STEAM Day, celebrated Nov. 8, is dedicated to science, technology, engineering, art and math. UNC Charlotte students engage in STEAM activities daily and find opportunities to share their love of these areas with local K-12 students to inspire and encourage future innovators.
Currently, three groups of students from the William States Lee College of Engineering, the 49er Rocketry Club, the Astrobotics team and the VOLT organization, are crowdfunding to help support important campus STEAM projects.
Designing, building and flying a high-powered rocket
The 49er Rocketry Club is participating in this year’s NASA Student Launch Competition, in which it has placed second overall in for the past three years, beating prestigious teams including MIT, N.C. State and the Naval Academy. This is a rigorous and fiercely competitive challenge to design, build and fly a high-powered rocket to complete a mission designed by NASA.
The UNC Charlotte team is crowdfunding to help fund the design of a rocket that will carry a payload to an altitude of 300 to 5,500 feet and return to the Earth unharmed. The payload will be jettisoned from the payload section of the vehicle at a range at 700 feet. Upon landing, the payload will autonomously self-level to within 5 degrees of the vertical axis and will then take a 360 degree photo that will be transmitted to the team during the competition. In order to meet these requirements, the students are designing a deployment mechanism that will allow the payload to be safely ejected and self-leveled without a rocket airframe interference.
“The design process has enlightened me on the complexity of even the seemingly simple problems in engineering,” said Riley McBride ’21, a mechanical engineering major. “Considering a variety of variables for every circumstance has demonstrated the value of an iterative process.”
Designing and building a completely autonomous rover
UNC Charlotte's Astrobotics team, comprised of 10 multidisciplinary engineering students, will be competing in this year’s NASA Robotic Mining Competition (RMC) at the Kennedy Space Center. The RMC is now part of NASA’s Artemis Student Challenge, which is specifically directed toward exploring the moon’s lunar surface by 2024.
“The Astrobotics team has enhanced my UNC Charlotte journey by better preparing me for going out into industry after graduation,” said Holden Stanley ’21, a mechanical engineering major. “It is also allowing me to meet new engineering friends from different disciplines than mechanical engineering.”
Large amounts of water in the form of ice and a hydrated mineral, known as lunar regolith, exist on the moon. The goal of NASA’s Artemis program is to capture icy regolith samples to ensure human sustainability during the 2024 moon exploration.
The UNC Charlotte team is crowdfunding to raise funds to design and build a completely autonomous rover. NASA is requiring the rovers to be smaller and lighter than previous years because commercial costs to deliver a payload to other planets or moons are roughly $1.2 million/kg. The rover must be able to traverse the simulated lunar terrain, excavate, store and deposit collected lunar basaltic regolith simulant (Black Point-1/BP-1) and ice simulant (gravel) into a collector bin successfully. During the competition, the team will have two 15-minute windows to successfully mine a creditable amount of regolith simulant.
“Alumni and friends should make a gift to our crowdfunding team because their contribution is going to someone that can be seen,” said Sydney McCain ’21, a mechanical engineering technology major, double minoring in math and sociology. “By donating to our team, you aren't just investing in a robotics competition team, you are investing in 10 amazing future engineers that will create a positive impact on the world.”
STEAM outreach to K-12 Students
Both the 49er Rocketry Club and the Astrobotics Team are reaching out to local K-12 students to nurture an interest in STEAM and educate them on the importance science, technology, engineering, art and math play in today’s world.
“The 49er Rocketry Club is highly engaged in the STEAM education of the next generation of scientists and engineers,” said Alan Rodriguez ’21, a dual-enrolled undergraduate/graduate student majoring in electrical engineering with a concentration in control theory. “We have already held educational events with UNC Charlotte’s Center of STEM Education and participated in Charlotte’s Kid’s Fest.”
“My involvement in the Astrobotics team has absolutely enhanced my UNC Charlotte journey,” said Jacob Daniel ’21, a mechanical engineering technology major. “The outreach efforts I have been involved in have been a great opportunity to grow my communication skills.”
Supplying local schools with STEAM kits
The mission of VOLT, UNC Charlotte’s power and energy student organization, is to empower tomorrow’s energy and power professionals by offering them opportunities to broaden their horizons and enhance their skills today. One of the ways the group achieves this is by engaging in community service initiatives.
The group is currently crowdfunding to raise funds to supply local elementary students with take home butterfly kits, to ensure these young students don’t lose hands-on STEAM experiences during the pandemic. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, many of the in-class STEAM activities that teachers conduct are not possible this school year. For children in Title 1 schools, this is a lost opportunity for value-added experiential learning.
Visit crowdfund.uncc.edu to make a gift to the 49er Rocketry Club, the Astrobotics Team or the VOLT organization.