MCC, universities receive Mississippi NASA seed grant
MCC students in chemistry, 3D Engineering Technology and Precision Machining classes
work on tasks for the research seed grant from the Mississippi NASA Space Grant Consortium.
Devices used to detect wildfires are being developed thanks to the efforts of students and researchers at Meridian Community College, Mississippi State University, and the University of Mississippi.
The three educational institutions received a research seed grant from the Mississippi NASA Space Grant Consortium. “This grant will allow MCC to initiate a research project involving University Transfer and Career and Technical Education students and faculty,” said Dr. Angie Carraway, MCC Space Grant Campus coordinator, chemistry instructor, and science and wellness division chair.
MCC 3D CAD Engineering Technology and Precision Machining programs students and their instructors, Stuart Brown and Brian Warren, respectively, along with MCC chemistry students, are joining with researchers at Ole Miss and Mississippi State to create the wildfire detection system prototype. Dr. Carraway’s students are working on the chemistry associated with fire detection; Warren and Brown’s students are developing a small satellite model.
“The prototype will be built according to the dimensions needed for the cube satellites used by NASA and will be flown on an unmanned aerial vehicle,” Dr. Carraway said, adding, “the goal is to design eventually bigger devices that can be used at higher altitudes on other types of aircrafts and possibly spacecraft.”