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Embry-Riddle Students Win AIAA’s Design Prize With Hydrogen-to-Mars Plan

Daytona Beach, Fla., Sept. 29, 2004 -- An Engineering Physics senior design project team from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University recently took first place in the 2003/2004 AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition.

Georgia Tech came in second and The Ohio State University third in the annual event hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Teams from Virginia Tech and the University of California-Davis also participated.

In the Embry-Riddle project, titled HEIST (Hydrogen Export for In-Situ Support Technologies), team members designed a cargo mission transport system for delivering a total of 150 metric tons of hydrogen to the surface of Mars over a period of 30 years, starting in 2018. The students conducted trade studies to establish the optimal in-space transport system as well as the best methods for storing and transporting hydrogen. As part of that process they considered expendable versus reusable transport system options as well as different propulsion systems.

HEIST team members were Eric Alderson, Richard Browning, Michael Campola, Michael Cline, Michelle Closen, Carl Hippner, Will Mudge, Afroz Nissar, Jon Smith, and Amir Tal. Their faculty advisor was Dr. Mehmet Sözen, an associate professor of Engineering Physics in Embry-Riddle’s Physical Sciences Department.

“The team members worked together exceptionally well during the entire academic year, used a wide array of information acquired in courses in the Engineering Physics curriculum, and actually went a step beyond in many instances,” Dr. Sözen said. “Their dedication and hard work paid off.”

The first-place finish garnered the team a $2,500 cash prize, individual certificates of recognition for the team members and their faculty advisor, and a certificate for their department. Next, HEIST representatives will present their design project at the AIAA 2004 Space Conference and Exposition.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs through its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering and meets the needs of students and industry through educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 28,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through its Extended Campus at more than 130 teaching centers in the United States and Europe, and worldwide through distance learning.