University Student Research Challenge (USRC) Awards is sponsored by NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. University Student Research Challenge (USRC) Awards is a grant from NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate that funds student-led research teams at accredited U. S.

colleges and universities.

University Student Research Challenge (USRC) Awards International Space Station NASA’s Simulated Mars Mission Marks 200 Days Inside Habitat NASA Pushes Next-Gen Mars Helicopter Rotor Blades Past Mach 1 What’s Up: May 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA Upcoming Launches and Landings Communicating with Missions James Webb Space Telescope International Space Station Earth Science Researchers Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Search for Life in the Universe Astrophysics & Space Science Biological & Physical Sciences Human Space Travel Research Flight Research Innovation Technology Transfer & Spinoffs Technology Living in Space Manufacturing and Materials For Colleges and Universities Requests for Exhibits, Artifacts, Speakers & Flyovers Upcoming Launches & Landings NASA Brand & Usage Guidelines Industry Moon Lander Training Cabin Lands at NASA for Artemis NASA’s Simulated Mars Mission Marks 200 Days Inside Habitat NASA’s Roman Poised to Transform Hunt for Elusive Neutron Stars NASA’s Simulated Mars Mission Marks 200 Days Inside Habitat NASA Astronaut to Answer Questions from Students in Florida Liquid Lifeline: NASA Tech Could Create IV Fluid In Space Tracy Arm’s Post-Tsunami Landscape Melting Snow Off Shivelyuch NASA Pushes Next-Gen Mars Helicopter Rotor Blades Past Mach 1 New NASA HEAT Coloring Book Blends Art, Science, and Cultural Perspectives NASA’s STORIE Mission to Tell Tale of Earth’s Ring Current NASA’s Roman Poised to Transform Hunt for Elusive Neutron Stars For NASA’s TESS, Stellar Eclipses Shed Light on Possible New Worlds Hubble Spots a Starry Spiral Amendment 56: D.

6 APRA and D. 7 SAT Final Text and Due Dates NASA Fuel Cell Tests Pave Way for Energy Storage on Moon NASA’s Prithvi Becomes First AI Geospatial Foundation Model In Orbit Meet the Fleet: NASA Armstrong Continues Legacy of Flight Research Cornell Students Aid NASA with Drone Safety in Sky Amendment 56: D. 6 APRA and D.

7 SAT Final Text and Due Dates NASA, Industry Advance High Performance Spaceflight Computing NASA Fuel Cell Tests Pave Way for Energy Storage on Moon Space Out This Summer with Variety of NASA STEM Activities NASA, Industry Advance High Performance Spaceflight Computing NASA Fuel Cell Tests Pave Way for Energy Storage on Moon NASA Welcomes Paraguay as 67th Artemis Accords Signatory La NASA anuncia la cobertura de la misión lunar Artemis II Agenda diaria de la misión a la Luna de Artemis II de la NASA La NASA refuerza Artemis: añade una misión y perfecciona su arquitectura general University Student Research Challenge (USRC) Awards University Student Research Challenge (USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics.

USRC will provide students, from accredited U.S. colleges or universities, with grants for their projects and with the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign. The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator – requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public.

The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies. Eligibility: NASA funding is available to all accredited U.S. institutions of higher education (e.g. universities, four-year colleges, community colleges, or other two-year institutions).

Students must be currently enrolled (part-time or full-time) at the institution. NASA has no set expectations as to the team size. The number of students participating in the investigation is to be determined by the scope of the project and the student Team Leader.

The USRC solicitation is currently Closed . Please visit NSPIRES to receive alerts when more information is available. Please email us at HQ-USRC@mail.

nasa. gov if you have any questions, to schedule a 1 on 1, or to receive invites for USRC Tech Talks. RANGER — Robotic Aerial Navigator for Grasping, Exploration, and Repair (South Dakota State University) Creating a drone and robotic arm combination designed to perform physical tasks using a variety of end effectors to complete tasks that are difficult or dangerous for humans to accomplish.

Student Team: Michael Jackley-PI, Quintin Steindl, Samuel Woidyla, Alexis Smith, Allea Klauenberg, Alex Schaar, Carson Schmidt Faculty Mentors: Todd Letcher Assured Autonomy for Human Assisted Drone Operation in constrained Environment (Clark Atlanta University) Advancing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology by developing robust autonomous navigation systems specifically designed for challenging and contested environments.

