Akron Magazine - Winter 2010 - (Page 13)

( feATure sTory ) University of Akron Students Research the Final Frontier As the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and Ohio-born astronaut Neil Armstrong’s legendary words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” a new generation of space pioneers from Ohio is emerging. NASA Picks Best and Brightest for Internship Two University of Akron College of Engineering students experienced close-up views of the human spaceflight program in the summer of 2009. Tina Sulkowski of Valley City and Brian George of Medina were among the handful of college students selected to work with scientists at NASA through National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) internships. Sulkowski, a third-year chemical and biomolecular engineering undergraduate student, was assigned to the Bone Laboratory at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland. She worked with scientists on a project seeking to determine the hip-fracture risk for astronauts who fall on lunar and Martian surfaces. George, who is pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering, was assigned to the Ultrasound Laboratory at NASA. He worked with scientists to develop a noninvasive (needle-free) method to measure red blood cell count with ultrasound technology. “The summer internship program allows talented students such as Tina and Brian to learn about research for human spaceflight and how these efforts benefit health care on Earth,” says Dr. Jeffrey Sutton, NSBRI director. More than 200 students applied for NSBRI internships, making the selection of the UA students even more notable since only 18 were chosen to participate. In addition to UA’s George and Sulkowski, the 16 other students in the program represented such institutions as the Baylor College of Medicine, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Michigan State, Texas A&M and the University of California, Berkeley. University of Akron students Brian George and Tina Sulkowski (left and middle) and Virginia Tech student Sarah Over check out the patient simulator, a life-like mannequin that breathes, has a heartbeat and other life-like functions. Students Design Battery System for Lunar Rover Ben Magistro and Courtney Gras stand in front of the “Athlete” (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) robotic vehicle at NASA DRATS. A team of University of Akron engineering students placed second in the nation in the NASA Moon Tasks Competition for college students. Charged with the mission to design a battery management system for the next manned lunar rover, the UA team’s proposed system addresses issues of battery performance and safety. Led by faculty adviser Dr. Tom Hartley, professor of electrical and computer engineering, UA’s team was composed of junior electrical engineering students Karin Bodnar of Mayfield Village, Courtney Gras of Aurora, Greg Haren of Lowellville and Michael Ludwig of Louisville, and recent UA computer information systems graduate Ben Magistro of Olmsted Falls. The team was invited to present its technical report to NASA scientists and researchers as part of a student day at NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS) lunar analog testing near Flagstaff, Ariz. in September. “Our paper included calculations for lunar power requirements, and an analysis of the system applied to two different battery chemistries, one [battery] being the lithium ion batteries NASA currently employs and the other being an alternative cell chemistry of lithium-iron phosphate that we proposed,” says Gras, who wrote the UA team’s technical report. | 13 |

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Akron Magazine - Winter 2010

Akron Magazine - Winter 2010