Minnesota Space Grant Success Stories
U of M Professor wins top 10 experiment award in Science Magazine 2001.
Dr. Shaul Hanany was awarded one of the top 10 science experiments for 2000-2001 along with the human genome project. Dr. Hanany's experiment uses a football-field-size balloon and a telescope payload to map tiny patches of sky. The purpose is to fluctuations in light streaming from deep space. The results of Hanany's work indicate that the universe is "flat" or open. In a flat or open universe, a space explorer would drift until the end of time and never return to his original place. Dr. Hanany is one of only 50 experimental cosmologists in the world. His research was supported, in part, during 1999-2001 by the MnSGC. URL: http://www.physics.umn.edu
Reduced Gravity Program.
The Department of Aerospace Engineering & Mechanics began a program to design experiments to be flown as part of a NASA Reduced Gravity Program at JSC in Houston, TX. The students are studying material damping and droplet formation under reduced gravity conditions. Articles about the project are posted on the Star Tribune newspaper website at http://www.startribune.com/science/ (type "vomit" in the searchbase) and can also be directly accessed from the AEM Department webpage at http://www.aem.umn.edu
Space Studies Minor, Bemidji State University.
This interdisciplinary minor was begun in 1994 under the leadership of Dr. John O Annexstad, professor of Geological Science at BSU. Each year, approximately 25 students graduate with this minor. Students take a core of courses including Planetology, Advanced Planetology, and a capstone course that requires a major research project with a number of interdisciplinary electives. The curriculum was developed from existing courses, as well as from the development of specialty courses. URL: http://www.bemidji.msus.edu/Catalog/00precatalog/Spstudies/areas.html
Space Science Across the Curriculum Conference for Educators.
This conference was started in 1998 by the Space Grant Office as a way for K-12 educators to learn how to integrate space science content with existing course curricula. The conference has grown by 100% over the last three years. 2001 Space Odyssey will be the theme for the 2001 Conference, featuring Commander John B. Herrington as the keynote speaker. The conference hosts a series of 10 workshop presenters each year ranging from master teachers to NASA education specialists. URL: http://www.smm.org
STEPS for High School Girls.
Science, Technology and Engineering Preview Summer camps for girls (STEPS) was begun in 2000 through the Space Grant Office and the IT Program for Women at the University of Minnesota. Funded by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Bush Foundation, Medtronic and the MnSGC, the STEPS summer residential program allows over one hundred 9-10th grade girls to experience what it is like to be an engineer by designing, assembling, and launching a rocket payload. Campers are introduced to other science and engineering topics such as aerodynamics, electronic, pneumatics, and team-building. URL: http://www.manufacturingiscool.com
Experimental Study Groups (ESG).
The ESG program was begun in 2000 by the Space Grant Office to allow for eight to ten extra peer-mediated study group sections for a large lecture course in Deformable Body Mechanics taught each year by faculty from the Department of Aerospace Engineering & Mechanics. A 90% approval rating was registered by attending students in 1999. Students attend on a voluntary basis. The ESG program is coordinated by the MnSGC Assistant Director. URL: http://www.aem.umn.edu/msgc/esg.htm
Content & Communication Mathematics Institute for Paraprofessionals.
The C & C Institute was begun in 2000 by the Space Grant Office and Augsburg College. Taught by Augsburg faculty, this program is funded by Eisenhower Professional Development funds. The Institute is for the purpose of helping paraprofessionals who are involved in assisting K-6 students with mathematics in urban schools. URL: http://www.augsburg.edu.
Student Successes:
Carl Tape, a senior in physics and geology at Carleton College, Northfield, MN received a 2001 Rhodes Scholarship Award announced in December, 2000. Carl is a past recipient of a MnSGC scholarship.
Jason Dahl, a graduate of the Space Studies Minor at BSU a past MnSGC scholarship recipient, received best paper award and a cash prize for his paper on hypervelocity at the annual Hypervelocity Conference in Houston, TX in 2000. Jason is currently a graduate student at Brown University.
Luke Probst, a senior at BSU, received an internship to JSC this summer (2001) and will be attending the Astrobiology Conference at the Carnegie Institute with the JSC team. Luke has been accepted into the graduate program in Physics & Astronomy at the University of Hawaii in the fall.
Ryan Cobian, a senior in physics and mathematics at Augsburg College received a 2000-2001 Goldwater scholarship. Ryan is also the second author of a published paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research in 2001 and is an MnSGC scholarship recipient.
Last Modified: 2014-10-02 at 13:38:52 -- this is in International Standard Date and Time Notation