Student Team: Justin Williams (Team Lead),Savannah Shannon, Frank Abdozie, Mohd Ariful Haque Faculty Mentors: Kishor Datta Gupta and Roy George Crash- and Turbulence-Resilient eVTOL Seat Base System Using Metamaterials (University of Texas, Arlington) Studying special structures that exhibit exceptional uni-axial energy absorption and vibration damping, to enhance seat-level crashworthiness and integrate turbulence-damping technologies for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle seating.

Student Team: Ryan Shrestha (Team Lead), Pablo Martinez , Omar Hamza, Taegeon Yoon, Aadi Sharma Faculty Mentors: Shiyao Lin Advanced Sodium Technologies for Robust Aerospace Structures (A. S. T.

R. A.) (University of South Carolina) Developing a multifunctional structural battery panel that merges load-bearing capacity with energy storage, using carbon fiber-reinforced composites and a solid-state sodium-ion system.

Student Team: Giulio Sicilian (Team Lead), Jacob G. Carroll, Thomas C. Burns Faculty Mentors: Paul T.

Coman Context-Aware Cybersecurity for UAS Traffic Management (Texas A&M University) Developing, testing, and pursuing transition of an aviation-context-aware network authentication and segmentation function, which holistically manages cyber threats in future UAS traffic control systems.

Student Team: Vishwam Raval (Team Lead), Michael Ades, Garett Haynes, Sarah Lee, Kevin Lei, Oscar Leon, McKenna Smith, Nhan Nick Truong Faculty Mentors: Jaewon Kim and Sandip Roy Reconnaissance and Emergency Aircraft for Critical Hurricane Relief (North Carolina State University) Developing and deploying advanced unmanned aerial systems designed to locate, communicate with, and deliver critical supplies to stranded individuals in the wake of natural disasters.

Student Team: Tobias Hullette (Team Lead), Jose Vizcarrondo, Rishi Ghosh, Caleb Gobel, Lucas Nicol, Ajay Pandya, Paul Randolph, Hadie Sabbah Faculty Mentor: Felix Ewere Design and Prototyping of a 9-phase Dual-Rotor Motor for Supersonic Electric Turbofan (Colorado School of Mines) Designing and prototyping a scaled-down 9-phase dual-rotor motor (DRM) for a supersonic electric turbofan.

Student Team: Mahzad Gholamian (Team Lead), Garret Reader, Mykola Mazur, Mirali Seyedrezaei Faculty Mentor: Omid Beik Project F. I. R.

E (Fire Intervention Retardant Expeller) (Cerritos Community College) Mitigating wildfires with drone released fire retardant pellets.

Student Team: Angel Ortega Barrera (Team Lead), Larisa Mayoral, Paola Mayoral Jimenez, Jenny Rodriguez, Logan Stahl, Juan Villa Faculty Mentor: Janet McLarty-Schroeder Learning cooperative policies for adaptive human-drone teaming in shared airspace (Cornell University) Enabling new coordination and communication models for smoother, more efficient, and robust air traffic flow.

Student Team: Mehrnaz Sabet (Team Lead), Aaron Babu, Marcus Lee, Joshua Park, Francis Pham, Owen Sorber, Roopak Srinivasan, Austin Zhao Faculty Mentor: Sanjiban Choudhury, Susan Fussell Investigation on Cryogenic Fluid Chill-Down Time for Supersonic Transport Usage (University of Washington, Seattle) Investigating reducing the boil-off of cryogenic fluids in pipes using vortex generators.

Student Team: Ryan Fidelis (Team Lead), Alexander Ala, Kaleb Shaw Faculty Mentor: Fiona Spencer, Robert Breidenthal Web Article: “ Students win NASA grant to develop AI for safer aerial traffic “ Clean Forever-Flying Drones: Utilizing Ocean Water for Hydrogen Extraction in Climate Monitoring (Purdue University) An ocean-based fueling station and a survey drone that can refuel in remote areas.

Student Team: Holman Lau (Team Lead), Nikolai Baranov, Andrej Damjanov, Chloe Hardesty, Smit Kapadia Intelligent drone for detection of people during emergency response operation (Louisiana State University and A&M College) Using machine learning algorithms for images and audio data, integrated with gas sensing for real-time detection of people on UAS.

