Proceedings of the 5th Annual Summer Conference: NASA/USRA University Advanced Design Program

The NASA/USRA University Advanced Design Program is a unique program that brings together NASA engineers, students, and faculty from United States engineering schools by integrating current and future NASA space/aeronautics engineering design projects into the university
curriculum. The Program was conceived in the fall of 1984 as a pilot project to foster engineering design education in the universities and to supplement NASA's in-house efforts in advanced planning for space and aeronautics design. Nine universities and five NASA centers participated in the first year of the pilot project. Close cooperation between the NASA centers and the universities, the careful selection of design topics, and the enthusiasm of the students has resulted in a very successful program than now includes forty universities and eight NASA centers.

The study topics cover a broad range of potential space and aeronautics projects which could be undertaken during a 20-30 year period beginning with the deployment of the Space Station Freedom scheduled for the mid1990s. Both manned and unmanned endeavors are embraced, and the systems approach to the design problem is emphasized. The student teams pursue the chosen problem during their senior year in a one or two semester capstone design course and submit a comprehensive written report at the conclusion of the project. Finally, student representatives from each of the universities summarize their work in oral presentations
at the annual Summer Conference, held at one of the NASA centers and attended by the university faculty, NASA and USRA personnel, and aerospace industry representatives.