AE Gains Composite Manufacturing, Nanosatellite Instructional Labs with Talbot Renovation

9/4/2014 Susan Mumm, Aerospace Engineering Media Specialist

Students will gain use of state-of-the-art composite manufacturing and nanosatellite facilities with a Talbot Laboratory remodeling project.

Written by Susan Mumm, Aerospace Engineering Media Specialist

Composite Manufacturing Laboratory diagram
Composite Manufacturing Laboratory diagram
Composite Manufacturing Laboratory diagram
A recently approved $3.2 million project for renovating the Talbot Laboratory building will include the development of state-of-the-art instructional composite manufacturing and nanosatellite laboratories for Aerospace Engineering at Illinois.

To be constructed in the building’s basement, “the proposed instructional composite manufacturing facility builds on our expertise in the area of composite manufacturing, and aims at creating a truly unique educational facility that would have no equal at any university in the country,” said Philippe Geubelle, AE Department Head and Bliss Professor in the College of Engineering.

The nanosatellite facility will be a rarity as well. “The proposed lab facility, to be located in a very visible area on the third floor of Talbot, will bring our nanosatellite program at the level of the only other nationally recognized educational facility (Nanosat Operation Verification and Assessment or NOVA at the University of Utah),” according to Geubelle.

Construction requires the removal of the Mechanical Testing Facility 3-million-lb. press that starts from the building’s basement and rises three floors. The resulting open area on each floor will be filled in to create space for laboratories and instructional areas for AE and the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering (NPRE), also housed in Talbot. The renovation was one of four College of Engineering at Illinois projects picked for the University of Illinois Urbana Campus Facilities Matching Funds Program. The campus, the College of Engineering, AE, and NPRE will share the project’s costs.

Artist's conception of the Nanosatellite Laboratory
Artist's conception of the Nanosatellite Laboratory
Artist's conception of the Nanosatellite Laboratory
AE Prof. Scott R. White, Willett Professor in the College of Engineering at Illinois and leader of the Autonomous Materials Systems Group, maintains the new laboratory will make AE at Illinois “the national leader in composite facilities for research and education.”

“This will be a world-class, 21st century composites laboratory that allows our students to tap the full creative spectrum: from computer-aided design to 3D prototype to final production parts,” White said. “Additive manufacturing will play a significant role in this new laboratory and echoes what many envision for the future manufacturing shop floor. We will have greatly expanded capabilities in composites manufacturing under a one-stop facility including the traditional autoclave and filament winding techniques, but also more scalable and cost-effective processes like vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding."

Another view of the proposed Nanosatellite Laboratory
Another view of the proposed Nanosatellite Laboratory
Another view of the proposed Nanosatellite Laboratory
Every AE undergraduate student will utilize this new facility in either their senior design course, special topic courses, professional design competitions, undergraduate research, or materials testing and behavior laboratories. “The new facility will also impact the entire College of Engineering through numerous student groups and competitions such as the UIUC Solar Car, Formula SAE, etc.,” White said. “Typically, the Composites Manufacturing Laboratory touches 100+ students outside the AE department each year. That number is expected to significantly increase given the extraordinary plans for the new facility under development.”

The nanosatellite laboratory also will enhance the students’ educational experiences.

“This lab will provide students with unparalleled hands-on engineering experience,” said Erik Kroeker, graduate teaching assistant for AE Prof. Victoria Coverstone, who directs AE’s nanosatellite program.

“Students in a variety of courses will be able to use the hardware lab to design, build, and test real flight hardware for upcoming missions. Students in a separate set of courses will utilize the mission control center to learn about mission design and mission operations by engaging in both simulated and live mission satellite operation,” Kroeker said. “Both halves of the new lab will expose students to the kind of hands-on experience that one would only expect to find in industry, providing a unique and engaging vehicle for learning about satellite design.

“The space center will consolidate many of the existing fabrication and testing facilities while simultaneously adding several new capabilities,” Kroeker continued. “The lab will incorporate improved attitude determination and control testing equipment, an improved clean room, solar simulators, electronics fabrication and testing benches, and an environmental testing suite. Most notably, it will also add a dedicated mission control room for conducting mission operations of university satellites.”

Coverstone maintains, “This will elevate the University of Illinois' to the top tier of university satellite designers. While a few universities have satellite labs, Illinois will distinguish itself by dedicating its facility to both undergraduate and graduate education in addition to research.

“The bulk of the research in nanosatellites done at this university has been accomplished through courses like the Nanosatellite Design courses,” said Coverstone “The university can be proud that it is not only creating some of the best nanosatellite hardware designs, but also that that work is being done entirely by its students. The satellites built in this new lab, or tracked in its mission control room, will be the labor of literally over a hundred students (mostly undergraduate) over a total of 13 years and counting.”

 


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This story was published September 4, 2014.