Student Team: Jones Essuman (Team Lead), Tonmoy Sarker, Samer Tahboub Faculty Mentor: Xiangyu Meng Advancing Aerospace Materials Design through High-Fidelity Computational Peridynamic Modeling and Modified SVET Validation of Corrosion Damage (California State University, Channel Islands) Modeling electrochemical corrosion nonlocally and combining efforts from bond-based and state-based theory.

Student Team: Trent Ruiz (Team Lead), Isaac Cisneros, Curtis Hauck Faculty Mentor: Cynthia Flores Swarm Micro UAVs for Area Mapping in GPS-denied Areas (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) Using swarm robotics to map complex environments and harsh terrain with Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) Student Team: Daniel Golan (Team Lead), Stanlie Cerda-Cruz, Kyle Fox, Bryan Gonzalez, Ethan Thomas Faculty Mentor: Sergey V.

Drakunov Web Article: “ Student Research on Drone Swarm Mapping Selected to Compete at NASA Challenge “ AeroFeathers—Feathered Airfoils Inspired by the Quiet Flight of Owls (Michigan Tech University) Creating new propeller blades and fixed wing design concepts that mimic the features of an owl feather and provide substantial noise reduction benefits.

Student Team: William Johnston (Team Lead), Pulitha Godakawela Kankanamalage, Amulya Lomte, Maria Jose Carrillo Munoz, Brittany Wojciechowski, Laura Paige Nobles, Gabrielle Mathews Faculty Mentor: Bhisham Sharma Laser Energized Aerial Drone System (LEADS) for Sustained Sensing Applications (Michigan State University) Laser based, high-efficiency optical power transfer for UAV charging for sustained flight and monitoring.

Student Team: Gavin Gardner (Team Lead), Ryan Atkinson, Brady Berg, Ross Davis, Gryson Gardner, Malachi Keener, Nicholas Michaels Faculty Mentor: Woongkul Lee UAM Contingency Diagnosis Toolkit (Ohio State University) A UAM contingency diagnosis toolkit which that includes cognitive work requirements (CWRs) for human operators, information sharing requirements, and representational designs.

Student Team: Connor Kannally (Team Lead), Izzy Furl, Luke McSherry, Abhinay Paladugu Faculty Mentor: Martijn IJtsma Web Article: “ NASA Awards $80K to Ohio State students through University Research Challenge “ Hybrid Quadplane Search and Rescue Missions (NC A&T University) An autonomous search and rescue quadplane UAS supported by an unmanned mobile landing platform/recharge station ground vehicle.

Student Team: Luis Landivar Olmos (Team Lead), Dakota Price, Amilia Schimmel, Sean Tisdale Faculty Mentor: A. Homaifar Drone Based Water Sampling and Quality Testing – Special Application in the Raritan River (Rutgers University, New Brunswick) An autonomous water sampling drone system.

Student Team: Michael Leitner (Team Lead), Xavier Garay, Mohamed Haroun, Ruchit Jathania, Caleb Lippe, Zachary Smolder, Chi Hin Tam Faculty Mentor: Onur Bilgen Development of a Low-Cost Open-Source Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Machine – Arc One (Case Western Reserve University) A small-scale, modular, low-cost, and open-source Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) platform.

