{"id":122645,"date":"2020-07-14T10:07:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T20:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=122645"},"modified":"2020-07-14T10:07:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T20:07:01","slug":"uhmc-cansat-competition-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/07\/14\/uhmc-cansat-competition-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> Maui College students win international space tech competition"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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CanSat Competition 2019 in Stephenville, Texas<\/strong> from left to right: Kurt Matillano, Suntana Villanueva, Alexander T. Meyer<\/strong>, Preston Rodrigues, Jhaymar Mendez<\/strong>, Kyle Rayo. (students\u2019 names in bold also participated in this year\u2019s 2020 CanSat Competition)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Maui College<\/a>, it IS rocket science! The college\u2019s Engineering Technology Program fielded two teams in the international 2020 CanSat Competition<\/a>. Team Onipaʻa<\/span> placed first, and Team Pakaʻa<\/span>, placed 23rd. (See complete team rosters below.)<\/em> Thirty-three teams from more than a dozen countries competed to design, build and launch a container holding a science payload.<\/p>\n

Jung Park<\/strong>, UH<\/abbr> Maui College engineering technology associate professor and NASA<\/abbr> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Space Grant Consortium, who was the faculty advisor, said, “The CanSat competition is designed to reflect, on a small scale, a typical aerospace program. The competition includes all aspects of an aerospace program from the preliminary design review to post-mission review. The mission and its requirements are designed to reflect various aspects of real world missions. This includes the telemetry requirements, communications and autonomous operations.”<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s launch, scheduled to take place at Virginia Tech in June, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year\u2019s entries were judged on all criteria except for launch.<\/p>\n

“The CanSat project was an excellent way for us to showcase all that we have learned at UHMC<\/abbr>,” said Team Onipaʻa<\/span> leader, Arthur Agdeppa<\/strong>. “It pushed us to be creative on our CanSat design, be resilient on failures, be a team player, and be receptive to the process involved in creating a real-world engineering project. It was a great learning experience overall.”<\/p>\n

Team Pakaʻa<\/span> leader, Alexander Meyer<\/strong>, said, “CanSat Competition was an extraordinary opportunity for the members of my team to gain aerospace industry experience. They rapidly adjusted to working in a collaborative environment and learned how to rely on one another to work towards a greater goal. Their effort paid off and earned them a seat amongst the finalists of the prestigious competition, an achievement they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.”<\/p>\n

The competition is organized by the American Astronautical Society<\/a>. The UH<\/abbr> Maui College teams were sponsored by the NASA<\/abbr> Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Space Grant Consortium and Park. The team members thanked Director Luke Flynn<\/strong> for his tremendous support.<\/p>\n

Learn more about the UH<\/abbr> Maui College bachelor of applied sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Team name: Onipaʻa<\/span>, 1st place<\/strong><\/p>\n