Four students earn Space Grant scholarships

Four Youngstown State University students have been awarded a combined $12,500 in undergraduate research and pre-service teacher training scholarships for the 2020-21 academic year through the Ohio Space Grant Consortium, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  

The students and their projects:

• Joe Castma, junior, Mechanical Engineering, “Open-Jet Facility Testing,” faculty advisor Kevin Disotell, assistant professor of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.
• Alexis Cresanto, junior, Chemical Engineering, “Biochemical Research,” faculty advisor Pedro Cortes, assistant professor of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering.
• Mark DeAngelis, senior, Mechanical Engineering, “Optimization of Lunar Rover Suspension,” faculty advisor Jason Walker, assistant professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.
• Derek Joy, senior, Integrated Science Education, “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: NASA’s Database on the Planets,” advisor Karen Henning, senior academic advisor.

Disotell, OSGC’s campus representative for YSU who coordinates the annual student scholarship applications, said the scholarship program is a meaningful way to increase student affordability “while gaining hands-on experience in technical disciplines that contribute to the leadership role of the United States in aeronautical and space-exploration science, technology and education.”

All scholarship recipients are required to complete a research project or educational activity under the guidance of a university mentor and attend the annual OSGC Student Research Symposium at the Ohio Aerospace Institute in Cleveland in the spring to present their work. OSGC is part of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program and was established to advance the nation’s capability in STEM.