Fourth USIP Meeting

Log Week 4 [10/25/2013]:
As prior to the weekend meeting, there was a general meeting with Dr. Lefer (on 10/25), telemetry and DC electric field discussion with Dr. Bering (on 10/24). This week also involved lab cleaning.

Discussion:
- Talked about arduino.

Things To Expect:
- Keep a look out for events on Google Calendar.
- Conference call on 10/31 with Miss. Dingwall at 2:00pm.

Written By:
Abdul K. Siddiqui (USIP-UH member)

Third USIP Meeting

Log Week 3 [10/19/2013]:
Prior to usual Saturday group meeting there was an additional meeting with Dr. Bering (one of the faculty behind the project) on 10/18.

Discussion:
- Played around with arduino.
- Talked about equipments and funding for the materials.
- Radio transmitter was also a side topic.
- Whether we have control over what balloons get used.

Things To Expect:
- Telemetry team meeting with Dr. Bering on 10/24.
- Electric field team meeting with Dr. Bering on 10/24.
- Lab cleanup

Written By:
Abdul K. Siddiqui (USIP-UH member)

Second USIP Meeting

Log Week 2 [10/12/2013]:
The future looks promising and hopefully, the current team can keep the ball rolling till the end. 
As always, the meeting showed constant progress in all the members.

P.S: First assembly to be held in an assigned lab environment.

Discussion:
- Looked at physical design and weight requirements.
- Talked about different instrumentation and sharing thereof for different payloads.
- Collaborated on filling-in team members where necessary.
- As it stands, we will still be meeting or beating the Gantt chart deadlines.
- Capstone class structure for spring '14.
- Types of balloons that will be launched.

Things To Expect From Next Meeting:
- Re-visit doodle pool and revise your schedule as necessary (link).
- Refine and further evaluate the initial design in-depth.
- Get familiarize yourself with specific instruments through research.

Written By:
Abdul K. Siddiqui (USIP-UH member)

First USIP Meeting

Log Week 1 [10/05/2013]:
This Saturday is one of the first Saturday's towards our final goal.
We touched many different topics of which almost all of the members contributed.
We talked about fundamental questions ranging from the purpose of Carriers to individual teams/topics.

At this moment in time, we are trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together; where each of us stand, what responsibilities we carry but more importantly, putting names to faces.

Data:

Goals For Next Meeting:
- Minimize the number of topics and link related topics under one umbrella.
- Come up with an initial design.

Written By:
Abdul K. Siddiqui (USIP-UH member)

First Day!

What is this Project?

This project is an undergraduate technology development project, designed to produce ultra lightweight (<6lbs) and ultra lowcost (<$3000 on average) devices that can (and will) gather real scientific data in Alaska in March 2015.
Students design, manage, and develop several different devices which will then be packaged into ten (10) different payloads based on weight/power restrictions and scientific synergies. (I.e. Can we learn something interesting by comparing VLF and DC/EF field data? Then let's stick them on the same balloon.)
We are working to study the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) in March 2015 in Fairbanks, Alaska. We want to find out all the neat electrical and gaseous pieces of data we can about this region during these unique and beautiful events, which can actually tell us a lot about what is going on with our local Space Weather.


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Log start:
Today was the day of the All-Student USIP Kick-Off telecon phone call.
It was great hearing from all the other students across the country working on projects similar to ours.

Everything is kind of in a flurry right now, but we are all laying the groundwork for a great team so that we can do great work throughout the coming year.

Stay tuned for more information! A group photo is on the way!

Data:
[none available]

Further actions:
Create and publish a post that outlines an introduction of our project to the public, and to our sister-teams across the country for collaboration purposes.

Written by:
Rachel Gamblin (USIP-UH member)