UHCL professors receive grant from NASA

CLEAR LAKE, Texas -- Four professors in University of Houston-Clear Lake’s School of Science and Computer Engineering have been awarded an $86,185 grant from NASA for their proposal, “Collaboration of Graduate and High School Students for International Space Station Hardware Development Projects.”

The project’s one year grant is effective from October 2012 to September 2013.

Principal Investigator for the project is Mary Randolph-Gips, assistant professor of Computer Systems Engineering. Co-Principal Investigators are Ipek Bozkurt, assistant professor of Engineering Management; James Helm, associate professor of Software Engineering; and Ki-Young Jeong, assistant professor and program chair of Engineering Management.

Randolph-Gips has served as a certified NASA flight controller. Bozkurt has taught technical systems engineering and project management courses as well as online courses for the engineering management program. Jeong has years of experience with project management in the space industry, while Helm once served as a senior principal engineer with Boeing Company at a NASA Johnson Space Center test facility.

The proposal provides engineering project management support for high schools united with NASA for the creation of hardware. In addition to support for schools, the faculty members will develop mentorships with researchers, graduate students, high school students and NASA. The two-stemmed approach will educate graduate and high school students on the principals and practices of project management and systems engineering. It will also provide mentorship to graduate students so they can mentor high school students in building, developing and testing their projects.

The project’s objective is to enable students will learn project management skills that will enhance teamwork, leadership and professionalism while strengthening the link between the International Space Station and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics STEM education.

For more information about UH-Clear Lake’s School of Science and Computer Engineering, visit http://www.uhcl.edu/SCE.