Propulsion education at the Pennsylvania State University

Propulsion education at the Pennsylvania State University encompasses a wide variety of student experiences including formal coursework, graduate and undergraduate research, student clubs, and volunteer elementary and secondary STEM outreach activities. This paper covers activities and facilities relevant to rocket propulsion education at multiple Penn State campus locations. Propulsion faculty and students from several departments at University Park are included in the Center for Combustion, Power, and Propulsion (CCPP) [previously the NASA-founded Propulsion Engineering Research Center (PERC)] with co-located office and lab spaces including the Combustion Research Laboratory. Additional larger-scale chemical propulsion test facilities are available at the High Pressure Combustion Lab and Cryogenic Combustion Lab, located at a remote location north of the core campus. Experimental facilities for propulsion are also active at Penn State Altoona's Advanced Combustion and Energetics Laboratory. Penn State Harrisburg has focused on analytical and computational studies to date, but is developing experimental facilities through ongoing student-driven activities and projects. Recently, intercampus collaborations have grown, with current joint investigations and student projects (both funded and unfunded) between faculty and students at University Park, Altoona, and Harrisburg locations.