Student Team: Vishnushankar Viraliyur Ramasamy (Team Lead), Robert Carlstrom, Bathlomew Ebika, Jonathan Fu, Anthony Lino, Garrett Tieng Faculty Mentor: John Lewandowski Web Article: “ PhD student wins funding from NASA and develops multidisciplinary team of undergraduate students to build novel machine “ Low Cost and Efficient eVTOL Platform Leveraging Opensource for Accessibility (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) Lowering the barrier of entry into eVTOL deployment and development with a low cost, efficient, and open source eVTOL platform Student Team: Martin Arguelles-Perez (Team Lead), Benjamin Bishop, Isabella Laurito, Genaro Marcial Lorza, Eman Yonis Faculty Mentor: Venkatesan Muthukumar Applying Space-Based Estimation Techniques to Drones in GPS-Denied Environments (University Of Texas, Austin) Taking real-time inputs from flying drones and outputting an accurate state estimation with 3-D error ellipsoid visualization Student Team: James Mitchell Roberts (Team Lead), Lauren Byram, Melissa Pires Faculty Mentor: Adam Nokes Web Article: “ GPS-free Drone Tech Proposal Lands Undergrads Spot in NASA Challenge “ Underwing Distributed Ducted Fan ‘FanFoil’ Concept for Transformational Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Performance (Texas Tech University, Lubbock) Novel highly under-cambered airfoils with electric ducted fans featuring ’samara’ maple seed inspired blades for eVTOL application Student Team: Jack Hicks (Team Lead), Harrison Childre, Guilherme Fernandes, David Gould, Lorne Greene, Muhammad Waleed Saleem, Nathan Shapiro Faculty Mentor: Victor Maldonado Web Articles: “ Improving Ducted-Fan eVTOL Efficiency ” (AvWeek), “ Sky Taxies “ Urban Cargo Delivery Using eVTOL Aircrafts (University Of Illinois, Chicago) A bi-objective optimization formulation minimizing total run costs of a two-leg cargo delivery system and community noise exposure to eVTOL operations Student Team: Nahid Parvez Farazi (Team Lead), Amy Hofstra, Son Nguyen Web Article: “ PhD student awarded NASA grant to investigate urban cargo delivery systems “ Congestion Aware Path Planning for Optimal UAS Traffic Management (University Of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) A feasible, provably safe, and quantifiably optimal path planning framework considering fully autonomous UAVs in urban environments Student Team: Minjun Sung (Team Lead), Christoph Aoun, Ivy Fei, Christophe Hiltebrandt-McIntosh, Sambhu Harimanas Karumanchi, Ran Tao Faculty Mentor: Naira Hovakimyan Web Article: “ NASA funds UAV traffic management research “ AeroZepp: Aerostat Enabled Drone Glider Delivery System / Whisper Ascent: Quiet Drone Delivery (University of Delaware) An aerostat enabled low-energy UAV payload delivery system Student Team: Wesley Connor (Team Lead), Abubakarr Bah, Karlens Senatus Faculty Mentor: Suresh Advani Sustainable Transport Research Aircraft for Test Operation (STRATO) (Rutgers University, New Brunswick) An open source, efficiently driven, optimized Active Flow Control (AFC) enhanced control surface for UAV research platforms Student Team: Daulton James (Team Lead), Jean Alvarez, Frederick Diaz, Michael Ferrell, Shriya Khera, Connor Magee, Roy Monge Hidalgo, Bertrand Smith Faculty Mentor: Edward DeMauro Web Articles: “ SoE Students Eligible for NASA University Student Research Challenge Award “, “ Senior Design Team Captures NASA Research Challenge “ A recorded STRATO USRC Tech Talk Dronehook: A Novel Fixed-Wing Package Retrieval System (University Of Notre Dame) Envisioning a world where items can be retrieved from remote locations in a simple fashion from efficient fixed-wing UAVs Student Team: Konrad Rozanski (Team Lead), Dillon Coffey, Bruce Smith, Nicholas Orr Faculty Mentor: Jane Cleland-Huang Web Article: “ Notre Dame student team wins NASA research award for drone scoop and grab technology “ Aerial Intra-city Delivery Electric Drones (AIDED) with High Payload Capacity (Michigan State University) A high-payload capacity delivery drone capable of safely latching and charging on electrified public transportation systems Student Team: Yuchen Wang (Team Lead), Hunter Carmack, Kindred Griffis, Luke Lewallen, Scott Newhard, Caroline Nicholas, Shukai Wang, Kyle White Faculty Mentor: Woongkul Lee AIDED Crowdfunding Website AIDED Project Website or Team Website Web Articles: “ Spartan Engineers win NASA research award ” and “ NASA Aeronautics amplification “; “ Ross Davis & Gavin Gardner on The Guy Gordon Show “; “ MSU Students Create Delivery Drone for NASA “; “ Student drone project flying high with help from NASA “ A recorded USRC Tech Talk Robotic Fabrication Work Cell for Customizable Unmanned Aerial Systems (Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University) A robotic, multi-process work cell to autonomously fabricate topologically optimized UASs tailored for immediate application needs Student Team: Tadeusz Kosmal (Team Lead), Kieran Beaumont, Om Bhavsar, Eric Link, James Lowe Faculty Mentor: Christopher Williams Web Articles: “ Drones that fly away from a 3D printer: Undergraduates create science nonfiction ” and “ 3D printing breaks out of the box / VTx / Virginia Tech “ NASA VT USRC Web Article: “ USRC Students Sees Success with Crowdfunding, NASA Grants “ Publication: Hybrid additive robotic workcell for autonomous fabrication of mechatronic systems – A case study of drone fabrication – ScienceDirect View RAV-FAB USRC Tech Talk #1 or USRC Tech Talk #2 Real Time Quality Control in Additive Manufacturing Using In-Process Sensing and Machine Learning (Cornell University) A high-precision and low-cost intelligent sensor-based quality control technology for Additive Manufacturing Student Team: Adrita Dass (Team Lead), Talia Turnham, Benjamin Steeper, Chenxi Tian, Siddharth Patel, Akula Sai Pratyush, Selina Kirubakar Faculty Mentor: Atieh Moridi Web Article: “ Students win NASA challenge with 3D-printer smart sensor “ A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic AVIATA: Autonomous Vehicle Infinite Time Apparatus (University of California, Los Angeles) A drone swarm system capable of carrying a payload in the air indefinitely Student Team: Chirag Singh (Team Lead), Ziyi Peng, Bhrugu Mallajosyula, Willy Teav, David Thorne, James Tseng, Eric Wong, Axel Malahieude, Ryan Nemiroff, Yuchen Yao, Lisa Foo Faculty Mentor: Jeff Eldredge A recorded USRC Tech Talk on AVIATA The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 Redundant Flight Control System for BVLOS UAV Operations (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) A redundant flight control system as a “back-up” to the primary flight computer to enhance safety of sUAS Student Team: Robert Moore (Team Lead), Joseph Ayd, and Todd Martin Faculty Mentor: John Robbins Web Articles: “ NASA Web Article “; “ Drone Innovation Top Embry-Riddle Entrepreneurship Competition “ Follow the team’s progress at: https://www.

