Author: Matt Collinge

Some of Maryland’s bright rising stars in space science and engineering showcased their work at the Student Research Symposium on July 24, 2017. Held on the leafy grounds of the Johns Hopkins Mt. Washington Conference Center, the symposium was a partnership between Maryland Space Grant Consortium and Morgan State University’s School of Engineering. The day was filled with talks from students participating in MDSGC internships across the state and posters presented by undergraduate and graduate research students at Morgan State.

The interns told stories of their challenges and successes in their projects that took place at institutions including University of Maryland Baltimore County, Capitol Technology University, and the US Naval Academy, as well as Morgan State, Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Their internships covered a wide variety of STEM focuses, ranging from astrophysics to computer science to chemical engineering.

The symposium was capped with a luncheon where prizes were awarded for the best oral and poster presentation. Chukwuma Odigwe was awarded the best oral presentation for his talk “CACTUS-1 CubeSat”, while Andre Nottingham II took home the prize for the best poster for his presentation on the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor. MDSGC congratulates all participants on a successful summer and looks forward to more of their successes in the future!

The JHU Annual Physics Fair, sponsored in part by MDSGC, was held on Saturday, April 29, 2017. This event brought hundreds of visitors, primarily families with school age children, to JHU’s Physics and Astronomy Department for a day of physics and science fun, replete with hands-on demonstrations, craft activities, contests, tours, and live science shows from a Professor Extraordinaire!

MDSGC would like to congratulate our balloon lift prediction contest winners: “The Prince brothers” and Pavin. Both groups correctly estimated the lift of our 3-foot helium balloon within the margin of measurement error. Thanks to all our visitors and contestants, and we look forward to seeing you again at next year’s Fair.

For those attendees who just can’t get enough science fun, visit the department’s Physics Fair Links Roundup, a stockpile of related material heavy on hand-selected Youtube videos of crazy physics in action.

MDSGC’s Balloon Payload Program  is gearing up for a busy year, with three launches so far this spring and more planned throughout the summer and fall. Launches happen early in the morning, usually from Clear Spring Elementary School in Clear Spring, MD. To see for yourself what all the fuss is about, contact Professor Mary Bowden for information about attending a launch!

Maryland Space Grant Consortium proudly hosted the regional Mid-Atlantic Space Grant Conference in September 2016, at the Mt. Washington Conference Center, in Baltimore, MD.

Presentations from the conference can be accessed here.