“If there was an international nice-guy prize, David Wineland probably could win that too. As it is, he’ll have to settle for the Nobel Prize in physics.” – Washington Post I was honored to participate in the Symposium celebrating David Wineland’s 42 years of service to NIST on August 10, 2018. It was great to […]
Congratulations to Elizabeth Van Heusden on successfully defending her thesis and obtaining a MS.
Congratulations to Brandon Jackson on successfully defending his dissertation and obtaining a PhD.
Ph.D. Candidate and Isp Lab researcher Brandon Jackson was recently interviewed for an article on LiveScience. In the article, Brandon discusses the applications of ferrofluids and how these fluids form their captive patterns.
The MTU Aerospace Enterprise is proud to share the news that Capt. Jake LaSarge was recently accepted into the USAF Test Pilot School as a Flight Test Engineer. During his undergraduate study Capt. LaSarge was the student Program Manager of our Oculus nanosatellite – which is slated for launch on a Falcon Heavy in April, […]
On December 7 a team from NASA-Goddard Spaceflight Center conducted a thorough design review of Michigan Tech’s Stratus cloud imaging satellite. While we suffered a few nicks and dings from the event (as is common during CDR), we passed and can now move on to system integration in preparation for an upcoming launch. Thanks to all of the […]
Kurt Terhune successfully defended his dissertation titled: “Influence of Magnetic Nanoparticles and Magnetic Stress on an Ionic Liquid Electrospray Source.” Congratulations to Dr. Terhune! Acknowledgments to NASA and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for supporting Kurt’s research activities.
OK, so maybe there is a little photographic trickery going on to make this look easy. The actual build took approximately 4 days, but still a group of undergraduate students assembling a satellite on campus shows us how fast space technology is changing. The cost to build and launch a satellite is now about the […]
Members and alumni of the Ion Space Propulsion Laboratory attended the 35th International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC) which took place October 8 – 12, 2017 in Atlanta Georgia. Current members of the lab presented progress on ongoing research on Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid electrospray. The IEPC is held every two years and is attended by over […]
After six years of development, hundreds of undergraduate student hours, and countless cans of Monster energy drink the Michigan Tech Oculus nanosatellite shipped out on June 15, 2017. This 70-kg satellite will be used as an optical calibration target by ground observers who will attempt to decode how it is oriented and whether or not […]
On June 9th and 10th, the Ion Space Propulsion Lab staff visited Yale University, in New Haven Connecticut, where Prof. King gave an invited talk at the John Fenn Centennial symposium to celebrate the 100th anniversary of John Fenn.
The Michigan institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE), together with the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, has a great series of short clips describing how plasma affects our lives. In December 2015 MIPSE interviewed Professor King to understand how ionic liquid ferrofluids might be used to provide propulsion for the […]
MTU is excited to accept new cubesat hardware from Clyde Space. The shipment includes single-board computer, electrical power system, ADAC module, and flatsat test breakout board for Auris and Stratus. Cubesat technology has come a long way since the roll-your-own days of Oculus and HuskySat.
Members of the Isp lab have submitted a video to the American Physical Society Gallery of Fluid Motion. This gallery is designed to be a “non-technical presentation to share the aesthetics of one’s research with fellow researchers and the general public.” The video submitted by the Isp lab is titled: “Electric and Magnetic Fluid Spraying Instabilities” […]
Electrospray visualization research published by Kurt Terhune and Brad King at Michigan Tech in collaboration with Dr. John Cumings and Dr. Kai He of the University of Maryland was featured in Space Daily.
Isp Lab researcher, Kurt Terhune, recently published his collaborative work in Nanotechnology entitled, Radiation-induced solidification of ionic liquid under extreme electric field.
Michigan Tech received a two-year contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to build a nanosatellite to monitor communications emissions from geostationary satellites. The vehicle, dubbed “Auris” which is latin for “The Ear.”
Michigan Tech was selected to fly their CubeSat as an auxiliary payload. The satellite, named Stratus, is designed to be a low-cost solution for measuring cloud fraction, cloud top height, and cloud top wind
Dr. King was the invited speaker at the December Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering seminar held in Ann Arbor where he described on-going research in the area of superparamagnetic ionic liquids and their potential use as spacecraft thruster propellant.
Michigan Tech alumni and former Aerospace Enterprise project manager has received the distinguished Linus Pauling Fellowship.
Research in the Ion Space Propulsion lab was recently featured in print edition of The Economist titled: “It’s not rocket science.”
Research on Michigan Techs Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid Thruster was featured in Space Daily:
The Ion Space Propulsion lab is proud to announce that one of their members, E.J. Meyer, has received the Winnikow Fellowship for his work titled: “Electrospray from an Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid utilizing the Rosensweig Instability.” The Winnikow fellowship is awarded in remembrance of Dr. Svetlana Winnikow.
The Ion Space Propulsion lab is proud to announce that one of their members, Kurt J. Terhune, has received the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship for his work titled: “Mass Measurements of a Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid Electrospray.” Kurt is one of 65 students to receive this prestigious award.
The Ion Space Propulsion lab is proud to announce that one of their members, Mark Hopkins, has received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) for his work on condensable propellant Hall-effect thrusters.
Michigan Tech University was chosen as the winning school in the Air Force Research Laboratory’s University Nanosatellite flight competition review. The MTU vehicle is called Oculus-ASR. The spacecraft is 70 kg and about half the size of a refrigerator. The spacecraft’s mission will improve techniques that the Department of Defense currently uses to keep track of all objects in space.
Michigan Tech student Jacob LaSarge is the recipient of the Air Force Cadet Award. This prestigious award is granted by the chief scientist of the Air Force and is given annually to one student in the Air Force ROTC program.
Dr. Lyon B. King was recently awarded the Ron and Elaine Starr endowed professorship. Special thanks to Ron and his wife Elaine Starr for this endowment in their name and their service to Michigan T
Michigan Tech wins funding for aerospace research on campus through the Michigan/Air Force Center of Excellence in Electronic Propulsion (MACEEP) program.
The US Department of Defense has awarded Jeff Katalenich the prestigious National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.
Dr. King was recently awarded the SAE International’s Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award. The award was established in 1965 in honor of long-time member and former SAE president Ralph R. Teetor. Dr. King is grateful for receiving this honor
Congratulations to Brian Sikkema who is a recipient of the 2005-2006 NASA Institute for Advanced Concept Student Fellows prize (NIAC – NSFP).
Dr. King is honored to be a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Recipients of this award are selected by the White House after being nominated by the top U.S. research agencies.
© 2016. All rights reserved.Director:
Lyon B. King
lbking@mtu.edu