SSEP winner announced at special event showcasing all proposals
400 students...209 proposals...35 semi-finalists...3 finalists...and then there was one team: Skylar Jordan and Amanda Kay, sophomores whose experiment "Shewanella oneidensis and Iron Ions in Microgravity" was selected to go to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.
The winning experiment was announced at a special event celebrating the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) at Bullis, in which students in grades 8-12 had the opportunity to develop proposals for experiments that could be conducted in microgravity. The thirty-three semi-finalists, selected by a Step 1 Review Board, created presentation posters that filled the lobby of the Blair Center. Students described their experiment proposals to parents, staff and other students who came to the campus event on the eve of the massive "Snowzilla" blizzard.
Displays represented the fascinating range of proposed experiments, from "Will Microgravity Affect the Antimicrobial Function of Benzalkonium Chloride" to "Introduction of Meat Preservation in Space."
After the reception, attendees filled Howard Auditorium for the evening's formal program. Keynote speaker Dr. Sandra Magnus fascinated the audience with her talk of life in space aboard the ISS. The executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dr. Magnus is a former astronaut who flew in space on multiple shuttle missions.
The event also included recognition of the Step 1 Review Board for their work in culling through the proposals for the three finalist proposals that would be submitted to the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education's SSEP Step 2 Review Board, which chooses all experiments to be sent to the ISS. The Step 1 Review Board members were:
John Anagnostou, Director, LGE Fund
Joanna Caudle, Science Department Chair, Stone Ridge School
Dan Deans, Vice President Corporate Development, Millenium Engineering
Tracy Hollars, Science Department Chair, Bullis School
Dr. John McKew, Vice President Research, aTyr Pharma
Barbara Nolan, Upper School Science Teacher, Bullis School
Robert Pollicino, Upper School Science Teacher and Principal, Bullis School
Dr. Lawrence Sita, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland
Dr. Daniel TerBush, Upper School Science Teacher, Bullis School
Kerry Wisnosky, Founder and Board Member, Millenium Engineering and Integration Company
Dr. Huan Xu, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Systems Research, Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland
Faith Darling, Director of STEM, Bullis School
Every student from the 35 semi-finalist teams was honored and recognized for their hard work and creativity, as Dr. Boarman presented each with a certificate. Then the final three teams presented their proposals. (Read about all of them here.)
The winning proposal by Amanda Kay and Skylar Jordan focused on an experiment that could provide data useful for space colonization. The students settled on the challenge of obtaining pure water—both obtaining and recycling water that is pure and free from large amounts of harmful heavy metal ions such as lead, chromium or iron. Their project focuses on the bacteria shewanella oneidensis that can reduce heavy metal ions that are dissolved in the water and remove them to make the water safe to drink.
Also announced at the event was the winning mission patch that will adorn the experiment materials into space. Upper School students were invited to submit designs. The winning design was drawn by Princess Ke '18.
"I knew this program had the potential to change the way students think about science as well as give faculty another way to connect the classroom to the real world," said Tracy Hollars, Upper School Science Department chair. "Our students were extremely excited about the possibility that their experiment could be conducted in space. We spent a lot of time dreaming and thinking about the possibilities. The hardest part of the SSEP program is to come up with a viable research question. Although the constraints of sending an experiment into space are quite limiting, through critical thinking and collaboration, students were able see the possibilities—and we are literally sending a Bullis scientific experiment into space!"
SSEP is undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education in partnership with Nanoracks, LLC. This on-orbit educational research opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks, LLC, which is working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.
Bullis students are participating in this project thanks to the generous support of the Bullis Parents Association, the Maryland Space Grant Consortium, SSEP national partners Subaru of America and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space and members of the Bullis community.
Read the story about this event in the Potomac Almanac.