Graduate Award For Creativity in Engineering for Mark O. Bruggink

大型空间结构将成为未来载人和无人航天飞行的重要组成部分。大型空间结构的类型包括太阳能电池板框架、空间站，可能还有载人行星际飞船。这项研究的目的是研究施加在这些大空间结构上的不同力（如重力）和应力（如热应力、振动应力）。该项目的一个目标是开发作用在框架上的力和应力的三维计算机模拟。此外，计划创建比例模型，以确定框架可以承受的一组特定材料的最大载荷。

Large space structures will become very important in the future of manned and unmanned space flight. Types of large space structures include frameworks of solar panels, space stations, and probably the manned interplanetary spacecraft. %%% The purpose of the proposed research is to study the different forces (e.g gravitational) and stresses (e.g thermal, vibrational) exerted on these large space structures. One goal of this project is to develop three-dimensional computer simulations of forces and stresses acting on a frame. Also, it is planned to create scale models to determine the maximum load the frames can withstand for a particular set of material.