Stanford University has asked a Weber State University professor for help in starting a graduate program for building satellites.
Bob Twiggs, director of the Weber State Center for Aerospace Technology, will join the Stanford faculty this month for 18 months as a visiting professor.Twiggs will oversee students building the "Stanford Quick Research Testbed" satellite, nicknamed SQUIRT, and teach technical courses. He also plans to develop ties between Weber State and Stanford on future satellite projects.
"Stanford students have studied satellites but haven't built them," Twiggs said. "I'm going to help them take that next step."
Weber State students have been building satellites since 1982.
Two student satellites already have been launched, and students are developing two more satellites for future launches.