2026 Symposium

The 2026 COSGC Undergraduate Space Research Symposium was held on April 25th, 2026 at Red Rocks Community College Lakewood Campus.

Agenda for 2026 Symposium

2026 Research Symposium Winners

GRAND PRIZE: University of Colorado - Integrated Rover鈥揌DM鈥揕unaSat听Testing in a Lunar Regolith Analog Environment -听E. Herzog,听J.听Leites,听E.听Taylor,听N.听Starkey,听S.听Donthula,听A.听Shalev听Merin


Session A: University of Colorado - Your Orthopedic Dynamic Alignment 鈥撎�A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth听

Session B: Pueblo Community College - Development of Autonomous Octopod Programming 鈥撎�M. Troyer听

Session C: Pikes Peak State College - 2nd听Eye in the Sky听鈥�听T. Hartzell, and A. Peruzzi

Session D: Community College of Aurora - The Efficacy of Reclaimed Water on Spinach Growth in Lunar Regolith 鈥撎�M. Osborne, M. Angell, P. M. Matthews, and G.听Hutauruk听

Session E: Red Rocks Community College / Arapahoe Community College - Cold Welding and Data Protection in Suborbital Flight 鈥撎�K. Shirley, A. Zollinger, D. Baker, M. Morgan, C. Foland, E. Eastman, A. Zeller, X. Lees, A. Castaneda, S.听Kennett, and Y. Mehta

Grand Prize Poster: University of Northern Colorado - P-17:听Winds of Change: Investigating Variability in Quasars with Outflows 鈥撎�M. Carrasco, and M.听Lazarova听

Best Demosat Poster: Red Rocks Community College - P-11:听Exploration of High-Altitude Chemistry using an听Ozonesonde, Turbine, and UV-Degradable Polymers 鈥撎�K. Dickson, M. Telford, A. Martin, J. Baldwin, D. Benson, J. Ferrell, C. Holman, H.听Ozaslan, L. Coto, F. Champlin, and T. Micciche-Hall听

Best Wearables Poster: University of Colorado - P-03:听Monitoring听Dynamic Posture Changes Through Inertial Measurement Units -听A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth

Best Robotics Poster: Front Range Community College - P-22:听Development of a Six-Legged Autonomous Robot for Rough Terrain Navigation听鈥�听R. Ganey, A. Garcia, and S. Rangel听

Best Research Poster Session A: Red Rocks Community College - P-14:听鈥淢artians and Moon Bugs:鈥� Progress Report on Extracting DNA from Lunar and Martian Regolith 鈥撎�V. Pinto, E.听Vencer, R. Axtell-Aretz, M. Telford, A. Martin, A. Garza, W. Taylor, L. Albert, and T. Williams

Best Research Poster Session B: University of Colorado - P-20:听PULSAR: Suborbital Flight Validation of听LunaSat听V8 and Deployment Systems for Distributed Lunar Science Missions 鈥撎�L. Bassett, M. Menzies, F. Radebaugh, J. Gabbard, J. Doyle, J. Diamond, C. Preedom, and the GLEE Team听听

Front Range Community College - Six-Legged Autonomous Robot for Rough Terrain Navigation

PAPERS:听

Session A:

ProjectSchool

The Climate Adaptation and Resilience Monitoring Alliance: New Technologies for Ecological Monitoring in a Rapidly Changing Environment 鈥� M. Thomas, K. Gill, A. Anderson, C. Koch, K. Pena, U. Mandavilli, C. Dwyer, N. Quirk, and T. Pachuda听

CU听

CU听

CU听

Your Orthopedic Dynamic Alignment 鈥� A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth听

CU听

Session B:

ProjectSchool

PCC听

Integrated Rover鈥揌DM鈥揕unaSat Testing in a Lunar Regolith Analog Environment鈥� E. Herzog, J. Leites, E. Taylor, N. Starkey, S. Donthula, A. Shalev Merin听

CU听

Rover on The Red Horizon鈥� E. Callahan, J. Bossert, C. Auer, J. Taylor, and M. Schnese听

UCCS听

Use of Spine Articulation in Aerospace Robotics with Monocular SLAM Navigation 鈥� M. Stembridge, D. Thornton, R. Sauzameda-Carbajal, B. Carpenter, and L. Tarpey听

PCC听

Session C:听

ProjectSchool

2nd Eye in the Sky 鈥� T. Hartzell, and A. Peruzzi听

PPSC听

Atmospheric Impact on Solar Cell Efficiency 鈥� J. Lee, I. Thyer, G. Yannotta, M. Avdyunin, and C. Somayajula听

CU听

DemoSat: Team Hot Air 鈥� A. Church, S. Weatherby, and N. Jacobs听

PPSC听

SPARC: Space Particle and Radiation Counter 鈥� S. Barrionuevo, M. Olson, S. Santosh, and L. Tisher听

CU听

Session D:听

Project听School

UCCS听

Space Fried Rice 2025-26: Monitoring Rice Growth in Lunar Regolith 鈥� W. Taylor, G. Dreeszen, G. Perez-Soler, A. Garza, F. Champlin, S. Selph, N. Smith, M. Telford, M. Heng, and R. Axtell-Aretz听

RRCC听

Optimizing Buoyant Airborne Turbines for Maximum Performance in Limited Space 鈥� C. Gagliano, K. Karges, J. Knott, O. Knott, and M. Lott听

FRCC听

The Efficacy of Reclaimed Water on Spinach Growth in Lunar Regolith鈥� M. Osborne, M. Angell, P. M. Matthews, and G. Hutauruk听

