Projects

Find Your Footing in the Space Industry

CU SEDS fosters a collaborative environment among students, with various opportunities to design and build as a team for competitions. With a range of difficulty for projects, from state-wide to nation-wide to international, students can join from any major with any level of experience and build upon what they learn inside and outside of classes. In each project, students will have the opportunity to explore leadership roles and diverse fields of the space industry, helping them find their passion for space.

Micro-G NExT

Hosted annually by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) is a competition to design, build, and test a tool or device that addresses a current space exploration challenge. Challenges are announced in the fall semester of each academic year and tudents spend a few months writing a proposal for a tool or simulant necessary in space exploration missions. Selected teams will advance to a prototyping and test phase for their project. Winning teams will fly out to the NASA Johnson Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) and have their design tested in a simulated microgravity environment. CU Boulder's SEDS chapter had the honor of advancing to tour the NBL and have their design tested in the 2018-2019 competition. 

SSPI Competition

For students that enjoy research-based projects, Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) hosts an annual research competition in collaboration with SEDS chapters. This competition gives students exposure to the demands and practices of the commercial space and satellite industry. Each student team will work with an industry mentor to tackle the design challenge, outlining requirements for technologies, business, and government policies that surround current real-world issues in the space and satellite industry. Teams will grapple with determining their specific mission parameters and recommend designs, schedules, and costs for implementation as well as policies needed for success. Winning teams will be awarded cash prizes. CU Boulder's SEDS chapter had the honor of winning second place the 2019-2020 SSPI competition. 

COSGC Robotics Competition

Among the series of compeitions hosted by the Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC) is their robotics challenge, which CU SEDS has historically participated in. As a state-wide challenge, students design and build an autonomous robot to navigate different courses and display unique design solutions. The COSGC robotics challenge exposes students to a full prototype and test cycle of a space-based project, complete with written reports and various presentations at different stages in the design process. These hands-on experiences will help students develop engineering, science, and technical writing skills to make them successful in any class or project they may be a part of during their time at CU Boulder. The final competition brings together 20 institutions from around Colorado in the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and it's a great way to connect with other students.