COMMENDABLE RESULTS AT NASA PAPER COMPETITION

Four ODU Engineering students, Christie Alston, Sean Hancock, Joshua Laub and Christopher Perry, took third place in the 2011 NASA Exploration System Mission Directorate, Systems Engineering student paper competition with a paper entitled "Sustainable Mars Sample Return."

The NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Space Grant Project gives college and university teams the opportunity to submit a paper on a project related to one of the ESMD areas using a systems engineering approach. The purpose of the ESMD Systems Engineering Paper Competition is to train and develop the highly skilled scientific, engineering, and technical workforce of the future needed to implement the U.S. Space Exploration Policy.

Laub graduated with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering in May, while Alston, Hancock and Perry are aerospace engineering graduate students.

Judges for the competition were impressed by the technical detail and analysis of the team's entry. Winning the third place prize entitled the students to a check for $1500. Team winners have also been invited to Kennedy Space Center for an upcoming launch.