Our senior design project is an automated bioassay that can analyze the effect of microgravity on proteins within the constraints of a miniature satellite known as a CubeSat. Currently, protein experiments in space are sent to the International Space Station (ISS), crystallized, and then sent back to Earth for analysis. This method is extremely expensive, but the introduction of CubeSats in the early 21st century provide a lower cost alternative to launch experiments into space. This is very promising for research scientists who want to use microgravity experiments to study fundamental biology.

This project will design the payload of the CubeSat. The expected end result is a working bioassay prototype that is able to reach NASA's Technical Readiness Level 4 to show proof of concept in a laboratory environment.

Project Name

Microfluidic Spectroscopy for Proteins within CubeSats

Project Number

P16104

Project Family

Aerospace Systems and Technology

Start Term

2151

End Term

2155

Faculty Guide

Mr. Harold Paschal

Primary Customer

Dr. Lea Michel

Team Values and Norms

Project Management

Project Photos and Videos

Imagine RIT

Problem Definition

Systems Design

Subsystem Design

Preliminary Detailed Design

Detailed Design

Build & Test Prep

Subsystem Build & Test

Integrated System Build & Test

Integrated System Build & Test with Customer Demo

Customer Handoff & Final Project Documentation