District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium
AU-NASTAR Cntr Undergrad Engineering Pgm

DCSGC Program Manager Eric Day worked with the Director of Education at the NASTAR Center in Pennsylvania, which has an extensive and impressive engineering training facility, to develop a week-long hands-on program for undergraduate engineering students. Ten undergraduate engineering students from DC universities applied online and were competitively selected to participate in the program. The week-long program provided 40 hours of engineering training which emphasized biodynamics and how to apply engineering principles to ground based flight simulation. The training covered forces and motion, aerospace physiology and biodynamics, Man Rating, and application of engineering fundamentals to flight simulation. A particular emphasis was given to hands-on and experience based lessons that will take students beyond the classroom. Each student received a mission kit that included a flight suit, engineering course materials, and a DVD of their flight experience in the NASTAR Center centrifuge. The workshop also included NASA content. The program was designed to bolster student interest and learning in the sciences and engineering, and improve their understanding of how science and technology translates from the classroom to real-world engineering solutions through hands-on experiences. The goals and objectives were to support ten undergraduate engineering students in hands-on engineering activities.