facebook.

com/Assured Autonomy A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 Multi-Mode Hybrid Unmanned Delivery System: Combining Fixed-Wing and Multi-Rotor Aircraft with Ground Vehicles (Rutgers University) Extending drone delivery distance with a multi-mode hybrid delivery system Student Team: Paul Wang (Team Lead), Nolan Angelia, Muhammet Ali Gungor Faculty Mentor: Onur Bilgen A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 AVIS: Active Vortex Inducing System for Flow Separation Control to Improve Airframe Efficiency (Georgia Institute of Technology) Use an array of vortex generators that can be adjusted throughout flight to increase wing efficiency Student Team: Michael Gamarnik (Team Lead), Shiva Khanna Yamamoto, Noah Mammen, Tommy Schrager, Bethe Newgent Faculty Mentor: Kelly Griendling A recorded USRC Tech Talk on AVIS The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 Hybrid Airplanes – An Optimum and Modular Approach (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo) Model and test powertrain to maximize the efficiency of hybrid airplanes Student Team: Nicholas Ogden (Team Lead), Joseph Shy, Brandon Bartlett, Ryker Bullis, Chino Cruz, Sara Entezar, Aaron Li, Zach Yamauchi Faculty Mentor: Paulo Iscold A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 ATLAS Air Transportation (South Dakota State University) A multipurpose, automated drone capable of comfortably lifting the weight of an average person Student Team: Isaac Smithee (Team Lead), Wade Olson, Nicolas Runge, Ryan Twedt, Anthony Bachmeier, Matthew Berg, Sterling Berg Faculty Mentors: Marco Ciarcia, Todd Letcher A recorded USRC Tech Talk #1 and USRC Tech Talk #2 on ATLAS The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 Software-Defined GPS Augmentation Network for UAS Navigation (University Of Oklahoma, Norman) A novel solution of enhanced GPS navigation for unmanned aerial vehicles Student Team: Robert Rucker (Team Lead), Alex Zhang, Jakob Fusselman, Matthew GilliamMentors: Dr. Yan (Rockee) Zhang (Faculty Mentor), Dr Hernan Suarez (Team Technical Mentor) Faculty Mentors: Marco Ciarcia, Todd Letcher A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 UAV Traffic Information Exchange Network (Purdue University) A blockchain-inspired secure, scalable, distributed, and efficient communication framework to support large scale UAV operations Student Team: Hsun Chao (Team Lead) and Apoorv Maheshwari Faculty Mentors: Daniel DeLaurentis (Faculty Mentor), Shashank Tamaskar Web Article: “ Student-developed communication network for UAVs interests NASA “ The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 University Student Research Challenge University Leadership Initiative University Innovation Project Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program Cornell Students Aid NASA with Drone Safety in Sky NASA Selects Student Teams for Drone Hurricane Response and Cybersecurity Research NASA University Research Program Makes First Award to a Community College Project Discover More Topics From NASA University Student Research Challenge