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Boise State students work with NASA, aid lunar exploration

NASA SUITS students sit together at a table
Left to right, Akiah Tullis, Marc Frances, Karen Doty, Caleb Cram, and Megan Laing. Photo by Sean Evans

Boise State has been selected to participate in the NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS) Artemis Student Challenge.

NASA SUITS is a software design challenge for undergraduate and graduate students across the United States to develop information displays using head mounted augmented reality devices, which superimpose digital information over a real environment to assist astronauts conducting spacewalks during NASA’s Artemis missions, which will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. Upon successful testing of software designs at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, each proposed user interface display has the potential to aid astronauts in lunar exploration for the Artemis program.

The team of students from Boise State is one of 10 teams advancing to the next phase of the 2022 NASA SUITS challenge. Students spend the next several months coding their augmented reality-based prototypes and preparing to share their finished work with NASA personnel. In addition to implementing their designs, the team will publish their research and present their findings at technical and STEM conferences.

The NASA SUITS team is comprised of Akiah Tullis (team lead), Caleb Cram, Marc Frances, and Megan Laing, led by mentors Steve Swanson and Karen Doty.

The institutions selected for the 2022 NASA SUITS Challenge include:

  • Boise State University in Boise, Idaho
  • Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida
  • Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island
  • Stanford University in Stanford, California
  • University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona
  • University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.
  • University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
  • University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
  • Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.

NASA’s Artemis Student Challenges are managed by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, using NASA’s unique missions and programs to engage and encourage students to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers.