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Team

Faculty 2024 - 2025

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Mona Bavarian - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Advancing Wearable Electronics via MXene-Polymer Composite Supercapacitors

The demand for flexible and wearable energy storage devices has led to significant interest in textile-based supercapacitors (TSCs). These devices offer rapid charging, flexibility, and seamless integration into wearable electronics, making them ideal for portable applications. This project aims to enhance the electrochemical performance and overall characteristics of composite TSCs by using vapor phase polymerizations to create core-shell structure add layers to our existing TSC technology. This will be pursued by adding. organic conductors, redox mediators, and polymer electrolytes to create quasi-solid state TSCs. We expect to obtain more attractive energy storage figures of merits. Herein, we evaluate the role of imidazolium-based molten salts, acting as both dopants in the conductive domain and supporting salts in the gel-electrolyte coating around the fibers. This project aligns with NASA's mission by developing innovative and sustainable energy management solutions.

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Bai Cui - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Passive lunar dust mitigation mechanisms on material surface

The research goal is to investigate the fundamental mechanisms of passive lunar dust mitigation mechanisms on the surface of ceramic materials by the laser ablation patterning (LAP) process. The electrostatic charged lunar dust particles are attracted to the surface of equipment, causing wear damage to the sensitive robotics and other electronic equipment. To address this issue, a novel LAP has been developed by the collaboration between our team and Langley Research Center that can lower the adhesion of lunar dust particles through topographical modification of the surface of ceramic material. However, the fundamental questions are raised about the mechanisms responsible for the observed (1) hydrophilic-to-hydrophobic transition and (2) reduction of dust adhesion in these ceramic materials. This project will study these mechanisms through the characterization of surface chemistry by XPS and subsurface microstructural changes by TEM in B4C and MoAlB after LAP.

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Martha Durr - Nebraska Indian Community College

NICC Climate Change Research 24/25

This work serves to train NICC science students on the development of environmental summaries salient to the college community. In-situ and college-managed observation systems will serve as the primary data source, augmented by NASA tools and remotely-sensed products. These will be synthesized in order to document and track current and emerging environmental hazards, such as drought stress, flood potential, air quality, and heat stress, to name a few. The outcomes will inform and educate the broader NICC community, tribal nations and their associated environmental departments.

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Eric Markvicka - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Recyclable electronic materials for on demand manufacturing of electronics in space

The aerospace industry relies on lightweight, multifunctional composites for advancements in various applications. In-space thermal management systems pose unique challenges, necessitating the development of new composite materials. Current composites face limitations in thermal conductivity-stiffness tradeoffs, high mass density, component failure risks, and lack of material programmability. This project aims to overcome these limitations by developing a novel thermally conductive elastomer that can be 3D printed with programmable composition and microstructure, offering a groundbreaking combination of high thermal conductivity and high elasticity. After the parts have reached their end of life, the parts will be recycled in space as needed to help reduce launch mass for a long mission. The ability to recycle parts will also enhance safety by helping crews respond to unexpected situations when there isn’t time to return to Earth or wait for a supply ship.

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Henry Miller - Nebraska Indian Community College

NICC Environmental Monitoring Research 24/25

This mini grant will enable NICC to expand and support existing environmental monitoring research projects at all three campus locations in Nebraska. These projects study local environmental conditions, and how human factors affect the environment, such as: weather, soil, flora, fauna and natural disasters influence. In 2022/2023 our efforts to monitor our environment expanded with the use of drones to collect data and engage more students and faculty in this research. NICC's new greenhouse has been utilized to grow food and native plants for our native prairie research. This year we are focusing our research on utilizing our drones for mapping and increasing our weather station sensor arrays throughout the Santee reservation. With these tools, we will increase our ability to monitor and collect valuable data that directly and indirectly affect our reservation lands.

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Maeghan Murie-Mazariegos - Nebraska Indian Community College

NICC Prairie Restoration Research 2024/2025

Current initiatives at NICC revolve around environmental monitoring and prairie restoration at a phenotypical level. This proposal will focus on the molecular changes that influence the phenotypical changes that has been previously observed. Molecular insight will help identify the mechanisms behind the observed phenotypical changes, influential factors, and indicators of the environmental health status surrounding NICC. This data will help us understand to the most basic levels of how human and natural impacts are influencing the environmental health and hypothesize on how these impacts will affect human health in the future.

