STEM ENGINEERING

Observational balloon launch at Penn State ICED Short Course (Photos Penn State News 2013). 

PASTEM uses the Innovative Conceptualization in Engineering Design (ICED) process to help mentorees push the boundaries of technology innovation. The adoption of the ICED method, championed by NASA Astronaut Charles Camadra, has been observed in various organizations, including the U.S. Army, FIRST Robotics, National Science Foundation, and Lockheed Martin. The ICED method has been instrumental in devising new and creative solutions for diverse challenges, from exploring outer space to improving medical technology.

The ICED method is employed by PASTEM when mentoring the Polaris amateur rocketry team. The Polaris team was founded in 2022 by Yug Shukla and Sohum Gautam to become the first high school team to launch a high-altitude rocket. Polaris is working on creating an affordable solution for conducting experiments using reusable sounding rockets. Working with PASTEM and NASA’s STELLA program Polaris is designing a compact digital monitoring system as part of their launch payload. This system will enable remote tracking of the rocket’s trajectory, speed, acceleration, and other parameters that will be used to improve the rocket’s performance and gain insight into how to deploy it in the future.