Pinoy student wins NASA engineering design contest

On the eve of the Philippines' first foray into space, yet another Filipino is making the news in the aerospace industry.

Jose Mari Tuason, a Filipino studying Aerospace Engineering in the United States, won the first National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) first Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge together with his teammates from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The goal of the challenge is to find a way to increase the lift-to-drag ratio of the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) that could help NASA land heavier payloads with greater accuracy on space missions.

Tuason and his teammates had to defend their idea in a design review at NASA’s Langley Research Center last Monday, where they were scrutinized by a panel of experts.

Acting Director of Game Changing Development (GCD) Program Mary Wusk, said these kind of feats will be the markers of successes in space exploration in the future.

“We recognize the value in engaging top talent from America’s brightest collegiate students and faculty, and are making university collaboration a priority to remain at the forefront of these revolutions.”

In a Facebook post, Tuason expressed elation over his win.

Tuason and his team beat competitors from Georgia Tech, The State University of New York at Buffalo, and Purdue University.

BIG Idea Challenge is an engineering design competition sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (GCD) Program and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.

Tuason’s team will continue to work under the GDC program under an internship this summer, with hopes of further developing their concept. — Kiernserr Gerwin Tacadena/TJD, GMA News