On Friday, Nov. 7, more than 180 attendees gathered at the New England Air Museum for the 2025 NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium (CTSGC) Annual Grants Expo. This signature statewide event recognizes the previous year’s award recipients and brings together students, faculty, industry partners, and community members interested in NASA-aligned research and academic opportunities. Poster presenters included both student and faculty awardees, who shared their work, networked with experts, and received official NASA CT Space Grant award certificates.
This year’s invited student panel featured members of the University of Hartford’s Multiscale Metamaterial Research Laboratory (MMRL). Supported by NASA CT Space Grant funding, these students engage in hands-on research that directly contributes to NASA’s mission areas in space communications, remote sensing, and advanced materials.
Through their work in the MMRL, students design and fabricate next-generation metamaterial devices using high-temperature additive manufacturing, experimental microwave characterization, and computational modeling tools. These experiences not only advance innovative research, but also build the technical, analytical, and professional skills essential for the future STEM workforce.
2025 Student Panelists from the University of Hartford
- Alex Cooke-Politikos, B.S. – Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science
- Thomas Yonkers – Physics and Mathematics
- Andrew Rittenberg – Physics and Mathematics
- Frank Villani – Mechanical Engineering
- Parker LaFramboise – Mechanical Engineering
- Nicholas Krupa – Electrical Engineering
- Kyle Eckert – Electrical Engineering
- Faculty Lead: Dr. Brian Wells, Department of Physics
The students participated in a moderated discussion highlighting their research experiences at the University of Hartford, their NASA-aligned projects, the impact of undergraduate research, and the pathways into scientific careers supported by CTSGC.
If you would like to view the full list of poster presentations or learn more about the panelists, the 2025 Expo Program is available here.
More information about this year’s Expo can be found on the NASA CT Space Grant website.
If you are interested in learning more about the Multiscale Metamaterial Research Laboratory and research opportunities, please feel free to reach out to Brian Wells, the lab director.