Assabet Valley Advanced Manufacturing Students Sign Locker that will Travel to International Space Station

As part of NASA HUNCH, Assabet students are certified in Quality Control (QC), which allows them to participate in an important part of NASA’s hardware development. This is the third year Assabet has participated in the program.

These Assabet students can make and inspect pieces of hardware that will be used to deploy cube satellites from the International Space Station (ISS). Cube satellites, or CubeSats, are small box-shaped satellites that are launched into orbit to observe the Earth for scientific investigations, new technology demonstrations and advanced mission concepts.

Assabet senior Michael Flynn, of Berlin, has participated in the HUNCH program for the three years. He said that the experience was once-in-a-lifetime and would help him greatly post-graduation: "This was a great opportunity and is amazing resume experience. Not only was the work interesting, but mentally challenging. We worked on operating machinery, troubleshooting and traceability. It was all around a great time."

During the visit, to commemorate their participation in the HUNCH program, students and teachers signed a locker that will be used in the International Space Station. All students across Massachusetts who participate in the HUNCH program will sign the locker.

"The best thing about this program is that it gives our students the confidence to make precision parts as part of a real-world experience. When they move on from Assabet and are in job interviews, they’ll have the confidence to explain their skills and experience building these parts for a large organization. It’s truly an amazing program," said David Sommerville, Advanced Manufacturing instructor.

Dr. Gold and Gibson also spoke to students about the importance of their work in Advanced Manufacturing and how this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to say something with their name on it that has traveled to space.

"This experience will help you in just about any job or college interview you go after. This work is extremely important, and you should be proud of what you’ve helped NASA accomplish," said Gibson.

"The pinnacle of Assabet’s curriculum and partnerships is when students can apply their knowledge and skills to a real-world experience. For the past three years, our students have been able to do just that in an out-of-this-world way," said Superintendent-Director Ernest F. Houle. "We thank the NASA HUNCH program for its continued mentorship and reliance on our talented Advanced Manufacturing students."

HUNCH is an instructional partnership between NASA and local school districts. Students are tasked with creating cost-effective hardware and soft goods in collaboration with HUNCH team members.

The HUNCH program works with more than 500 school districts in 46 states. HUNCH projects cover six areas: culinary, design and prototyping, design for flight, hardware, soft goods, video and media.

For more information about the NASA HUNCH program, click here.