Applied Engineering Team Dominates at 2024 NASA MINDS Competition
The Applied Engineering Club at Fullerton College recently won first place at the 2024 NASA Minority Innovative New Designs for Space (MINDS) competition, beating California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), California State University, Fresno (FSU) and other four-year schools across the nation.
The competition invites minority serving institutions to craft a project that could potentially be used by astronauts and engineers.
The team, headed by student project lead Raymond Chbeir, built a radio frequency identification (RFID)-based system designed to help astronauts identify lost objects, such as tools in a space station, in under 10 seconds. The innovative creation impressed NASA’s panel of judges, spurring interest and insightful discussion.
The team’s journey to victory encountered its handful of challenges. Chbeir says that antennas were not matching and that the project experienced coding errors. Despite these setbacks, the team members leaned into each other and got to work.
The team was supported by Faculty Advisor, Dr. Peter Widmann, and Dean of Fullerton College’s Technology and Engineering Division, Dr. Kenneth Starkman.
“The students of the Fullerton College Applied Engineering Club did independent research to develop the concept and hardware with minimal faculty involvement,” said Dr. Widmann. “The demonstration for the NASA judges was a resounding success, and the students deserve great praise for their initiative and engineering skills. It was a pleasure to work with these gracious and talented young people who represent the best of Fullerton College and the entire community college system.”
The competition awards its winning team with a $3,000 prize and a trip to the Kennedy Space Center.
The 10-member team was honored at the most recent North Orange County Community College District’s (NOCCCD) Board of Trustees’ meeting. Up next, the team is working on autonomous robots and a cybersecurity bootcamp for high school students.
Fullerton College congratulates the Applied Engineering Club for its teamwork, and is eager to see where their technical talents take them.
The Applied Engineering Club is comprised of 10 talented Fullerton College students and one high school student who worked hard and gave it their all at the competition:
- Shamir Ahmad
- Jaime Alvarez
- Raymond Chbeir
- Adrian Munoz Gallardo
- Brandon Marcus
- Sumiran Mishra
- Alex Montes
- Sagar Shah
- Rodrigo Timis
- HyungJoo Yoon
