NASA Nebraska Space Grant
Faculty 2023-2024
The NASA Nebraska Space Grant is excited to highlight our innovative faculty research projects this year. For 2021-2022 projects, click here.
Jae Sung Park
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
UNL Aerospace Club Teams 2023/2024
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Aerospace Club consists of undergraduate students from a variety of majors and backgrounds to compete at various NASA’s competitions. The Club helps NASA with the mission of developing space technologies for operations on other planets.
Christine
Wittich
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Professional Development for SWE Students
This project will provide the opportunity for 6 student members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's chapter of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) to attend the national SWE conference. This conference will provide professional development for female engineering students, which aligns with NASA's goal to build a diverse STEM workforce.
Carl
Nelson
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Micro-g NExT UNL Team
2023-24
This project involves a student team performing research and the development of a tool supporting the Artemis lunar missions for NASA. The project will culminate in device testing at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center.
Lauren
Bydalek
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
College of Law
Student Travel to Annual Space Law Conference and NASA Goddard Visit
This project allows students to travel to Washington D.C. for the Nebraska Space, Cyber, & Telecommunications Law Annual Fall Conference - one of the longest running and largest entirely law and policy focused space conferences in the world. Approximately 5 students will come from the College of Law, with 2-3 spots available for students from other disciplines interested in space law and policy. While in Washington D.C., the legal offices at NASA Goddard or NASA HQ will arrange for a center visit and tour, as well as a question and answer session with NASA attorneys.
Amanda
Roe
College of Saint Mary
Department of Biology
Elementary Educator Science Enrichment Workshop Series
The overriding goal of the workshop series is to stimulate interest in STEM by increasing the number of activity and inquiry-based learning experiences children receive during primary education. This program will provide face to face workshops for elementary teachers of STEM, and will build on community-requested educator professional development. Overall, our workshops will provide teachers with authentic STEM experiences which will enable them to increase and improve STEM experiences in their classrooms while allowing the teachers to earn higher education credit. Each of these goals and projected outcomes directly supports the NASA Education Implementation Plan, 2015-2017 (Electronically Enhanced Edition, January 2016).
Maeghan
Murie-Mazariegos
Nebraska Indian Community College
Department of Math & Science
NICC Curriculum Enhancement of the Life Sciences
The funding from this Higher Education Mini-Grant will support a student researcher to work alongside NICC faculty to develop and enhance Life Sciences courses at NICC. The student researcher will learn fundamental laboratory research skills, project management skills, and knowledge presentation through aiding in demonstrations during lectures. The student will be able to work alongside NICC to gain experience within laboratory research and enhancing microbiology curriculum at NICC.
Henry
Miller
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Department of Teacher Education
NICC Curriculum Enhancement 2023/2024
The funding from this Higher Education Mini-Grant will support a student researcher to work alongside NICC faculty who have been long engaged in NASA funding and projects. The student researcher will learn project management skills to coordinate all things NASA at NICC and assist the faculty with all research projects throughout the year. The student researcher will also assist with online software course revisions and updates for multiple STEM courses at NICC including, Biology, Chemistry, and all the Life Sciences courses. This mini- grant will also help further develop curriculum for NICC’s environmental science and drone courses that we now offer at NICC to our students.
Eric
Markvicka
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Enhancing Robotics Education and Outreach through Experiential Learning and Video Dissemination
This project aims to enrich the MECH 453/853 Robotics: Kinematics and Design at UNL by incorporating examples of space robotic systems and providing students with a hands-on experience in building and controlling a physical robotic arm. By combining theoretical knowledge with practical application, the project will enhance students' understanding of robotics and prepare them for future endeavors in this field. Throughout the course, the students' progress and understanding will be assessed through assignments, projects, and examinations. The effectiveness of the enhanced curriculum and the experiential learning activity will be evaluated through feedback from the students, as well as quantitative and qualitative assessment measures.
Mona
Bavarian
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Advancing Textile Supercapacitors: Harnessing Energy in the Fabric of the Future
Our project develops composite textile supercapacitors (TSCs) by integrating conductive polymers and MXene nanomaterials. TSCs are flexible and wearable energy storage devices with potential applications in space exploration. We explore the synergistic effects of polyaniline and polypyrrole with MXenes, aiming to enhance energy storage capabilities and overall performance. Through material synthesis, device fabrication, and electrochemical evaluations, we investigate TSCs' capacitance, and stability. The project promotes STEM education and aligns with NASA's mission to advance sustainable energy technologies for future space missions.
Adam
Jensen
University of Nebraska at Kearney
Department of Physics & Astronomy
UNK Planetarium 2023/2024
The Planetarium at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is an important teaching tool for courses in the Physics and Astronomy Department (including Physical Science and Astronomy + Lab). The UNK Planetarium is a significant source of outreach throughout central Nebraska, providing (upon request) multiple shows per week, free of charge, to area public and private K-12 schools. Finally, the UNK Planetarium provides public outreach in the form of monthly shows for the local Kearney community.
The Planetarium's primary system is an analog star projector, providing realistic views of the sky. This is supplemented by two video projectors for presentations (classes, public talks, etc.). We are requesting funds to add a supplemental all-dome video projection system. This can be accomplished at relatively low-cost through an additional projector and a custom mirror. We will also need a new, dedicated computer to run the graphics-intensive all-dome (free) software called OpenSpace.
Deepak
Khazachi
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Information Systems & Quantitative Analysis
CodeCrush: iSTEM Immersion Experience for 8th/9th Grade Female Students
CodeCrush is a series of events designed to help close the gender gap in the technology workforce. What started as a once-a-year, four-day immersion experience has grown to multiple events held two to three times a year in an effort to be fully inclusive of the Midwest’s diverse population.
