Meet UBalt's 2020 NASA SUITS Team: The Astrobees
For the second year in a row, a team of University of Baltimore students have been invited to be part of NASA S.U.I.T.S. (Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students)—a challenge by the nation's space agency to design and create spacesuit information displays within augmented reality (AR) environments.
In 2019, a team from UBalt was among the challenge's finalists—and the only exclusively undergraduate team among all of the competing schools—to travel to the Johnson Space Center in Houston to present their technology to NASA engineers.
One year later, a second team, the Astrobees, will do the same. They're scheduled to be on site at the center in late April, accompanied by Profs. Giovanni Vincenti and Greg Walsh, to deliver their presentation and discuss its ideas and approaches to solving what NASA calls "key aspects" of the agency's upcoming Artemis mission to the moon.
"As NASA pursues Artemis—landing American astronauts on the Moon by 2024, the agency will accelerate investing in surface architecture and technology development," the agency says on its NASA SUITS website. "For exploration, it is essential that crew members on spacewalks are equipped with the appropriate human-autonomy enabling technologies necessary for the elevated demands of lunar surface exploration and extreme terrestrial access."
In plain language, the agency is looking for technological solutions—efficient, safe, and designed for non-engineers called in to fix a problem—for when things break on the lunar surface. A vehicle, a device, a shelter—anything can require a repair. The Astrobees are proposing an in-helmet, heads-up AR display for these jobs. Now, they're one of a select number of teams from across the United States to talk about their solutions, and show off their hardware and software, to the experts.
"Being part of this competition, for two years in a row, it shows the drive of our students to get results," Prof. Vincenti says. "These students, like so many students at UBalt, are absolutely unafraid to learn. They have a resilience that is really remarkable. I see them achieve things as a team, build on their own expertise, and keep moving. It's a highly diverse team that has put in an enormous number of hours to get to this point. No matter what, they will stay on the project until they have results."
Get to know the Astrobees.
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meet the astrobees
Najya Ahsan, project manager
B.S. in Applied Information Technology, Information Security and Assurance TrackMy name is Najya Ahsan and I am currently in my third year at the University of Baltimore.
My role in the NASA Suits Design Challenge is being the project manager along with outreach. With these responsibilities, I learn overviews of each sub-team in addition to making sure everything is being done in a timely manner. Along with this, I am the point of contact for the project as a whole, but also for getting the sub-teams to collaborate and join their works together.
In terms of outreach, I have been able to go back to my high school and middle school and even be featured on a radio show! At these outreach events, I am able to give the audience members an understanding on what we are working on with the NASA SUITS Design Challenge, the Artemis mission, and different examples of augmented reality to allow them to really learn what these technologies are capable of.
I have had a very amazing experience so far and am looking forward on what the rest of the journey holds!
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meet the astrobees
Michael Andersen
B.S. in Applied Information Technology, Application Development and Programming Track
Hello! My name is Michael Andersen, I am a senior at UBalt. It’s funny because I started at UBalt as a freshman as a criminal justice major. I eventually wound up taking my first programming class, we learned Python, and I fell in love with it and here I am!
I jumped at the opportunity to work on the NASA SUITS Challenge this year in order to gain experience working on real problems by applying what I have learned in the classroom. It has been an amazing experience so far and I have really developed a passion for not only software development but for space! I bought my first telescope and took my first pictures of the moon recently.
For the project my team and I are working on an android mobile application for mission control. An application that keeps track of all vital information during a spacewalk, these things may include things such as the astronauts heart rate and the amount of oxygen left in their tank. However, it may also include things such as field notes that were taken during their space walks!
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meet the astrobees
Peter Baldwin
B.S. in Applied Information Technology, Application Development and Programming TrackMy name is Peter Baldwin and I'm currently studying Applied Information Technology. During this process, I joined the Astrobees team to help develop the ARGOS software. My portion of the project is to create image recognition software via machine learning to identify tools the astronauts use. When I'm not programming or fulfilling my scholarly duties, I'm writing fantasy.
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meet the astrobees
Jasmine Brown
B.S. in Applied Information Technology, Application Development and Programming TrackI am a senior majoring in Applied Information Technology, concentrating on programming. I am apart of the IVA Development team for the AstroBees, helping design the mobile application for the NASA SUITS Design Challenge.
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meet the astrobees
Naiya Chapman-Weems
B.S. in Applied Information Technology, Information Security and Assurance TrackI am a senior at the University of Baltimore, and I manage the team’s social media pages, coordinate outreach events to get students of all ages interested in STEM, and I also work with the security aspect of the project. This is my first year participating in the NASA SUITS challenge.
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meet the astrobees
Chantil Hunt Estevez
B.S. in Simulation and Game DesignAs a modeler and game developer, I develop my craft because of my insatiable curiosity. Creating animated simulations as a means to share educational thoughts and ideas are my passion. Since there will always be something new to learn, I’ll always be found asking questions. Achievements, for me, are the attempts to solve countless of impossible questions through the experimental process of creation.
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meet the astrobeeS
William Hyland, B.S. '19
William majored in Applied Information Technology, with a concentration in Application Development and Programming, and was also a member of the Poegrammers, UBalt's 2019 NASA SUITS team.
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meet the astrobees
Blessing Leonard, B.S. '19
M.S. in Interaction Design and Information ArchitectureBlessing Leonard has a Bachelor of Science in Applied Information Technology, with a concentration in Information Security from the University of Baltimore. She currently practices as a cybersecurity technician. Inspired by a Designing for Humans course she took as an undergraduate student, she enrolled in UBalt's M.S. in Interaction Design and Information Architecture program.
As an Astrobee, she is working with the Software Development team on database management. She is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, and would love to someday become a professor. As a self proclaimed foodie and adventurer, she is often day dreaming of the food world tour she would love to embark on.
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meet the astrobees
John Manlucu, B.S. '19
John majored in Applied Information Technology, with a concentration in Application Development and Programming, and was also a member of the Poegrammers, UBalt's 2019 NASA SUITS team.
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meet the astrobees
Larysa Paliashchuk, B.S. '19
Larysa majored in Applied Information Technology, with a concentration in Application Development and Programming, and was also a member of the Poegrammers, UBalt's 2019 NASA SUITS team.
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meet the astrobees
Michael Vandi
B.S. in Applied Information Technology, Application Development and Programming TrackAs a kid growing up in Sierra Leone, I was always fascinated by the way computers work. This led me to pursue a career in tech and UBalt was the perfect fit for me because I get to work on many cool hands-on projects like the NASA SUITS challenge. For me, this project does not only come with a whole lot of opportunities, but it also exposes me to other kinds of technology as well. I primarily work on the user interface of the augmented reality software and how it interacts with other components in the system. When I’m not in school, I’m either coding up side projects, doing some research or teaching algorithms on my youtube channel… and I like to think that I lift weights too.
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meet the astrobees
Claudia Yee
M.S in Interaction Design and Information ArchitectureI'm currently a product designer in the fin-tech industry and a part-time student in the M.S in Interaction Design and Information Architecture program at UBalt. I'm passionate about designing intuitive and valuable experiences for users. I believe in a user-centered approach and embrace design research methodologies. For the NASA SUITS project, I contribute UX/UI support and collaborate with the developers during implementation. This includes wireframing, component design, interaction design, information architecture, and user testing.