Building a scientific instrument, sending it aboard a rocket and examining the data afterward might sound like an opportunity reserved for professional engineers. For OSU senior Logan Olbrich, it became part of his college experience.
Olbrich was among the presenters at an Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium panel hosted by Linn-Benton Community College on Oct. 7. Panelists shared how different OSGC-supported programs helped them pursue research, develop technical skills, and explore opportunities beyond the classroom.
Their projects ranged from rocket payloads to underwater robots to solar eclipse observations to research into technologies for space exploration. Through workshops, team grants, faculty-led projects and academic research reviews, the panel highlighted multiple ways students can get involved, including opportunities that do not require previous research experience.
From the classroom to the launchpad
Olbrich described participating in RockOn!, a five-day rocket-payload workshop at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, with travel funded through OSGC.
His team assembled an Arduino-based sensor platform designed to collect measurements, including radiation, humidity and magnetic fields. Participants tested each component before moving forward, learning how individual systems contribute to a successful payload.
The Experience included touring the NASA facility, watching a rocket launch from about 1,500 yards away and recovering the payload to examine the data collected.
For Olbrich, one of the workshop strengths was its accessibility to students without extensive engineering backgrounds.
“The barrier for entry is very low. They want to share as much information as possible,” Olbrich said.
LBCC student Azreal Switzer discussed a different hands-on opportunity: an underwater robotics team supported in part by OSGC funding through the Undergraduate Team Experience Program (UTEP).
The team designed and tested remotely operated vehicles for the MATE robotics competition, including a modular vertical profiler built to collect data at different depths in cold-water environments.
Switzer described how the team experimented with affordable components and interchangeable parts to make its equipment more adaptable. The students also encountered technical difficulties during a competition in Canada, providing the opportunity to troubleshoot problems and improve their designs.
While Olbrich’s workshop focused on assembling and launching a scientific payload, Switzer’s experience involved developing, testing and refining equipment through a student-led engineering project.
When research doesn’t go as planned
For Heather Hill, an LBCC physical science faculty member, OSGC support offered a different opportunity: developing a research project while involving students in the process.
Hill received about $15,000 through the Affiliate Faculty Research Incubator Program in 2022 to support an astronomy project with two student researchers.
The project revisited the historic 1919 Eddington Eclipse experiment, which helped confirm Albert Einstein’s prediction that gravity bends light. Using modern telescopes, cameras and computer software, Hill’s team aimed to measure the apparent deflection of starlight near the sun during a solar eclipse.
The work presented technical challenges, from connecting telescope equipment with software to collecting usable images under difficult weather conditions.
Cloud cover disrupted observations during eclipse trips in Oregon and Texas, leaving the team without enough clear images for its intended analysis. However, software development continued, and the project provided students with experience in astronomical research and data analysis.
“The idea is that we are incubating a new lab that could continue on forward,” Hill said. “That’s what the funding was for: it is to develop something new, to help faculty get started, so that we could grow into something else along the way.”
Hill’s experience illustrated another purpose of research funding: supporting the early development of a project, even when the original experiment does not produce the expected results.
Research can start with a literature review
Students do not necessarily need to build equipment or conduct experiments to begin exploring a research career.
OSGC’s Student Academic Research Review program offers another approach, allowing students to examine existing scientific literature, identify research questions and develop a deeper understanding of a specialized subject.
Alex Mote, who began his STARR project in 2020 while enrolled at both LBCC and Oregon State University, described how an interest in computational physics led him to study ways of improving the efficiency of hardware, memory and data storage used in scientific simulations.
Rather than conducting experiments, he spent about two terms reviewing existing research and working with faculty to narrow his topic.
The experience helped him develop research connections and prepare for further academic work. He later pursued doctoral research at OSU involving simulations and the effects of radiation on electronics.
Ryan Knighton, another STARR participant, explored metal additive manufacturing, commonly known as metal 3D printing, and its potential applications in space.
His literature review examined possibilities such as manufacturing replacement parts in space, along with challenges posed by producing materials in microgravity.
Knighton described how conversations with faculty and researchers helped him refine his topic. He later pursued additional research and graduate study related to additive manufacturing.
For both presenters, the literature reviews provided a way to explore a specialized field before pursuing more advanced research.
- Opportunities for current LBCC students
The panel highlighted several distinct OSGC programs, each supporting different stages and types of academic research. For current students interested in hands-on projects, one of those opportunities is accepting applications.
The consortium’s 2026-27 Undergraduate Team Experience Program offers awards of $5,000 or $10,000 to eligible student teams pursuing research, engineering or STEM education projects related to NASA’s mission.
Funding can support competitions, capstone projects and new student-led initiatives, including projects involving robotics, scientific instruments and educational outreach.
Teams must demonstrate a direct connection to NASA’s Artemis program and human exploration goals, include an educational outreach component for kindergarten through 12th-grade students and secure a minimum one-to-one match in non-federal contributions. Faculty support is also required.
Students from different academic disciplines are encouraged to participate. According to the program guide, teams may include students studying business, education, communications or graphic design alongside those working in scientific and technical fields.
Applications are due on Nov. 20 with funded projects required to be completed by May 31, 2027.
Students interested in applying can review the UTEP Program Guide and application information. Additional opportunities, including STARR and other programs, are available through the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium’s student opportunities page, although application periods vary.
Research can seem intimidating from the outside, but students don’t need to have a career plan in place to begin exploring it. For Alex Mote, the opportunity to dive into a subject that interested him helped him see where his interests could lead.
Your interests could lead somewhere unexpected. Why not find your starting point with OSGC.
At a Glance
- What: Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium (OSGC) research opportunities for students and faculty.
- Where: Linn-Benton Community College and other participating Oregon colleges and universities.
- Opportunities: Hands-on team projects, faculty-led research, and academic research reviews
- Current funding: $5,000 or $10,000 for eligible student teams through the Undergraduate Team Experience Program (UTEP).
- Application deadline: Nov. 20, 2026
- More information: https://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu