Meet the Warwick students creating a satellite to take worms into space

Engineering students at the University of Warwick have been working on a project to create a satellite that will be used to house microscopic worms in space.

Members of the university’s satellite engineering team (WUSAT) are travelling to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) learning facility in Redu, Belgium, to showcase their work.

The group has been working on a low earth orbit satellite known as a Cubesat, which will enable scientists at the University of Exeter to monitor activity of the worms in controlled conditions.

They will also investigate the ability of the worms to reproduce and continue to provide biomass during a remote space mission.

The research is of interest to both the ESA and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA).

Being part of WUSAT provides engineering students from different disciplines the opportunity to design, build and launch their own satellite.

The team has hosted several ground-breaking projects – from helping to launch a moon-orbiting satellite, achieving the first successful ejected satellite mission, and even using satellites to track electronically tagged wildlife from space.

Seb Fieldhouse, fourth year student and member of the WUSAT team, said: “Working on the satellite has been a brilliant opportunity.

"I’ve learnt so much about space systems engineering.

"Being part of WUSAT has also opened up a lot of opportunities.

"We visited engineering facilities at Airbus and now, because of our work , we have the chance to learn satellite systems engineering from the very best at the ESA.

"I’m very excited to go to Belgium to learn from the experts – it’s a great chance to develop my skills as an engineer.”

Dr William Crofts has led the WUSAT programme since it launched in 2006.

He said: “The opportunity for the student team to spend time on related concurrent engineering training with ESA staff and facilities in Belgium is just one example of the unique opportunities that WUSAT has provided for many students over the past 17 years.

“These students will learn an enormous amount about how complex engineering projects are designed and managed, while receiving a tremendous boost to their CVs.

"They’ll represent the University of Warwick in a European showcase event and highlight both the quality of our students and the real-world applications of engineering with WUSAT.

"We’re really proud to have ESA’s endorsement and support in these projects.”

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/meng/wusat/