High Altitude Radiation Detector (HARD): Integration of Undergraduate Research into Senior Design and Lessons Learned

An interdisciplinary undergraduate research project conducted as part of an ECE senior design is discussed. The focus of the research project was on aspects of physics, particularly on arrivals of cosmic rays in the so-called "east-west" angular asymmetry. In collaboration with NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) and other universities developing scientific ballooning payloads, a sophisticated scientific payload was designed to study how the angular asymmetry and intensity of cosmic rays changes with altitude, as well as conducting a high-quality, long-exposure measurement at balloon-float altitudes for about 10 hours. The payload was designed by following a top-down design approach: initially establishing engineering requirements of the payload for the experiment, carrying out functional decomposition, and actual laboratory design of subsystems by student team members enrolled in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) program at the University. The project team consisted of six undergraduate students (three seniors and three sophomores) from the ECE department and two faculty advisors from the ECE and Physics departments. The payload was certified flight-ready after integration and vacuum testing at CSBF with all modules functioning properly. Unfortunately, the payload failed to collect the desired cosmic-ray data during flight; however, all other parts of the design functioned as expected. Overall, adopted as a senior design project for an academic year, this project was a considerable success from a student education standpoint. Further details are provided on project design, team structure and collaboration, experimental details, and lessons learned, particularly on promoting student learning and improving its outcomes.