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–HDM–LunaSatTesting in a Lunar Regolith Analog Environment -E. Herzog,J.Leites,E.Taylor,N.Starkey,S.Donthula,A.ShalevMerin
Session A: University of Colorado - Your Orthopedic Dynamic Alignment –A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth
Session B: Pueblo Community College - Development of Autonomous Octopod Programming –M. Troyer
Session C: Pikes Peak State College - 2ndEye in the Sky–T. Hartzell, and A. Peruzzi
Session D: Community College of Aurora - The Efficacy of Reclaimed Water on Spinach Growth in Lunar Regolith –M. Osborne, M. Angell, P. M. Matthews, and G.Hutauruk
Session E: Red Rocks Community College / Arapahoe Community College - Cold Welding and Data Protection in Suborbital Flight –K. Shirley, A. Zollinger, D. Baker, M. Morgan, C. Foland, E. Eastman, A. Zeller, X. Lees, A. Castaneda, S.Kennett, and Y. Mehta
Grand Prize Poster: University of Northern Colorado - P-17:Winds of Change: Investigating Variability in Quasars with Outflows –M. Carrasco, and M.Lazarova
Best Demosat Poster: Red Rocks Community College - P-11:Exploration of High-Altitude Chemistry using anOzonesonde, Turbine, and UV-Degradable Polymers –K. Dickson, M. Telford, A. Martin, J. Baldwin, D. Benson, J. Ferrell, C. Holman, H.Ozaslan, L. Coto, F. Champlin, and T. Micciche-Hall
Best Wearables Poster: University of Colorado - P-03:MonitoringDynamic Posture Changes Through Inertial Measurement Units -A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth
Best Robotics Poster: Front Range Community College - P-22:Development of a Six-Legged Autonomous Robot for Rough Terrain Navigation–R. Ganey, A. Garcia, and S. Rangel
Best Research Poster Session A: Red Rocks Community College - P-14:“Martians and Moon Bugs:” Progress Report on Extracting DNA from Lunar and Martian Regolith –V. Pinto, E.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:PULSAR: Suborbital Flight Validation ofLunaSatV8 and Deployment Systems for Distributed Lunar Science Missions –L. Bassett, M. Menzies, F. Radebaugh, J. Gabbard, J. Doyle, J. Diamond, C. Preedom, and the GLEE Team
Front Range Community College - Six-Legged Autonomous Robot for Rough Terrain Navigation
PAPERS:
Session A:
| Project | School |
The Climate Adaptation and Resilience Monitoring Alliance: New Technologies for Ecological Monitoring in a Rapidly Changing Environment – M. Thomas, K. Gill, A. Anderson, C. Koch, K. Pena, U. Mandavilli, C. Dwyer, N. Quirk, and T. Pachuda | CU |
Measuring the Ratio of Water to other Atmospheric Gas Concentration at Different Altitudes – A. Diener, L. Libelo, and A. Levin | CU |
CU | |
Your Orthopedic Dynamic Alignment – A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth | CU |
Session B:
| Project | School |
Development of Autonomous Octopod Programming – M. Troyer | PCC |
Integrated Rover–HDM–LunaSat Testing in a Lunar Regolith Analog Environment– E. Herzog, J. Leites, E. Taylor, N. Starkey, S. Donthula, A. Shalev Merin | CU |
Rover on The Red Horizon– E. Callahan, J. Bossert, C. Auer, J. Taylor, and M. Schnese | UCCS |
Use of Spine Articulation in Aerospace Robotics with Monocular SLAM Navigation – M. Stembridge, D. Thornton, R. Sauzameda-Carbajal, B. Carpenter, and L. Tarpey | PCC |
Session C:
| Project | School |
2nd Eye in the Sky – T. Hartzell, and A. Peruzzi | PPSC |
Atmospheric Impact on Solar Cell Efficiency – J. Lee, I. Thyer, G. Yannotta, M. Avdyunin, and C. Somayajula | CU |
DemoSat: Team Hot Air – A. Church, S. Weatherby, and N. Jacobs | PPSC |
SPARC: Space Particle and Radiation Counter – S. Barrionuevo, M. Olson, S. Santosh, and L. Tisher | CU |
Session D:
| Project | School |
Engineering Analysis of Diffusion-Dominated Osmotic Transport in a Passive RhFET-01 Microgravity Germination System – J. Johnson, S. Ritchie, D. W. Elmore, and K. Lowerre | UCCS |
Space Fried Rice 2025-26: Monitoring Rice Growth in Lunar Regolith – W. Taylor, G. Dreeszen, G. Perez-Soler, A. Garza, F. Champlin, S. Selph, N. Smith, M. Telford, M. Heng, and R. Axtell-Aretz | RRCC |
Optimizing Buoyant Airborne Turbines for Maximum Performance in Limited Space – C. Gagliano, K. Karges, J. Knott, O. Knott, and M. Lott | FRCC |
The Efficacy of Reclaimed Water on Spinach Growth in Lunar Regolith– M. Osborne, M. Angell, P. M. Matthews, and G. Hutauruk | CCA |
