The SSEP Lab

Our Space

SSEP acquired a new lab with the construction of the UAF Engineering Facility! Take a tour of the lab space in the above 360 Panorama. Beyond the major projects that SSEP works on, our lab provides a space for students to work on research, homework, hold meetings, teleconference, and socialize. Besides designing and building satellites, we use it for design reviews, teleconferences, class projects, homework, and movie nights. We invite all students to use this space, even if they aren't actively working on a project with us.

The lab is divided into two halves, onse used for general purpose and the other for hardware fabrication, assembly, and testing. The general purpose side of the lab features a conference table with video conferencing capabilities and an 80 inch monitor hidden behind a sliding whiteboard. This is where lab meetings, proposals, design reviews, presentations, and teleconferences occur. We also allow students to work on homework, eat lunch, watch movies, and socialize in the general purpose area. A bank of four desks with computers allow students to do research and homework in this area. A wall of cubbies provide a space for students to store their backpacks and projects.

The hardware area is for fabrication, testing, and integration of hardware. The large aluminum cage with coils of wire is the Helmholtz cage, which is used to generate a magnetic field for testing magnetometers and attitude control systems. The first bay to the right of the Helmholtz cage is the communciations workstation, where we design and test our communications systems and operate our ground station. The communications workstation has a full suite of communications test equipment, as well as a copy of the ground station hardware for prototyping and testing. The bay to the left of the Helmholtz cage is the mechanical workstation, where our mechanical engineering students design and fabricate our structures. The mechanical workstation has a Tormach PCNC milling machine and a 3D printer. The other two bays are general workstations for other subsystems and projects. The large central table is a project assembly area. The corner to the left of the double doors is a fabrications area with a wall of storage bins and a fume hood.

SSEP also maintains a soldering lab in the Duckering basement. Besides the standard soldering equipment, we keep and reflow pick-and-place and a reflow oven. SSEP also shares equipment with Geophysical Institute in the Electronics Lab, where we have access to a vibration table and thermal chamber.