Two doctoral candidates in the Mechanical Engineering Department at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering received awards for advancing the future of space-related innovation.
Fuzhen Yao, a second-year doctoral student, recently won the Best Paper Award at the 7th International Conference on Tethers in Space, an event that brings together leading international researchers in the field of tethered satellite systems.
Yao’s paper, titled “Concept Design of a Novel Dyson-Harrop CubeSat for Solar Wind Energy Harvesting,” builds on his existing work that addresses the challenge of in-orbit manufacturing solar power stations, a crucial structure for advancing space exploration.
The recent award isn’t the first recognition of Yao’s work, which has also earned the attention of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering and has received funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
Ahmad Al Ali, a student researcher working in the Space Engineering Design Laboratory, is another recent award winner, having received a Student Travel Award from the Canadian Space Agency. With it, Al Ali was able to attend the prestigious 45th Committee on Space Research Scientific Assembly in South Korea.
There, Al Ali was able to showcase his research on the use of robotic manipulators for space debris removal, which addresses the challenges of space environments becoming increasingly saturated with debris – resulting in a growing risk of human space activity and mission interference.
What the two students share is not just the experience of having recently earned an award but the way their work demonstrates how York University and Lassonde are home to future leaders in science and engineering who are contributing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges – pursuing sustainability not just on Earth but beyond its atmosphere.