CVCC Team Wins NC Space Grant Team Work Award In High Altitude Balloon Payload Competition

From Catawba Valley Community College Reports

High Altitude Balloon Competition Image
Catawba Valley Community College students recently competed in the NASA/NC Space Grant Community College High Altitude Ballooning Team Challenge and Competition and won the Team Work Award. Pictured are (from left, kneeling) Alexander Rodriguez, Nick Hughes, (back) Dorney LePierre, CVCC Engineering Technologies Department Head Jim Thomas, Billy Fredell, Cedric Clyburn, Logan Williams, Matt Carter and Sabrina Chipman.

Catawba Valley Community College students recently competed in the NASA/NC Space Grant Community College High Altitude Ballooning Team Challenge and Competition and won the Team Work Award.

Six community college teams competed by constructing and assembling a high altitude weather balloon with a payload that included a camera. Teams tracked and recovered their payloads. Data collected from the upper atmosphere was analyzed and photos and videos were taken from the edge of space.

The competition focuses on high-altitude ballooning as a way to give students hands-on experiential learning. The goal is to equip the future workforce of North Carolina with a STEM-based education and skill set.

“This competition is such a great experience for our students to develop marketable, real-world skills, including teamwork and project management,” said Jim Thomas, Engineering Technologies department head.

CVCC team members came from a broad range of engineering, science, and engineering technology programs. Students enrolled in Mechanical Engineering Technology, Mechatronics Engineering Technology, Electronics/Computer Engineering Technology, the Associates in Science, and Challenger High School were represented on the team. All of them are members of the Engineering Club.