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Providing Research Experience to Undergraduate Students in NASA Summer Bridge and Internship Programs

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Project-Based and Experiential Learning in Manufacturing

Tagged Division

Manufacturing Division (MFG)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47904

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Paper Authors

biography

Akbar M. Eslami Elizabeth City State University

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Dr. Akbar Eslami is a professor and Engineering Technology coordinator in the Department of Math, Computer Science, and Engineering Technology at Elizabeth City State University. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Old Dominion University. His research interests are in Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing, Simulation, Reverse Engineering, and Finite Element Analysis.

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biography

Kuldeep S Rawat Elizabeth City State University

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KULDEEP S. RAWAT is currently the Thorpe Endowed Professor and Dean for the School of Science, Aviation, Health, and Technology at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU). He has earned an M.S. in Computer Science, 2001, an M.S. in Computer Engineering, 2003; and, a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, 2005, from the Center for Advanced Computer Studies (CACS) at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. He serves as the
Principal Investigator for NASA MUREP High Volume Manufacturing program at ECSU. His areas of interest include embedded systems design, broadening participation, machine learning, remote computing applications, UAS applications research, mobile robotics, and innovative uses of educational technologies and simulation techniques. Dr. Rawat may be reached at ksrawat@ecsu.edu.

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Chandra Bhushan Asthana P.E. Elizabeth City State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5090-230X

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Dr. Chandra Asthana completed undergraduate education in aeronautical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, the postgraduate education in aeronautical engineering and Ph. D. in control systems design at Indian Institute of Science. His research interests are in aerodynamics, control systems design, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, application of different pedagogical approaches to undergraduate students.

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Scott Bradshaw Elizabeth City State University

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Abstract

Undergraduate students need to receive exposure, initiation, motivation, and guidance to have an orientation towards research that will benefit them not only in their capstone projects but also in their future careers. Such an opportunity was made available to the rising junior and senior students of Engineering Technology program at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU). Fourteen rising junior students were selected to participate in the summer bridge program and four rising junior and senior students selected to participated in summer internship program at Coast Guard that was conducted under the NASA grant. ECSU has strong Aviation and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) programs. Hence it was decided to engage students in the design and fabrication of UAS and related topics. For the summer bridge program, two groups were formed. One group focused on the structure design and fabrication of a fixed-wing UAS while the other worked on the air frame design and fabrication of a quadcopter. The design was accomplished in two stages. In the first stage, students used SIMNET as the software tool for configuration of models in SIMNET that also has the capability to fly it virtually with a remote control attached to the computer. After the design was altered to make it maneuverable with all acceptable flight characteristics, it was imported to SolidWorks CAD software where the structure design was refined to have it 3D printable. The students were trained on STRATASYS 3D printer to make the components. The other group of four students attended a five-week internship program at Coast Guard to simulate and analyze safety of connection between the Search and Rescue (SAR) Litter V-Ring and the Triton Harness to the Rescue Hook simultaneously. Force analysis on the Rescue Hook’s Gate and Slide Latch, and the corrosion potential of the Gate’s Torsional Spring were part of this analysis. The paper presents details of the work carried out and concludes with directions for future development of the projects. It also reports the assessment and outcomes of the project.

Eslami, A. M., & Rawat, K. S., & Asthana, C. B., & Bradshaw, S. (2024, June), Providing Research Experience to Undergraduate Students in NASA Summer Bridge and Internship Programs Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47904

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