NASA University Challenge Ignites Trajectory of Drone Entrepreneur

What happened

As a student, Gavin was on a Michigan State team twice selected for participation in NASA’s University Student Research Challenge. Five years ago, Gavin Gardner was a Michigan State University engineering student researching next-generation drone technology as part of a NASA grant.

Garder expected the research to be demanding – but he was surprised that navigating the financial side of the work presented an even greater challenge. Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Four co-founders of AG3 Labs –from left Matt Atkinson, Gavin Gardner, Ryan Atkinson, and Gryson Gardner – show off the military training drones their company builds at a U.S.

His NASA experience served as a foundation for the creation of AG3. Research path Student challenge paves way for opportunity Five years ago, Gavin Gardner was a Michigan State University engineering student researching next-generation drone technology as part of a NASA grant.

Although Gardner was used to leading fellow students in a lab setting, he and his team were completely new to things like creating budgets, handling large sums of money, and promoting their work for crowdfunding. That’s why demonstrating both engineering and entrepreneurship skills are major tentpoles of NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC), an initiative that provides grants to teams of college students interested in helping the agency realize its aeronautical research goals.

“Half the battle is building your product,” Gardner said recently. “The other half is selling the product in a way that everyone else can understand what you’re doing and not talking in nerdy, engineering ways.”

STEVEN HOLZ NASA USRC Manager Gardner and his Michigan State USRC alumni teammates are still using those lessons today, as aerospace developers.