Space Bound

Friday, May 3, 2024

Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

Happy National Space Day!

I was in junior high in Tehran in 1969 when three of the most iconic of aerospace technological marvels got off the ground: the 747 Jumbo jet, the supersonic Concorde, and the Apollo 11. I witnessed the events on our small black-and-white television set, and I was mesmerized! I can’t pinpoint the particular event, but I recall thinking that the final frontier was penetrated and was open for exploration; humans were space bound. I remember wondering about the endless threshold between the familiar and the unknown, between the known and the yet-to-be-discovered. What was in and beyond the cosmos? I became imaginative!

I started reading Daneshmand, the Iranian version of Scientific American. I wanted to fly. I wanted to become a “pajoheshgar”– a discoverer. My math grades improved, physics became interesting, and every dime of my weekly allowance was saved for flight lessons. The rigor of math became tolerable, indeed desirable, and the world of knowledge and discovery became more alluring.

All of this is to say that today, on National Space Day, and as a Space Grant Institution, we acknowledge and celebrate all achievements in space exploration. In fact, Miners have made their mark in space exploration and applications for decades, and today, our current students are forging their own successes by conducting NASA-funded research, building and launching satellites and competing as finalists in NASA’s Lunar Forge competition.

At the frontier of high technology in space applications, hypersonic material research holds a prominent position, mainly due to the extreme heat of re-entry. As competition to develop the most advanced hypersonic vehicles continues, our team of researchers at Missouri S&T, led by Dr. Greg Hilmas, is collaborating with General Electric and Clemson University to assist with U.S. efforts. With $40 million in funding through the Air Force Research Laboratory, Hilmas and his team are working to develop materials that can withstand the high temperatures associated with hypersonic speed. Further, Dr. William Fahrenholz recently received a $7.5 million U.S. Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grant to develop new heat-resistant materials.

Dr. Serhat Hosder and his team are working to quantify uncertainties in the computational modeling of hypersonic systems and reduce their impact on the performance of hypersonic vehicles as part of a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. Collaborators include The Ohio State University, NASA Langley Research Center, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Defending against the threat of adversarial hypersonic weapons, Hosder and his team are developing laser countermeasures jointly with researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington as part of another grant from the Department of Defense’s Joint Hypersonic Transition Office through the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics. 

There is a common and continual thread to decades of success in space application research that is shared by our faculty, students and alumni: a solid foundation in STEM education. Fifty years ago, as a teenager living halfway around the world, I was propelled by the success of Apollo 11 to pursue an education in STEM. Today, as an educator, I see first-hand the alluring prospect of early and sufficient exposure to STEM, including the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, fostering curiosity, possibility thinking, and, perhaps the development of my favorite trait, persistence.

To create early exposure, our Project Lead the Way exposes young students to STEM-related careers and industries and helps prepare them for college. Participants are nearly three times more likely to major in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We are indeed leading the way, pushing boundaries and creating opportunities for students of all ages.

Finally, do I hear cheering and even some sighs of relief? After all, it is the last day of class here at Missouri S&T, and many students, faculty and staff are celebrating the end of another semester and the achievements, space-related or otherwise, that came with it. To our students, I say good wishes for final exams, y’all.

Warmly,

-Mo.

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Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu