Engineering contest seeks to inspire students

Engineering contest seeks to inspire students

Engineering students have many career options, and some of the highest starting salaries among bachelor's degree holders. In order to encourage these learners to explore their potential careers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) holds annual contests for promising students.

For example, the organization will host a contest in partnership with the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), which asks students to demonstrate their problem solving abilities.

Participants can choose from one of four prompts for their project, which are to create a design for a cost-effective 2030 mission to a near-Earth object, explore approaches to reduce the risk of orbital debris, design technology-enabled human Mars missions and develop concepts to engage the general public in human exploration missions.

"The students like that they get a chance to apply classroom knowledge to actual aerospace challenges," said Pat Troutman, senior systems engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Winners of the contest have the opportunity to meet with NASA industry experts, introduce concepts from the competition into NASA exploration program planning and develop relationships that could lead to participation in future NASA research programs.

By Mark Danson