Case Study: National Institute of Aerospace teams help NASA extract water on Mars with Protolabs manufacturing services

NASA’s Thirst for Water on Mars Quenched by Student Innovators

The National Institute of Aerospace managed a NASA-sponsored university competition to develop technology for extracting water on the Moon and Mars, presenting a complex engineering challenge for student teams. Protolabs supported the effort by providing sponsored teams with in-kind grants for its CNC machining services to manufacture the necessary high-precision components.

Protolabs delivered production-grade parts with exceptional quality and speed, enabling the student teams to iterate on their designs and troubleshoot issues efficiently. As a result, Protolabs-sponsored teams from West Virginia University and Stevens Institute of Technology won first and second place, respectively, providing NASA with high-fidelity prototypes that could support future space exploration and a sustained human presence on other planets.

National Institute of Aerospace

Stacy Dees

RASC-AL Program Manager