2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Novel Mini-Grant Program to Broaden Participation of Faculty and Students at an MSI with NASA’s Artemis Mission

Presented at Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND) Technical Session 10

NASA-MSTAR program has selected the three-year proposal titled “DREAM: Developing Robotic Explorations with Agrobots and Moonbots” at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore(UMES) as one of the nine recipients of their PHASE-III awards in September 2023. The MSTAR is an amalgamation of two acronyms the ‘M’ stands for ‘Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP) and the STAR can be expanded as ‘Space Technology Artemis Research’. The broad goals for the NASA Artemis mission include landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon as well as establishing long-term human presence on the Moon. The overarching goals of the funded project at UMES include (i) engaging UMES and non-MSI partner students in experiential and research efforts involving lunar rovers for exploration and autonomous navigation, (ii)preliminary trials with growing plants using robotic platforms in lunar regolith in controlled indoor environments, and (iii) broadly engage the UMES campus community through curriculum integration and innovative projects aligned with the long term vision of the NASA Artemis project.

In alignment with the scope of the 3rd objective listed above the UMES project leaders have incorporated an innovative mini-grant program that solicits proposals that will address any aspect of NASA’s Artemis project from UMES faculty and student teams from all disciplines in late fall. Two of these mini-proposals will be selected for funding to be implemented in the spring semester annually for the duration of the project (2023-2026). This paper will highlight the implementation, impact, student engagement, and achievements of the two mini-grants that were selected for the first year of the funding cycle.

Authors

Dr. Abhijit Nagchaudhuri University of Maryland Eastern Shore [biography]

Dr. Abhijit Nagchaudhuri is currently a tenured professor in the Department of Engineering and Aviation Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore(UMES). Dr. Nagchaudhuri received his baccalaureate degree from Jadavpur University (India) with honors in mechanical engineering in 1983. Thereafter, he worked in a multinational industry for a little over three years before joining Tulane University as a graduate student in the fall of 1987. He received a master’s degree from Tulane University in 1989 and a doctoral degree from Duke University in 1992. He is a member of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and, has also been involved with the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). He is actively involved in teaching and research in the fields of (i) robotics and mechatronics, (ii) remote sensing and precision agriculture, and,(iii) biofuels and renewable energy. He has been involved with several extramurally funded projects as PI or Co-PI to support outreach, education, and research activities from various state, federal, and private agencies; served in leadership roles in professional societies; and has received several awards and certificates from his home institution as well as professional societies. He has published more than 90 refereed articles in journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. He has been involved with several divisions of ASEE including the Minorities in Engineering Division (MIND), and served as the division chair of the Energy Conversion, Conservation, and Nuclear Engineering Division (ECCNED) in 2016. He is a member of the technical committee of IEEE/ASME Mechatronics and Embedded Systems Application(MESA) and has served as the division chair in 2022. He serves as a program committee member of the Maryland Space Grant Consortium.
Dr. Madhumi Mitra Ph.D University of Maryland Eastern Shore [biography]

Dr. Madhumi Mitra is currently a professor of environmental sciences in the department of Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She is also the coordinator of Biology and Chemistry Education. Dr. Mitra is actively involved in teach
Dr. Aaron H. Persad University of Maryland Eastern Shore [biography]

Dr. Aaron H. Persad is Assistant Professor of Aerospace in the Engineering and Aviation Sciences Department at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He specializes in Space Sciences, covering a range of research topics including: statistical thermophysics, bioastronautics, nanotechnology, mechatronics, biomonitoring and human spaceflight. His experiments have been performed in numerous near weightless environments: parabolic, suborbital and orbital flights, involving both autonomous and human-tended payloads.
Dr. Yan Waguespack University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Dr. Mary L Bowden University of Maryland, College Park [biography]

Acting Director of the Women In Engineering Program
Senior Lecturer and Keystone Instructor
Clark School of Engineering
Gilbert Lee Pinkett University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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