09/17/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2024 12:26
The University of Pittsburgh boasts a long and distinguished history in space education and research, from the analysis of moon rocksbrought back by the Apollo 11 mission to the groundbreaking contributions of Samuel Pierpont Langley, a faculty member who led the renowned Allegheny Observatory.
In response to the growing research and workforce needs of the U.S. space industry, the University is building on this rich legacy with a new, rapidly expanding initiative: Pitt Space.
"Over the past several decades, space innovations and technologies have dramatically impacted our nation, and the world, in terms of communications, navigation, weather, defense, health, science, entertainment and more," said Alan George, the department chair and R&H Mickle Endowed Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "Today, the space field is even more active and exciting than the Space Race of the 1960s, where a large and growing community of agencies, companies and universities are contributing with new space missions and technologies."
The Swanson School of Engineering, home to the National Science Foundation space center known as SHREC, is rolling out a suite of new graduate and undergraduate courses, including Intro to Space Engineeringtaught by Zhi-Hong Maoas well as Dependable Systems, Extreme Environment Electronics and Space Systems Project. These courses and others will be foundational to the new graduate certificate and undergraduate minor being proposed in space engineering.
Similar programs are in the works for space science and space biomedicine.
"Some of Pittsburgh's greatest strengths are a history of public-private partnerships and university research collaboration," noted Michele V. Manuel, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering. "Pitt Space represents an incredible opportunity to leverage these relationships into a research powerhouse for the growing global space industry."
Pitt Space faculty members are working with more than 30 agencies, companies, institutes and peer universities. Together they are building a community, furthering collaborations in the space realm and strengthening the preparedness of Pitt grads to launch into the workforce.
In February 2024, for example, Pitt joined the Keystone Space Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that serves the space industry in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This partnership will allow the University to leverage new connections with industry partners across the region and help amplify Pitt Space's activities while also supporting the regional space community.
Partnerships are also being developed within Pitt. Almost 100 faculty members from different disciplines have signed up as contributors in Pitt Space, bringing with them new ideas for collaboration and new opportunities for students.
"The Pitt Space initiative has the potential to reinvigorate the University's long history of research in space science," Ramsey said. "Importantly, it could expand that to other schools, departments and faculty, which will grow Pitt into the next space university alongside other peer institutions."
Leaders of Pitt Space held their first official event on Sept. 10 with a seminar to inform faculty from across campus about the possibilities of this University-wide initiative.
"With the launch today of Pitt Space, we are becoming the next space university," George said during his presentation at the event.
Beheshti said multidisciplinary work is imperative for the success of space research and exploration. For example, researchers in biomedicine can develop a drug to help astronauts remain healthy in space based on a space biologist's research and engineers can determine how to deploy that drug to a space station safely and efficiently.
"We need to work together in a large, collaborative environment to move this science forward quickly," Beheshti said. "If we can make these innovations work in space, it's easy to replicate and improve life here on Earth."
Photography courtesy of the Swanson School of Engineering