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01-24-06
By Aimee Lyn Brown, 541-737-5317
CORVALLIS, Ore. - People often dream of walking on the moon, traveling through outer space or discovering life on Mars, but the technical details of space exploration are the realm of highly trained scientists, authors of science fiction books - and students from Oregon State University.
Three undergraduate students in the OSU College of Engineering recently took part in the NASA Robotics Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Melissa Jensen-Morgan, of Albany, Brandon Phillips, Sherwood, and Christopher Edmonds, Philomath, worked with 23 other college students from around the nation on cutting edge robotics research applicable to NASA's Lunar Exploration and the 21st Century Explorer.
After 10 weeks, the NASA Robotics Program recognized just four student interns for their achievements and dedication to the program - and all three of the OSU students were chosen for honors.
"A lot of people think that because we're at a state school we're not on the same level," said Jensen-Morgan. "I'm getting just as good as an education at OSU as anyone who was in the program."
"There were students from MIT, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon," she also said. "We were divided into seven teams and worked on different robotics projects. It was an incredible experience."
One of nine female participants in the program, Jensen-Morgan was part of a team working on the modeling of tetrahedral-based robotics structures. "Basically I was doing design work that considered how robots walk and move around," she said.
Phillips was part of a team focused on how robots can incorporate vision and speech into their control systems, and Edmonds worked with a group researching robotics sensors and how they adapt to different environments.
"We did so much," said Phillips. "In addition to working with individuals who were actually sending things into space, we were exposed to new places and people who are just as enthusiastic about robots as we are. I made a lot of good friends, people I still talk to nearly every day."
About the OSU College of Engineering: With the nation's fourth highest percentage of women faculty and the 22nd largest undergraduate enrollment, the OSU College of Engineering emphasizes highly collaborative research to solve global problems, and offers innovative Platforms for Learning® to enhance hands-on teaching and develop work-ready graduates.