Geoff Marcy, Professor of Astronomy, UC Berkeley

Location: Auditorium, Natural Sciences Building, Revelle College, UCSD.

Geoffrey Marcy is one of the pioneers and leaders in the discovery and characterization of planets around other stars. Professor Marcy’s research results have included detection of the first multiple-planet system, the first Saturn-mass planet and the first Neptune-mass planet. In recent years, Professor Marcy’s research has focused on the search for Earth-size planets around other stars. He is a co-investigator of Kepler, the NASA space-born telescope dedicated to identifying Earth-like planets and potentially helping determine how many of these planets fall in the habitable zone with the potential for supporting life. In 2012, Professor Marcy was appointed to the Alberts Chair in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Professor Marcy is an elected member of both the National Academy of Sciences (2002) and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2010). He is the recipient of many awards including the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization (2009), the Shaw Prize (2005, shared with Michel Mayor), the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (2003) and the Beatrice Tinsley prize from the American Astronomical Society (2002). Professor Marcy was also selected the Discover Magazine Space Scientist of the Year in 2003 and the California Scientist of the Year in 2000.

Abstract:
This year, astronomers harvested the first Earth-size planets ever found around other stars. Now we’re finding them by the bushel. The crop of Earths opens questions about their properties, their environments, and their suitability for life. Astronomers are using the spaceborne NASA telescope, Kepler, and the giant Keck telescope in Hawaii to observe the nature of these “earths”. Kepler, Darwin, and Fermi, are posthumously informing the chances for intelligent life on the new worlds.

Presented by:

• The James R. Arnold Lectureship Endowment fund
• The UCSD Division of Physical Sciences
• The UCSD Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• The California Space Grant Consortium

An endowed lectureship has been established to honor Professor James R. Arnold, one of UCSD’s first faculty members and the founding chair of the Chemistry Department. If you would like to contribute to future lectures please click on the the donation form below.

Donation form for James R. Arnold Lectureship

This is a free public lecture. A reception in honor of Professor Jim Arnold will be held immediately afterwards.

For Event Flyer: Please click here

For More Information on the Lecture: Please contact Tehseen Lazzouni (tlazzouni@ucsd.edu).

In Summer and Fall 2012 the San Diego MESA Alliance and the California Space Grant Consortium implemented a pilot program entitled:

MESA Research Academy: A Train-the-Trainer Academy for Understanding “What Is Research?”

The goal was to provide exposure to engineering research and hands-on experience to underrepresented student populations in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) from precollege to university levels.

During the five-day Research Academy, 10 students from Southwestern College and 10 students from San Diego City College shadowed five research projects:

1. High Altitude Balloon Project at UCSD
2. Aircraft Wing Structural Dynamics at UCSD
3. Mixing and Flow Control in High Speed Combustors at SDSU
4. Sensorimotor Prosthetic Hand (robotics project) at SDSU
5. Dynamics of Flame Spread in Microgravity at SDSU

For most of these community college students, this was their first time working alongside graduate students in a laboratory conducting research.

To further increase the impact of this experience, the students prepared presentations on their work and presented to hundreds of students at their community colleges as well as K-12 students in the MESA Schools Program.

• Co-PIs: Dr. Gustaaf Jacobs (SDSU) and Theresa Garcia (SDSU), Rafael Alvarez (San Diego City College) and Dr. Raga Bakhiet (Southwestern College)
• Pre-College Collaborative Partners: Jeanette Ramos-Espino (SDSU) and Marvin Maldonado (SDSU)

The San Diego MESA Alliance and California Space Grant Consortium intend to run this program annually. San Diego City College and Southwestern College students interested in participating in Summer 2013 should their respective MESA Directors.

NASA Innovations in Climate Education (NICE) Teacher Professional Development Workshop Series

April 9^th, 11^th, April 16^th & 18^th

4:00 – 5:20 p.m. (EDT)

Teachers may participate, free of charge, in person or virtually.

From greenhouse effect to Earth’s rising temperatures and resulting impacts on plants, bugs and birds, increase your understanding of these timely topics and more at the NICE Teacher Professional Development Workshop.   This workshop is a four-part series featuring climate literacy content and classroom resources from NASA and NICE Earth Systems Scientists.  It is open to all Science, Technology, Engineering and Math K-12 teachers.  The content will be geared toward the 5-9 grade band.

For more information visit the NICE website at:  http://nice.larc.nasa.gov/node/129