CCA听

Session E:听

ProjectSchool

Balancing Motion and Biology: Payload Stabilization and Blood Integrity in Near-Space Flight Sirius 鈥� R. Buffington, J. David, M. Zubrod, B. Schick, and O. Mackenzie听

FRCC听

FRCC听

Cold Welding and Data Protection in Suborbital Flight 鈥� K. Shirley, A. Zollinger, D. Baker, M. Morgan, C. Foland, E. Eastman, A. Zeller, X. Lees, A. Castaneda, S. Kennett, and Y. Mehta听

RRCC / ACC听

POSTERS:

Group 1:

ProjectSchool

CU听

P-02: Development of a Head Impact Telemetry System for mTBI/CTE Research - A. Silberman, T. Connelly, E. Batdorj, and R. McHale听

ACC听

P-03: Monitoring Dynamic Posture Changes Through Inertial Measurement Units - A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth听

CU听

听P-04: Solarpunk Parasol: A Sustainable Wearable Platform for Energy Harvesting and Passive Environmental Sensing 鈥� M. H seeb, S. Johnston, R. King, R. Motheral, A. Nakarmi, and M. E. West听

Longmont HS听

Group 2:听

ProjectSchool
P-05: Investigating the Dynamical Nature of Unipedal Balance - K. Villarreal, M. Semak, and A. Ferris听

UNC听

P-06: Two Men and a Marschine - T. Tatum, and T. Hartzell听

PPSC听

PCC听

P-08: Dune Crawler 鈥� F. Camplin, C. Travis, L. Crossett, B. Andrie, L. Winfrey, E. DeWeese, J. Myers, R.B.T. Jenkins, F. Ridgeway, T. Micciche-Hall, N. Aguilera, N. Orndoff, and G.A.P. Soler听

RRCC听

Group 3:

ProjectSchool

P-09: Optimizing Buoyant Airborne Turbines for Maximum Performance in Limited Space 鈥� C. Gagliano, J. Knott, K. Karges, M. Lott, and O. Knott听

FRCC听

P-10: Effect of near-space conditions on the survival rate of Juvenile and mature C.elegans - S. BC, A.C. Rodriguez, Q. Dixon, T. Fuller, L. Giardello, A. Ruiz, and B. Wisener听听

RU听

P-11: Exploration of High-Altitude Chemistry using an Ozonesonde, Turbine, and UV-Degradable Polymers 鈥� K. Dickson, M. Telford, A. Martin, J. Baldwin, D. Benson, J. Ferrell, C. Holman, H. Ozaslan, L. Coto, F. Champlin, and T. Micciche-Hall听

RRCC听

P-12: Stratospheric Observation of Light And Renewables 鈥� J. Lee, I. Thyer, G. Yannotta, M. Ardyunin, and C. Somayajula听

CU听

P-13: JAKE NOT FOUND 鈥� D. Ghilia, L. Flannery, A. Jannamon, and J. Coppom听

Longmont HS听

Group 4:听

ProjectSchool

P-14: 鈥淢artians and Moon Bugs:鈥� Progress Report on Extracting DNA from Lunar and Martian Regolith 鈥� V. Pinto, E. Vencer, R. Axtell-Aretz, M. Telford, A. Martin, A. Garza, W. Taylor, L. Albert, and T. Williams听听

RRCC听

P-15: The Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone (GLEE): Distributed Lunar Surface Science 鈥� D. Kroneberger, E. Levin, V. Pathi, A. Joshi, K. Stathopulos, and the GLEE team听

CU听

P-16: Mission SCOUT: Satellite Collision Observation & Unified Tracking 鈥� L. Berger, Z. Dyre, L. Leal De Ibarra, W. Jolley, M. Pahade, R. Patel, S. Redhorse, F. Sharman, T. Suxe, and L. Ward听

CU听

UNC听

Group 5:听

ProjectSchool

P-18: Housing and Deployment Module Redesign for Distributed Lunar Sensor Deployment in the GLEE Mission 鈥� P. Mertens, S. Donthula, F. Garza Cancino, M. Alperovich, G. Smith, and E. Letendre听

CU听

P-19: Cold Welding in Suborbital Flight鈥� M. Morgan, E. Eastman, C. Foland, K. Shirley, D. Baker, A. Zeller, X. Lees, A. Zollinger, S. Kennett, Y. Mehta, and A. Castaneda听

ACC / RRCC听

P-20: PULSAR: Suborbital Flight Validation of LunaSat V8 and Deployment Systems for Distributed Lunar Science Missions 鈥� L. Bassett, M. Menzies, F. Radebaugh, J. Gabbard, J. Doyle, J. Diamond, C. Preedom, and the GLEE Team听听

CU听

Group 6:听

ProjectSchool

CCA听

听

FRCC听

P-23: HARP Robotics Project - S. Garrett, D. Morales, A. Bachtiar, J. Lerch, J. Swain, O. Banks, C. Randolph, and L. Naden听

CU听

Group 7:听

ProjectSchool

P-24: Team Hot Air 鈥� A. Church, S. Weatherby, N. Jacobs听

PPSC听

RRCC听

P-26: Balancing Motion and Biology 鈥� J. David, O. Mackenzie, R. Buffington, M. Zubrod, and B. Schick听

FRCC听

P-27: Glowing Tardigrades 鈥� L. Albert, J. Andrews Garcia, and N. Thibodaux听

RRCC听

2026 Symposium Photo Gallery