Description

This event will be a rapid-prototyping workshop with the purpose of learning how to build a satellite from scratch, which will be launched into orbit during 2012. Students taking the seminars will learn the requisite technology required for software programming, electrical design, hardware assembly, orbital mechanics, and radio communications. The exercise will culminate in a high-altitude weather balloon launch where students will get to test their equipment at over 30 km in the stratosphere. These satellites build off of Google Android smartphones, and all of the software for them is completely open-source.;;We welcome students from all divisions, as while the satellite assembly itself draws skillsets from Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, there are a wide variety of payload applications that can directly benefit Bioscience, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chemical Sciences, Earth Science and Engineering, Environmental Science and Engineering, and Marine Science. We already have a strong track record of biological payload research, having flown KAUST researcher payloads alongside NASA payloads that have won international prizes and been featured in documentaries by the BBC and Nature. The ability to use satellites for remote environmental sensing is key to Saudi Arabia’s future, and an area in which we are rapidly developing.;;We welcome students of all backgrounds to join us in this project, and look forward to reaching new heights in Saudi Arabia together.;;*Nanosatellite launch during the Science Fun Fair*