Engineering student earns international gold medal

Robinson

Joel W. Robinson of Vicksburg, a 1993 graduate of the university's aerospace engineering program, edged out competitors from France, England, and Taiwan to earn the highest award--a gold medal--for a student paper. Presentation of the honor was made during the recent 44th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation in Graz, Austria.

Robinson is now enrolled as a graduate student in mechanical engineering. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Robinson, now of Pearl.

As part of a class project, Robinson researched the possibility of building a small-scale hybrid propellant rocket engine, using Plexiglas and gaseous oxygen. The idea was suggested by Gregory Sakala, an engineer with Sverdrup Technology Inc. at the NASA Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, where Robinson worked during two summers.

"I spent about five months working on the project," Robinson said. "I wanted to take the idea of building a hybrid system and modify it so that it could be tested in our Mississippi State facility." Sakala served as technical adviser on the project, which was directed by Mississippi State aerospace engineering professor Keith Koenig.

While an undergraduate, Robinson was a Dean's Scholar and received a NASA Space Grant Scholarship. He was a member of the Engineering Student Council and is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, serving as vice president of the student branch in 1992-93. He also holds the designation as a certified engineer intern in Mississippi.