Dr. Raghavan and UCF MAE Faculty Hosted Two-Part “Catalyzing New Space Technologies” Virtual Workshop

Dr. Raghavan, Dr. Vasu, and Dr. Terracciano hosted a two-part, virtual workshop called “Catalyzing New Space Technologies”, which is aimed at developing a stronger partnership with NASA for future space-related research. The first part of the workshop occurred on November 20, 2020, and the second part occurred on January 8, 2021.

Part I of the workshop gathered internal UCF faculty members, who are interested in the space-related research, to create a discussion-friendly environment to gather ideas in the hopes of helping students become more involved and acquainted with the space industry during their undergraduate careers. Some prominent topics of discussions included coming up with better marketing strategies to make UCF a good prospect school for students interested in space, how faculty members could create partnerships between students and UCF alumni in the field, and how to aid project funding. Members of the workshop were later split into different breakout rooms to facilitate further discussion. Here, faculty members were asked to investigate NASA’s technology taxonomies to see where their research could fit in.

Part II of the workshop featured two panel sessions with invited guests from industry, NASA centers, and consortiums to foster connections between industry and university with the aim to enhance competitiveness and readiness for NASA opportunities. This workshop is in response to UCF’s recent winning of a NASA planning grant awarded to UCF, “Mapping a Trajectory for STEM Readiness in Space Technology”, with the goal to facilitate industry and university collaborations to bring about innovative technologies for the Artemis Program and future missions.