Parks College Hosts 2016 Gateway to Space Conference, Receives Award

The St. Louis Space Frontier, the local chapter of the National Space Society, held its annual Gateway to Space Conference at Saint Louis University’s Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology on Saturday, Oct 8.

Attendees spent the day learning about topics in line with the National Space Society’s mission of promoting “people living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity.”

The conference hosted the keynote speaker Brian Stofiel, an entrepreneur in the aerospace engineering industry, who discussed his most recent projects with satellite orbital launch systems and encouraged those working in space technologies to continue to innovate. Other presentation topics ranged from “The Role of Bioreactors in Space Farms” to “Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace.”

Parks College students also presented at the conference. Nicholas Mercadante, Cody Chlanda and Kate Clements presented “Undergraduate-Led CubeSat Development,” in which they shared their achievements and challenges in the Space Systems Research Laboratory. Aris Simsarian, Nicholas Hunsaker, Michael Blaser and Max Pittman presented about their work with the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory.

In 2014, the St. Louis Space Frontier began a tradition of giving the Gateway to Space Award to St. Louis people and organizations that have impacted space exploration. This year, the organizational award was given to Parks College.

Parks College was chosen “for its historic contribution to aerospace engineering… Parks College has graduated many students who went on to contribute significantly to space exploration,” said Christine Nobbe, the conference chair and St. Louis Space Frontier treasurer.

Jim Merriman of the St. Louis Space Frontier, who studied aerospace engineering at Parks College in 1968, presented the award to Riyadh Hindi, Ph.D., Parks College associate dean of graduate education and research.

“The education I received from Parks helped me to get my job as an assistant engineer at McDonnell Douglas in 1977, where I saw them building the Aft Propulsion System for the Space Shuttle Orbiter,” Merriman said. “Besides graduating Gene Kranz, Parks College also graduated Kelly Beck, who became a flight director for the International Space Station. Other graduates have also worked on space projects. For these reasons, I and the other members of the St. Louis Space Frontier believe Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology is deserving of this Gateway to Space award.”