 My name is Nathan Stonich and I am a freshman in first-year engineering. My name is Shantanu Sinha and I am a first-year engineering student. So for this project I am part of the thermal transfer team. We're creating a test stand to kind of see if we're able to achieve a uniform temperature distribution on a copper panel. And the goal of that panel is to essentially build the structure that's behind me. And with that we can create essentially a lunar environment that we can then simulate lunar conditions with and then we can later on use to test out different habitat structures. And so part of the job that we are doing is what kind of scenarios can we foresee. Once we have done that step NASA will take it to the next level and perhaps thinking about how can we implement this one on the moon. I've been working on the experimental setup connecting the wires together making sure we're able to get the data from the panel. So I've been reaching out to companies to try to find a pressure transfer that meets our needs because our needs are very unique as we need to go to negative 50 degrees Celsius. My role specifically within that is to work out a way to make sure we can get reliable parameters to ensure that we achieve that uniform distribution of temperature. I like to work with undergraduate students and get them exposed to this type of experiences that either lead to industry right but could lead also to grad school or even beyond that. So we try to come out to projects that could spark the interest we designed this experiment to have them engaged early on even though they may be not familiar with everything but they could catch up with things. You need to have some passion some curiosity independently on your topic right but you need to have at least some curiosity. Coming into Purdue I knew I wanted to do something in the space industry. Anything related to like getting astronauts to live in other environments that was just my my entire like passion. You know what kind of project that's focused on that and especially like with the undergraduate research conference being able to present about lunar habitation was just insane. It was so cool to be able to give a presentation. I myself find super interesting and would watch that presentation if it wasn't me giving it. So the first time I heard about the Wraith Institute was actually before I got to Purdue and it's actually part of what I wrote my application to Purdue about. So then last semester I attended some undergraduate research seminar. I saw that Wraith Institute had some positions and then that's that's how I found out and got the research opportunity. Coming into Purdue I definitely wanted to get my hands on with some type of project. Something that most senior students have told me is that you just shoot an email and see what happens. The office of undergraduate research came out with like emails talking about different opportunities you could apply through like their online website. There they have group chats and other ways for you to be able to interact with those who are already doing research. There's definitely ways that you can just get advice from other people about any aspect of the research, whether it be like applying for it, writing the abstract for it, all of that. Just having that support structure has been really helpful and motivating as well. The biggest hurdle to get over and like deciding to do it was am I qualified for this? It's about your interest in the project and the dedication you're willing to put in. Talk to the faculty, talk to the students, get the feeling of how isn't doing research for the first time. If there is something that you are curious about or want to explore more, don't worry about like the major really, just worry about like the project and like being able to get involved with that and there is almost definitely going to be one that lines up with that passion of yours that you have. You might not know much about the topic but it's just that interest and being able to do something with that is a really unique experience you're not going to get through like just your regular coursework. Los Chantano and Nathan were great and they pick up a lot of things and they will continue doing research with me in the fall so. So you're going to keep on doing it? I will, yes. I'm not going to send it to the moon or somewhere, not yet maybe.