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Andrew Ekpenyong - Creighton University

Using Simulated Microgravity for Cancer Tissue Engineering

As space exploration grows, two major biomedical goals become more achievable: namely, understanding the impact of space travel on human physiology and using outer space conditions to generate solutions for health problems on Earth. The latter is the focus of an ongoing funding program of the International Space Station-National Lab Research Announcement (NLRA) issued in collaboration with NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences, titled “Igniting Innovation: Science in Space to Cure Disease on Earth”. In my laboratory, we use a NASA-developed bioreactor which simulates one of the conditions of outer space, microgravity, to generate cancer spheroids for tissue engineering in view of improving cancer treatment. We have published two papers (2020, 2023) that fit the goal of “science in space to cure disease on Earth”. This proposal seeks to develop the cancer spheroids into organoid-based cancer models, in line with NASA’s goal of “science in space to cure disease on Earth”.

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Qiang Liu - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Bring Advanced Cellular Networks From Earth to Space

In this ambitious project, we aim to bring state-of-the-art cellular network technologies on Earth (e.g., 5G) to space, beyond the existing one-mission-one-solution philosophy, in terms of reliability, robustness, and cost-efficiency. However, it is non-trivial to bring cellular networks to the space, under complex environmental conditions, unmanned operation, and stringent device requirements. We propose a new network customization framework to tailor existing cellular networks according to the arbitrary needs of space missions, including 1) adaptive radio propagation modeling and spectrum accessing; 2) autonomous self-healing network management suite; 3) automatic functionality pruning method to balance performance and device dimension. Overall, we target high towards advanced wireless networking in the space, where our proposed framework holds the potential to be generalized for future cellular networks, such as 6G and Beyond.

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Evan Rich - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Missing Planets: searching for planet formation around intermediate-mass stars

Currently, 5,626 exoplanets have been confirmed to exist. These planets have been found in various environments, from low-mass stars to stars similar to the sun, and even actively forming planets around young stars! It is clear that planets are common and ubiquitous in our universe. However, one glaring missing environment is stars that are 3 to 8 times more massive than our own Sun. Only 16 exoplanets are known within this mass range. This could be due to many factors, including the extreme difficulty of detecting planets in this stellar mass range with exoplanet detection techniques. An alternative approach is to look at stars within this mass range before the planets have formed. In this work, we will A) look to identify other systems within this stellar mass range by producing a catalog of current work that has been done on direct imaging of protoplanetary disks and B) confirm the young age of 4 known systems that are young who’s evolutionary age is disputed.

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Marat Sadykov - University of Nebraska Medical Center

Evaluating Personal Protection Materials in Near-Space Environments Using Bacteria and Spores on a High-Altitude Platform

This project develops an innovative platform for testing protective materials against space radiation, extreme temperatures, and pressure conditions using high-altitude balloons. By exposing bacterial cultures and spores shielded by test materials to near-space conditions in the stratosphere, we'll evaluate material effectiveness through bacterial survival, mutation rates, and spore germination analysis. Our research will contribute to developing advanced protective equipment for astronauts during extended missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. This project bridges Earth-based testing and actual space conditions, providing NASA valuable data for future space exploration. Our findings will enhance astronaut safety and advance understanding of life's resilience in extreme environments, potentially informing the search for extraterrestrial life.

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Yury Salkovskiy - University of Nebraska at Omaha

Testing Protective Materials Under Near-Space Conditions

Protecting astronauts and their equipment from solar radiation, extreme temperatures, and the vacuum of space is increasingly crucial as humanity ventures further into space. Our project addresses a significant gap by testing protective materials under near-space conditions that cannot be replicated in a laboratory. We propose using a high-altitude balloon to send a module above Earth's ozone layer, carrying bacterial cultures shielded by test materials. Once there, the cultures will be exposed to hard ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation, and low temperatures. After the module lands, we will evaluate how well test materials protected the bacteria from radiation and freezing. In this Research Mini-Grant project, we propose to test our module's functionality at low temperatures in the laboratory and during a high-altitude flight. Our approach offers a cost-effective alternative to orbital tests and will drive the development of new protective clothing and gear for space exploration.

