UAH payload goes to space + more local college news

victoria tarpley soldering 1 — In local college news, a UAH student-built payload went to space and back. (UAH)

With the summer halfway over, Huntsville’s colleges and universities are moving forward with capital improvements, research, additions and changes — most of which are happening before the fall semester begins.

To update you on all of these activities at our institutes of higher learning, here is Hville Blast’s weekly roundup of the happenings at Alabama A&M, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and Oakwood University.

Alabama A&M University Event Center on track for completion

i tVmMC4Q XL — The Alabama A&M Event Center is set for completion by the fall of 2022. (Alabama A&M University)

The Alabama A&M University Event Center is on track for completion in fall 2022. By the end of June, the facility was 80 percent complete, according to Brian Shipp, director of university facilities.

At present, the site work on the massive facility has started again, and curbs and gutters are being installed. Gradually progressing toward completion, the Event Center is undergoing landscaping; ceiling grid installation; placement of lighting, sound and other electrical systems; floor polishing and ceramic tile placement; as well as the installation of cabinets and stadium-fixed seating.

The 6,000-seat facility will be the venue for a wide range of sporting events, university ceremonies and numerous activities offered by the campus and community.

IMG 2980 L — The new event center will host multiple activities and events. (AAMU)

UAH student-built payload goes to space

uah space hardware club payload 1 — Ben Campbell holds the payload. He’s flanked by, from left, Matthew Bray, Tyler Ardrey, Tristan Carter and David Tutunzhiu. (UAH)

In other local college news, for the first time in almost a decade, a payload created by a student-led group at The University of Alabama in Huntsville has gone to space.

The payload rocketed to a suborbital flight to space and back aboard a Terrier-Orion rocket out of NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on June 24, with 32 other university student projects in the NASA RockOn and RockSat-C programs.

Students are now analyzing the data sent back by the flight monitoring equipment they built as part of the Terminus Spaceflight Research Group (TSRG) operating under the auspices of the Space Hardware Club (SHC) at UAH.

“We were really happy it worked and we had data available the same day it launched. At the moment, we have a large collection of raw data that was recorded by all the sensors, and we are now in the process of correlating everything together to basically produce the big picture, or life story, of what our payload experienced during the mission.”
Ben Campbell, UAH graduate student in aerospace systems engineering

The Terminus Spaceflight Research Group includes:

Ben Campbell; master’s student; aerospace systems engineering; Nampa, Idaho
Tristan Carter; senior; mechanical engineering; Haleyville, Alabama
Peter Jay Summers; sophomore; mechanical engineering; Carmel, Indiana
Michaela Tarpley; senior; aerospace engineering; Roxana, Illinois
Victoria Tarpley; senior; mechanical engineering; Roxana, Illinois
David Tutunzhiu; senior; aerospace engineering; Raleigh, North Carolina
Tyler Ardrey; senior; aerospace engineering; Fairhope, Alabama
Matthew Bray; senior; aerospace engineering; Huntsville, Alabama
Jared Sauer; senior; aerospace engineering; Savannah, Georgia
Quinn Booker; senior; mechanical engineering; Palatine, Illinois

The payload was essentially a small deck of electronics, about the size of a dinner plate, which hosted a suite of various sensors to monitor flight conditions throughout the mission. (UAH)

HBCU Founders Initiative, Oakwood University form pre-accelerator program

Oakwood University 500 x 400 — Oakwood University has partnered with the HBCU Founders Initiative for an 8-week program. (Oakwood University)

The HBCU Founders Initiative and Oakwood University are partnering for an 8-week campus dedicated pre-accelerator program. The program targets early-stage founders who are past the ideation stage and ready to validate a problem and build an MVP.

Topics will be presented in weekly virtual cohort sessions with on-campus activities also planned. Participants will have access to office hours with advisors who will help them along their entrepreneurial journey. Participants will be eligible to receive non-dilutive program awards in support of MVP development.

Applications are open now through August 19, at 11:59PM.

To apply and learn more, visit the program’s website.

Check back next week for more local college news. Follow Hville Blast on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss announcements on what’s happening in and around Huntsville.