Session E:
| Project | School |
Balancing Motion and Biology: Payload Stabilization and Blood Integrity in Near-Space Flight Sirius – R. Buffington, J. David, M. Zubrod, B. Schick, and O. Mackenzie | FRCC |
Development of a Six-Legged Autonomous Robot for Rough Terrain Navigation– R. Ganey, A. Garcia, and S. Rangel | FRCC |
Cold Welding and Data Protection in Suborbital Flight – K. Shirley, A. Zollinger, D. Baker, M. Morgan, C. Foland, E. Eastman, A. Zeller, X. Lees, A. Castaneda, S. Kennett, and Y. Mehta | RRCC / ACC |
POSTERS:
Group 1:
| Project | School |
CU | |
P-02: Development of a Head Impact Telemetry System for mTBI/CTE Research - A. Silberman, T. Connelly, E. Batdorj, and R. McHale | ACC |
P-03: Monitoring Dynamic Posture Changes Through Inertial Measurement Units - A. Anand, C. Bowen, M. Gutke, J. Hickman, and L. Toth | CU |
P-04: Solarpunk Parasol: A Sustainable Wearable Platform for Energy Harvesting and Passive Environmental Sensing – M. H seeb, S. Johnston, R. King, R. Motheral, A. Nakarmi, and M. E. West | Longmont HS |
Group 2:
| Project | School |
| P-05: Investigating the Dynamical Nature of Unipedal Balance - K. Villarreal, M. Semak, and A. Ferris | UNC |
P-06: Two Men and a Marschine - T. Tatum, and T. Hartzell | PPSC |
PCC | |
P-08: Dune Crawler – 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 | RRCC |
Group 3:
| Project | School |
P-09: Optimizing Buoyant Airborne Turbines for Maximum Performance in Limited Space – C. Gagliano, J. Knott, K. Karges, M. Lott, and O. Knott | FRCC |
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 | RU |
P-11: Exploration of High-Altitude Chemistry using an Ozonesonde, Turbine, and UV-Degradable Polymers – K. Dickson, M. Telford, A. Martin, J. Baldwin, D. Benson, J. Ferrell, C. Holman, H. Ozaslan, L. Coto, F. Champlin, and T. Micciche-Hall | RRCC |
P-12: Stratospheric Observation of Light And Renewables – J. Lee, I. Thyer, G. Yannotta, M. Ardyunin, and C. Somayajula | CU |
P-13: JAKE NOT FOUND – D. Ghilia, L. Flannery, A. Jannamon, and J. Coppom | Longmont HS |
Group 4:
| Project | School |
P-14: “Martians and Moon Bugs:” Progress Report on Extracting DNA from Lunar and Martian Regolith – V. Pinto, E. Vencer, R. Axtell-Aretz, M. Telford, A. Martin, A. Garza, W. Taylor, L. Albert, and T. Williams | RRCC |
P-15: The Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone (GLEE): Distributed Lunar Surface Science – D. Kroneberger, E. Levin, V. Pathi, A. Joshi, K. Stathopulos, and the GLEE team | CU |
P-16: Mission SCOUT: Satellite Collision Observation & Unified Tracking – L. Berger, Z. Dyre, L. Leal De Ibarra, W. Jolley, M. Pahade, R. Patel, S. Redhorse, F. Sharman, T. Suxe, and L. Ward | CU |
P-17: Winds of Change: Investigating Variability in Quasars with Outflows – M. Carrasco, and M. Lazarova | UNC |
Group 5:
| Project | School |
P-18: Housing and Deployment Module Redesign for Distributed Lunar Sensor Deployment in the GLEE Mission – P. Mertens, S. Donthula, F. Garza Cancino, M. Alperovich, G. Smith, and E. Letendre | CU |
P-19: Cold Welding in Suborbital Flight– M. Morgan, E. Eastman, C. Foland, K. Shirley, D. Baker, A. Zeller, X. Lees, A. Zollinger, S. Kennett, Y. Mehta, and A. Castaneda | ACC / RRCC |
P-20: PULSAR: Suborbital Flight Validation of LunaSat V8 and Deployment Systems for Distributed Lunar Science Missions – L. Bassett, M. Menzies, F. Radebaugh, J. Gabbard, J. Doyle, J. Diamond, C. Preedom, and the GLEE Team | CU |
Group 6:
| Project | School |
P-21: Rapid Prototyping and Additive Manufacturing for the Functional Implementation of Expanding Wheel Suspension – Betelhem, TJ, Ayo, Chava, Lai, Jesus, Marco, Jessica | CCA |
P-22: Development of a Six-Legged Autonomous Robot for Rough Terrain Navigation – R. Ganey, A. Garcia, and S. Rangel | FRCC |
P-23: HARP Robotics Project - S. Garrett, D. Morales, A. Bachtiar, J. Lerch, J. Swain, O. Banks, C. Randolph, and L. Naden | CU |
Group 7:
| Project | School |
P-24: Team Hot Air – A. Church, S. Weatherby, N. Jacobs | PPSC |
P-25: RRCC Astrobio Investigates Chlorophyll Production in Different Growth Factors- Red Rocks Community College Astrobio team | RRCC |
P-26: Balancing Motion and Biology – J. David, O. Mackenzie, R. Buffington, M. Zubrod, and B. Schick | FRCC |
P-27: Glowing Tardigrades – L. Albert, J. Andrews Garcia, and N. Thibodaux | RRCC |