By Jose Hernandez, Oct. 24, 2023
Cal Poly Pomona’s aerospace engineering program launches sky-high collaborations with NASA, orbiting their potential to unseen heights and landing them funding through research grants this past summer. Recipients of the grant included CubeSat Technology Exploration Program, Biological Chemistry Professor Rakesh Mogul, Professor Micheal Fox’s project, “ScenarioBased XR Immersive Training Environment.” The grants awarded to each project totaled $1.2 million.
Mogul received $265,000 grant from NASA’s Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences program, part of the agency’s Planetary Protection Research initiative. Mogul’s research, conducted in his laboratory, is centered on bacteria extracted from pristine cleanroom facilities.
Fox’s project, “ScenarioBased XR Immersive Training Environment,” secured a $50,000 grant. Fox has collaborated with All of it Now, LLC, a creative agency specializing in mixed reality, along with fellow architecture faculty members German Aparcio and Marc Schuiltz, who are contributing as technical and design/structural consultants in the realm of mixed reality.
CubeSTEP’s grant totaled $898,872 to support three years of performance for the program. NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and CPP collaborated to execute one shared objective — to develop a three unit CubeSat bus capable of hosting satellite equipment from NASA.
Associate Professor in aerospace engineering and Director of the Astronautics Lab Navid Nakhjiri, along with Assistant Professor Marco Maggia, helped the CubeSTEP program earn the M-STAR grant. The program consists of four phases, integrating student’s skills into the field by checking off design, development, testing/integration and a follow-up project.
“I’m hoping we see more of these supports coming to CPP, to unify with partnerships in different departments on campus,” said Nakhjiri. “Seeing more support coming from NASA in collaboration with JPL, the program promotes greater undergraduate research.”
With 25 students a part of CubeSTEP, the project manager is responsible for looking into recruitment. Any student interested in applying may reach out to the project manager and aerospace engineering student Sharlene Nazari. She sees how they fit into the project, advocating on behalf of CPP students with their capability of a future in the NASA workforce. The program will benefit the 25 students in the program, along with the countless of future aerospace engineering majors both incoming and currently enrolled.
With NASA’s support, CPP’s aspirations soar, and students will continue to be engaged in projects like CubeSTEP. This grant expands the potential for students to hone their hands-on skills, gain valuable professional exposure in an industry setting and elevate their expectations of the polytechnic experience in the field of aerospace.
“The grant provided us with $898,872, supporting the research for three years, amounting to $300,000 per year used for this program,” Nakhjiri said. “Partly goes into JPL supporting activities our students are involved in. Such as using their facilities for testing spacecraft needs, while most of it’s going to either students or scientific instruments.”
The laboratory’s funding from the NASA grants allows students to dive deeper into topics of aerospace that fit their professional preference. Nazari shared a closer look into her experience in the program.
“I started here as a freshman, and it’s crazy to think from when I started, I was just with wide eyes looking at these projects,” Nazari said. “To now being a part of them, the responsibility feels like we are representing CPP in a unique way, through our presentations at JPL. The fact we got this grant, Dr. Nakhjiri had to write a proposal to receive this funding. It’s real hands on, and it truly embodies the Cal Poly learn by doing slogan. This grant helps fund the projects and the facilities we have in this lab, to conduct these projects with funds to make this a reality.”
Aerospace engineer student, Diego Hernandez, expressed his gratitude for being a part of the aerospace program.
“Lots of industries that provide these grants, want people who are excited by the field,” Hernandez said. “New resources for students become possible. I’m graduating next semester, and I’ve talked to professors with ideas to expand the program’s labs. Funding allows detailed projects with niche areas. Employers are looking for individuals with a type of experience in niche areas.”
Many of the aerospace programs on campus give students the possibility to explore exclusive facets to better help comprehend what exactly they want to do in their future careers. Aerospace engineering student Francisco Sanudo described the confidence he developed by being a part of CubeSTEP.
“When I first enrolled to CPP, I wasn’t sure what to do. Until I discovered CubeSTEP, I noticed countless grants extrapolated from its success,” Sanudo said. “Through demonstration and success of the projects, that fueled the need to expand the current resources. It’s in your favor as a student to have these projects available to you by improving your knowledge in the aerospace industry.”
Nazari shared how the grant assists student learning and experiences.
“I feel it can absolutely change the academic career of other students; I am extremely grateful for this grant,” Nazari said. “We can be able to support more projects in this lab, which gives more students the opportunity to join these projects. This can impact their careers by gaining experience they won’t receive within a classroom setting.”
Feature Image Courtesy of Jose Hernandez
