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Nine student teams from the Space Engineering Institute (SEI) presented their Spring 2010 NASA projects the week of April 19 at NASA Johnson Space Center.

Five of the presenting SEI teams - Advanced Antenna, Space Based Solar Power, Integrated Thermal Management System, Smart Materials for Robotic Space Applications and Urine Pretreatment - were from Texas A&M University.

Students from these five teams and the other four teams from Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas A&M-Commerce and Prairie View A&M carried out research related to various NASA mission needs.

The program included 20-minute presentations from each student team, individual team meetings with the NASA sponsor, and a tour of various laboratories at NASA JSC. SEI is established under the Texas Engineering Experiment Station’s Space Engineering Research Center.

SEI was established in 2002 to engage undergraduate students in interdisciplinary and multilevel team projects with mentors from NASA and industry to improve student retention in engineering and enhance their engineering skills to meet the needs of the U.S. workforce. Since 2002, more than 75 percent of entering freshman who participate in SEI have graduated with an engineering degree, which is about 50 percent higher than the national retention average. In addition, more than 20 percent of SEI students pursue advanced degrees.