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Ada-Rhodes Short - University of Nebraska at Omaha

Risky Rovers: Gamifying the Development of Autonomous Mobile Robot Behavior

This project aims to develop a Unity-based application simulating rover missions called Risky Rovers and use it to evaluate computationally-cognitive agents (CC agents) ability to perform space mission planning and Mission Command and Control (MCC) tasks. The project includes three phases: defining software requirements with Dr. Daniel Hulse at NASA Ames, developing the Risky Rovers application, and using it to test CC agents developed using Build-a-Brain (which was developed using previously received NASA EPSCoR funds). This work will provide hands-on experience in automation and robotics to an underrepresented undergraduate student, leading to co-authorship of research papers. Additionally, it supports my long-term plans to establish a permanent research presence in space mission automation at UNO.

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Alison Adams - University of Nebraska at Omaha

2025 Women in Aviation International Conference

The University of Nebraska at Omaha's Maverick Chapter of the Women in Aviation (WAI) organization is planning a trip to the international conference in Denver, Colorado on March 26th-29th. There are 17 students that are interested in representing our collegiate chapter and I am the faculty advisor. The international conference allows us to learn from pioneers in the aviation industry, build our leadership skills, network with aviation companies and professionals, and represent our state, college, and community at an international level. The Women in Aviation organization has over 20,000 members residing in 120 countries. On the last day of the conference, we have the opportunity to volunteer at the Girls in Aviation Day event which offers young girls a chance to explore aviation and the opportunities that are available for all individuals. Last year some of our members were pictured in the WAI magazine from pictures taken at the conference.

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Lauren Bydalek - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Support for Student Travel to Annual Space Law Conference and NASA

This project allows students to travel to Washington D.C. for the Nebraska Space, Cyber, & National Security Law Annual Fall Conference - one of the longest running and largest entirely law and policy focused space conferences in the world. Approximately 5 students will come from the College of Law, with 2-3 spots available for students from other disciplines interested in space law and policy. While in Washington D.C., the legal offices at NASA Goddard or NASA HQ will arrange for a center visit and tour, as well as a question and answer session with NASA attorneys.

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Martha Durr - Nebraska Indian Community College

NICC Climate Change 24/25

This project will serve to enhance science curriculum at Nebraska Indian Community College, bolster the environmental monitoring program, and foster existing and new partnerships across the tribal college community and beyond. Our aim is to build upon the existing capacities by providing tools and resources for: 1) curriculum development and enhancement, 2) student research opportunities, and 3) community engagement. The focus is to develop and refine weather and climate specific observational techniques, synthesize local and remotely-sensed data, design communication tools for informed decision-making capabilities and bolster tribal sovereignty.

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Eric Markvicka - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Enhancing Soft Robotics Education and Outreach through Experiential Learning

This project aims to enrich the new course on Soft Robotics titled: MECH 496/896 Soft Mater Engineering: Robotics and Wearables at UNL by incorporating examples of soft matter space systems, in addition to the requirements and challenges of microgravity environments (e.g., outgassing). By combining theoretical knowledge with practical application, the course will enhance students' understanding of soft matter space systems and prepare them for future endeavors in this field. Throughout the course, the students' progress and understanding will be assessed through assignments, projects, and examinations. The effectiveness of the enhanced curriculum and the experiential learning activity will be evaluated through feedback from the students, as well as quantitative and qualitative assessment measures.

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Henry Miller - Nebraska Indian Community College

NICC Environmental Monitoring 24/25

The funding from this Higher Education Mini-Grant will support a student researcher to work alongside NICC faculty who has been long engaged in NASA funding and projects. The student researcher will learn project management skills to coordinate all things NASA at NICC and assist the faculty with all research projects throughout the year. The student researcher will also assist with online software course revisions and updates for multiple STEM courses at NICC including Biology, Chemistry, and all the Life Sciences courses. This mini grant will also help further develop curriculum for NICC’s environmental science and drone courses that we now offer at NICC to our students.

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Maeghan Murie-Mazamiegos - Nebraska Indian Community College

NICC Prairie Restoration 2024/2025

Accessibility to laboratory equipment and supplies is often a bottle neck for minority students to gain experience in research. This project will provide necessary resources for students to learn about essential skills and safety measures needed to conduct experiments within laboratory setting. Lab skills are also a vital component to lab-based courses, such as organic chemistry and microbiology, for which this project will address accessibility and capability.

