ISGC awards 16 scholarships to students at member schools
Scholarship winners in the U of I's Operator Performance Laboratory
(l. to r.): Jim Wagner, Nick Lorch, Kyle Ellis, Royce Fullerton and Andy Pelzer. Not pictured: Anand Bhatia.
Sixteen students at the four academic members of the Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC)--Drake University, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa--were each awarded a $6,000 scholarship to work with the base program at their respective campus. At each campus, the ISGC supports a "base" program that has already demonstrated potential to become a leader in its field.

"We hope to improve retention and encourage participation in ISGC base program activities at each ISGC academic affiliate campus," said William Byrd, ISGC director. The awards were aimed primarily at first- and second-year undergraduates in science, technology, engineering and math.

A list of the winners and a little about each one follows, as well as a brief description of the base program in which they are working.


Drake University

Drake's program, in the area of life sciences, addresses astrobiological issues defined by NASA. Projects concentrate on biochemical, cellular and molecular responses of organisms to extraordinary stress.

Melissa Byers, a junior in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, would like to incorporate her interest in scientific research with a career in medicine.
Natalie Davidson, a sophomore in molecular/cell biology, who won the 2005 Outstanding Mentor and Leadership Award from the University of Iowa, "hopes to accumulate, access, record, and apply statistical research data so that it could be effectively used for scientific applications."
Dana Mueller, a junior in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, plans to attend medical school and specialize in either pediatric cardiology or pediatric anesthesiology.
Amber Scaletta, a junior in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, hopes to attend medical school and be a physician.

Iowa State University

The Spacecraft Systems and Operations Lab (SSOL) is a cutting edge center for space, near-space and related science engineering. The SSOL's current projects include, among others, the High Altitude Balloon Experiments in Technology (HABET) and the High Altitude Reduced Gravity Vehicle Experiments (HARVE).

Thomas Cunningham, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, currently works in the SSOL and wants to take it to the next level by advancing current technology to meet consumer needs, increasing capabilities of HABET, building sensor packages, and developing control packages.
Greg Leavitt, a graduate student in systems engineering, is heavily involved with the HABET program and project manager of HARVE, which uses HABET balloons to create a reduced gravity environment. He hopes to continue working in spacecraft systems and operations and ideally would like to work for one of the NASA centers or the United Space Alliance.
Colt Wallace, a graduate student in systems engineering, is the manager of HABET, the lead structural engineer for the Recovery Guidance System project and for the StratoLink project, and SSOL laboratory manager.

University of Iowa

The Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) focuses on flight test engineer training, avionics technology training, and human factors and flight physiology training.

Anand Bhatia, a junior in industrial engineering, plans to further his education in industrial engineering upon graduation. He hopes to work in a position that challenges him to design new methods to achieve a better understanding of the world and implement this understanding in daily life.
Kyle Ellis, a junior in mechanical engineering, would like to become a research pilot for the base program and continue working with Dr. Thomas Schnell, the U of I base program manager. Eventually he would like to work with NASA in flight systems and advanced research.
Royce Fullerton, a junior in computer engineering, plans to seek work involving embedded systems or software engineering in the corporate world, possibly related to aviation.
Nicholas Lorch, a junior in electrical and computer engineering, would like to continue working on developing new hover representations for helicopter displays. He's also interested in flight and how to represent it on a screen.
Andrew Pelzer, a junior in electrical and computer engineering, has not yet decided if he wants to go to graduate school or seek employment in industry, government, or research. He wants to continue working with the software development team and with current and future electronics systems in the OPL.
James Wagner, a junior in computer engineering, intends to seek employment with a software engineering firm or a software engineering department of an established company.

University of Northern Iowa

The Student Research Project on Iowa's Lakes and Wetlands is an undergraduate multidisciplinary program that seeks to develop an effective, cost-efficient methodology to analyze the water quality of lakes and wetlands.

Nathan Green, a graduate student in geography, plans to eventually become a remote sensing specialist or a NASA scientist.
Tyler Johnson, a senior in environmental geography, would like to work with water quality monitoring prediction models using GIS and remote sensing.
Matthew Voss, a graduate student in geography, wants to use hyperspectral data to develop algorithms to identify tree species. He plans to develop a Web-based system to help novice users identify tree species. He hopes to become a digital processing analyst for remote sensing applications.

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