THE AURORA EXPLORATION PROGRAM AND ITS COOPERATION WITH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITIES: THE FUSE NETWORK AND THE AURORA STUDENT DESIGN CONTEST

摘要

In the Aurora Exploration Programme Declaration provision has been made to involve Technical Universities in the preparatory phase of the Programme. This is in recognition of the importance of academia in R&D endeavours as it brings together scientific and technological excellence with the motivation, vision and innovative ideas of young individuals.rnReaching out to Universities and their students has also a great impact on raising awareness about space programmes and is a key element in the effort to assure a skilled workforce for the aerospace industry.rnSharing these views, the Aurora Programme Team and the ESA Education Office have joined their efforts in order to establish a framework to foster and organise the involvement of Academia in the Aurora Programme Preparatory Phase.rnFor the time being two are the main outcomes: the establishment of an European Network of European Universities (the FUSE network) and the launch of a Student Design Contest that will allow student teams to propose innovative projects and ideas in five different categories related to the Aurora Programme.rnThe paper will present the process and the different phases through which ESA has facilitated the establishment of the University Network, FUSE. It will also dwell on the conception and launch of the Student Design Contest and will give a first impression on the response from students and academia in general.rnFurthermore the future plans with respect to the activities towards Universities within the Aurora Programme will be presented taking into account the lesson learned during this first year and how this are meant to serve the underlying objectives, namely stimulating young students and researchers through confronted with a complex space-related subject and identify the most talented among them.