Congratulations to Ian Meginnis, named 2009-2010 Outstanding Senior Student

Ian is a senior in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and will be graduating in the spring of 2010. He is focusing in astronautics and specializing in design and aerodynamics. He is a cooperative education student with NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, and he has completed co-op five rotations. At JSC, he worked on designing the next generation Constellation space suit as well as developing new types of rocket propellants for the future lunar lander.

Ian was the director of publicity for the Purdue Chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Spring Space Forum 2006. In 2008, he was co-director of Purdue Space Day in which the guest astronaut was Commander Mark Polansky. Ian has also been actively involved with the Purdue Student Hybrid Rocket Project, whose ultimate goal is to deliver suborbital microgravity experiments to altitudes exceeding 62 miles.

Ian is presently studying abroad in Paris, France at ESTACA (Ecole Supérieure des Techniques Aéronautiques et de Construction Automobile). He will complete the Computer Aided Engineering and Design (CAED) Program in the spring of 2010.

When he is not studying, Ian enjoys flying planes and working towards his Private Pilot Instrument Rating. After graduating in the spring, Ian will begin his graduate studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He will pursue a Master’s Degree and possible Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in Space Systems Engineering. Concurrent with graduate school, Ian will also work as a graduate co-op student at the Johnson Space Center. After graduating, he plans to work at JSC in the Exploration Technology Development Program, designing new technologies related to space suits and environmental life support systems.