Focusing on 8th/9th female students, our research has indicated that it is necessary to begin early to address the challenges associated with women entering STEM careers. Launched in 2014, our CodeCrush Immersion Experiences bring participants to the campus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). This immersion experience runs over three days and two nights. The program includes educational workshops, campus and cultural activities, corporate visits, keynote speakers, and panels of role models. Another unique facet of this program is that each student is required to bring a teacher from their school who are also provide professional development
Derrick
Nero
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Department of Teacher Education
Science Experimentation and Engineering Design (SEED) – II
Science Experimentation & Engineering Design (SEED) is a general education science course that introduces integrative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) concepts and their applications. The course fosters 21st Century Learning through study and work in active, team-based experiential learning environments through all phases of near-space experiments using high-altitude balloon platforms. Near-space experiments require research question development, experiment hardware fabrication, experiment software integration, payload launch and recovery, data analysis, and formal experiments’ results reporting.
Science and Engineering Practices are central to students’ experiences and work in this course, as the course models the interdisciplinary connectedness of academic fields, industry, and the community to encourage collaboration and discovery to effectively implement STEM concepts, practices, and innovation.
Mohammad
Ghashami
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Deparment of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
2D Materials for Advanced Space Nanoelectronics
Radiative thermal transport plays a vital role in various space-related applications such as thermal insulation, thermal signature control, thermal management of nanoelectronics at extreme conditions, and energy conversion. Previous research has revealed that thermal radiation can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude compared to the well-known blackbody limit when the spacing between two surfaces is smaller than the characteristic thermal wavelength. This new heat transfer regime is called near-field thermal radiation and has drawn enormous attention across the science and engineering community. Despite its great potential, most of the prior art is based on the conventional materials, while new class of materials such as 2D materials (e.g., graphene and black phosphorous) can be promising candidates for thermal applications in space missions. The proposed research goal is to study MXenes as a new class of 2D materials for their applications in space nanoelectronics.
Natale
Ianno
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Electrical & Computing Engineering
Space Environmental Testing of Perovskite Solar Cells
In general, the space photovoltaics community is always striving to achieve increased cell efficiency, reduced cost, reduced weight, and improved radiation tolerance. Perovskite devices (PCS) demonstrate the most promise for large-area, high-voltage arrays and SmallSat or CubeSat outer planetary missions under low-light-intensity, low-temperature conditions. Preliminary investigations indicate PSCs are capable of surviving in the space environment and are thus a promising solution to the growing demand for high-voltage-capable, low-cost solar arrays for operation in space. However, cell testing under rigorously established standards needs to be performed in order fully evaluate PSC survivability and the utility of various cells designs. UNL is uniquely positioned to perform Low Earth Orbit as well as geosynchronous orbit cell testing and in concert with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and NASA guide the development of these cells for space use.
Erick
Markvicka
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Development of Programmable, Thermally Conductive Elastomers for Advanced Aerospace Thermal Management
The aerospace industry relies on lightweight, multifunctional composites for advancements in various applications. In-space thermal management systems pose unique challenges, necessitating the development of new composite materials. Current composites face limitations in thermal conductivity-stiffness tradeoffs, high mass density, component failure risks, and lack of material programmability. This project aims to overcome these limitations by developing a novel thermally conductive elastomer with programmable composition and microstructure, offering a groundbreaking combination of high thermal conductivity and high elasticity. The resulting material architecture holds the potential to revolutionize aerospace thermal management systems, enabling lightweight coatings, thermal control surfaces, and adhesives in protection systems.
Henry
Miller
Nebraska Indian Community College
Department of Math & Science
NICC Environmental Monitoring & Prairie Restoration 23/24
This NICC project will expand their environmental monitoring and prairie restoration research projects, involving all three campuses in Nebraska. These projects study our native lands and human factors on our environment and weather, including natural disasters such as tornados and flooding. In 2022/2023 our efforts to monitor our environment expanded with the use of drones to collect data and engage more students and faculty in this research. NICC's new greenhouse will be utilized to grow native plants as well as cross research with NICC's Prairie Restoration project. This year will focus our research on utilizing our drones for mapping and will begin implementing payload usage to study native plants and the nearby river. This will increase our work on monitoring our environments that affect our reservation lands.
Maeghan
Murie-Mazariegos
Nebraska Indian Community College
Department of Math & Science
NICC Environmental Monitoring through Molecular Analysis 2023/2024
Current initiatives at NICC revolve around environmental monitoring and prairie restoration at a phenotypical level. This proposal will focus on the molecular changes that are undergoing those phenotypical changes that has been previously observed. Molecular data will help establish a better understanding of how the observed phenotypical changes are occurring, influential factors, and insights to the environmental health status. This data will help us understand to the most basic levels of how human impacts and natural impacts are influencing the environmental health and hypothesize on how these impacts will affect human health in the future.
Sangjin
Ryu
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Investigation of effects of ambient gas conditions on bubble generation during drop coalescence for metal additive manufacturing
The powder bed fusion (PBF) process is the most promising metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology for various NASA missions because it enables on-demand production of customized metal parts. During the PBF process occurring in a vacuum or inert ambient gas, molten particles of metal powder merge or coalesce, like liquid drops, on the surface of a part in print, forming the melt pool in which process-induced pores develop. These pores are a crucial problem of PBF-produced parts because pores worsen the mechanical properties of the parts. In contrast, if pore formation can be controlled, it would be very useful for numerous NASA applications. However, the mechanism of pore generation is poorly understood due to the complicated fluid dynamics of molten metal drop coalescence in the melt pool. This study would advance the understanding of pore formation in the PBF process, by characterizing the effect of ambient gas conditions on gas bubbles created during drop coalescence.