News Release

Stephen Yanczura receives Space, Land and Sea Systems Achievement Award

Stevens student worked at Hamilton Sundstrand as part of Stevens' Cooperative Education program

Grant and Award Announcement

Stevens Institute of Technology

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Stephen Yanczura, class of 2010 at Stevens Institute of Technology, has received a Space, Land and Sea Systems (SLS) Achievement Award from Hamilton Sundstrand. Yanczura, who is majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Engineering Management, recently completed a Project Engineering Co-op for Hamilton Sundstrand, as part of Stevens’ Cooperative Education Program.

Yanczura supported Hamilton Sundstrand’s International Space Station (ISS) Program in the activation of the new Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) on the ISS. The OGA was designed and tested by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama in conjunction with Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International in Windsor Locks, Connecticut; in 2009, it will be equipped to support six crew members at the ISS by providing an improved oxygen generation system. Yanczura verified that products being developed by Hamilton Sundstrand met NASA requirements. His responsibilities included creating and updating project schedules, gathering materials (such as drawings, specs, and reports), and assembling information packages that were sent to NASA. He also spent time researching different aspects of the OGA in order to support phone calls, open analyses and update reports.

Robert E. Thoelen, Jr., SLS Manager for Engineering Development and Staffing at Hamilton Sundstrand and Stevens’ Class of 1974 alumnus, said that Stevens students are making significant contributions to the company in a short period of time and explained that the award Yanczura received was not only a certificate, but also a monetary reward. Thoelen, who was recruited from Stevens by Hamilton Sundstrand, strongly supports Stevens’ Co-op program and believes that “the partnership between the university and Hamilton Sundstrand provides meaningful engineering experience for students in a dynamic work environment.”

In addition to this achievement, Yanczura took ownership of another project he was given and developed a way to establish a real-time data connection and real-time video connection of engineers at Hamilton Sundstrand working on NASA products. In order to accomplish this, Yanczura worked with the Information Technology departments at NASA and Hamilton Sundstrand to establish video-feed of the July activation of a piece of Hamilton Sundstrand hardware currently on orbit. He also coordinated security with NASA and the logistics and funding for his project. Yanczura fully developed this project and before completing his assignment, he trained the Hamilton Sundstrand staff on how to use the new technology. Yanczura named it the Hamilton Operation Center (HamOC) and it is currently a self-sustained project.

Through his Co-op experiences Yanczura was able to discover new talents, develop interpersonal skills, learn time budgeting and project management, and become a contributor to an important project in Aerospace Engineering. In addition to focusing on his studies and Co-op, Yanczura is also on the Honor Board, is a member of Engineers without Borders, and is House Manager of the Sigma Nu Fraternity.

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Co-op allows students to combine their study with periods of paid, professional employment directly related to their major, providing them exposure to real-world experiences as they put into practice what is learned in the classroom. For more information about the Stevens’ Co-op program, please visit www.stevens.edu/co-op or contact Catherine Rooney at crooney@stevens.edu.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 1,850 undergraduate and 2,980 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time faculty of 140. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu. For the latest news about Stevens, please visit www.StevensNewsService.com.


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