Aerospace engineering student at RMIT, Jack Emmerson, was the only Australian finalist in a NASA-sponsored global competition held in Florida, USA.
The 2024 RASC-AL competition invited undergraduate and graduate teams from around the globe to present innovative new concepts that could improve NASA’s ability to operate on the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Emmerson, a third-year Aerospace Engineering (Honours) student, was team leader for a collaborative team between RMIT University, Clarkson University (USA) and Khalifa University (UAE).
Emmerson presented his team’s project to judges from NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace.
Their project, AUTONOMY: Augmented Unmanned Technology Operating in Navigating Objects of Mining Yield, explored the concept of deploying a highly advanced manufacturing plant to selected asteroids to harvest resources and navigate objects in the solar system’s main asteroid belt.
Emmerson said the project initially sparked his curiosity because of his longstanding interest in space.
“In my opinion, space is the frontier of all advanced sciences,” said Emmerson.
“Systems Engineering in space is a complex field on the forefront of research. This drives me to apply myself by doing Aerospace Engineering at RMIT, where I learn key Aerospace concepts that helped me in the competition.”
Leading the project team for this competition was a new challenge for Emmerson, tasked with collaborating with teams from across the globe.
“The collaboration with the United States team and the United Arab Emirates team was a unique experience you only get a couple of times in your life,” said Emmerson.
“My role was the team lead of the project; I would assign tasks to the main point of contacts for the US and UAE teams, and they would delegate tasks to their team members who specialised in that area.”
The international aspect of the competition was a highlight for Emmerson, who interacted with people from all over the world.
“It was weird being the only Australian at the forum. There were other internationals there, but they came from Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Puerto Rico,” said Emmerson.
“Meeting all the like-minded individuals at the forum was the best part of the whole trip, comparing our projects and talking about new ideas in space travel was great.”
Emmerson said he had gained valuable skills in leading project teams and collaborating with diverse people throughout the process and hopes to eventually work at the Australian Space Agency (ASA) in the future.
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