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Carl Nelson - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Micro-g NExT UNL Team 2024-25

This project involves a student team performing research and development of a tool supporting the Artemis lunar missions for NASA. The project will culminate in device testing at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center.

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Shane Farritor - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

JPL Mentored Lunar Sampling Senior Project 24/25

Near term missions to the lunar surface aim to advance science and engineering. Sampling is a key to answering many of the fundamental planetary science questions identified in the Artemis III Science Definition Team Report (https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/artemis-iii-science-definition-report-12042020c.pdf ). Sampling will also contribute to successful in situ resource utilization key to a sustained lunar presence. This project will investigate the benefits and methods to include vibration into lunar scoops to reduce scooping forces, enabling sieve of samples, and depositing sampling into containers/material hoppers. The team will design, build, and test concepts and testbeds under the mentorship of an engineering from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

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Deepak Khazanchi - University of Nebraska at Omaha

iSTEM immersion experience for 8th/9th Grade Female-identifying students

CodeCrush is a series of events designed to help close the gender gap in the technology workforce. What started as a once-a-year, four-day immersion experience has grown to multiple events held two times a year in an effort to be fully inclusive of the Midwest’s diverse population.

Focusing on 8th/9th grade female students, our research has indicated that it is necessary to begin early to address the challenges associated with women entering STEM careers. Launched in 2014, our CodeCrush experiences brings participants to the campus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha over 3 days & 2 nights. The program includes educational workshops, campus and cultural activities, corporate visits, keynote speakers, and college student mentors. Another unique facet of this program is that each student is required to bring a teacher from their school who are also provide professional development in simultaneous computer science related workshops.

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William Loring - Western Nebraska Community College

Enhancing Computer Science Curriculum Using Off the Shelf IoT Components to Enhance Whole Brain and Balanced Learning

What if we could simulate a trip to another planet using off the shelf robotics and IoT kits that can be purchased almost anywhere in the world?

 

All businesses, including NASA, are looking at ways to cut costs, while still delivering the best training experience.  The WNCC Computer Science program integrates Agile Development, KanBan boards, Github, robotics, algorhythmic problem solving, and other current software engineering techniques to prepare students for professional software engineering positions.

 

The pipeline begins with Intro to Robotics. We use an open source off the shelf Arduino based robot to teach the basic constructs of programming in our Computer Science curriculum using Arduino C. The robot shows students their “code in motion”.  Our Python class aligns with more advanced robotics, CyberSecurity, API’s, GIS, and data analytics.  We have a Vex Robotics team which has not be active since COVID. The Vex team will be active in the 24-25 academic year with internal projects.

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Derrick Nero - University of Nebraska at Omaha

Science Experimentation & Engineering Design (SEED) - III

Scientific Experimentation & Engineering Design (SEED) is a general education science course that introduces integrative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) concepts and their applications. The course fosters 21st Century Learning through study and work in active, team-based experiential learning environments through all phases of near-space experiments using high-altitude balloon platforms. Near-space experiments require research question development, experiment hardware fabrication, experiment software integration, payload launch and recovery, data analysis, and formal experiments’ results reporting. Science and Engineering Practices are central to students’ experiences and work in this course, as the course models the interdisciplinary connectedness of academic fields, industry, and the community to encourage collaboration and discovery to effectively implement STEM concepts, practices, and innovation.

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Jae Sung Park - University of Nebraska at Lincoln

2024-2025 UNL Aerospace Club

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Aerospace Club consists of undergraduate students from a variety of majors and backgrounds who compete at various NASA, AIAA, and other aerospace competitions. The Club helps NASA with the mission of developing space technologies for operations on other planets and with the mission of developing aeronautical innovations.

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Amanda Roe - College of Saint Mary

Elementary Educator Science Enrichment Workshop Series

The overriding goal of the workshop series is to stimulate interest in STEM by increasing the number of activity and inquiry-based learning experiences children receive during primary education. This program will provide face to face workshops for elementary teachers of STEM, and will build on community-requested educator professional development. Overall, our workshops will provide teachers with authentic STEM experiences which will enable them to increase and improve STEM experiences in their classrooms while allowing the teachers to earn higher education credit. Each of these goals and projected outcomes directly supports the NASA Education Implementation Plan, 2015-2017 (Electronically Enhanced Edition, January 2016) and the updated NASA Equity Action Plan, 2023.

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