Capstone Film Fest  

We are pleased to announce the results of our 2021 Capstone Film Fest. We want to thank our amazing host, Ph.D. student Danny Crews, who guided us through each video with puns and cheesy goodness and to our 2020 Distinguished Alum Kourosh Hadi (BS '82, MS '87) who offered our graduating students advice as they start their careers.  

Hadi kicked off the film fest by welcoming the graduates to an exciting industry. He encouraged students to “look for opportunities, look for continuous learning, and find mentors” and emphasized that they should, “communicate, communicate, communicate.” Hadi also focused on the “continuous learning and teamwork” demonstrated in each project, skills that will play large roles in the graduate’s future careers.  

We have three awards to announce this year. The People’s Choice is decided by an open vote of Film Fest viewers. A special panel of invited alumni chose the Best in Show and Honorable Mention. Thank you to our alumni panel: Eleanor Forbes, Eduardo Gonzalez-Vega, Heather Ross, Mike Taniguchi, Jim Teslow, Todd Thompson and Rao Varanasi. 

 

The 2021 Capstone Film Fest awardees are:

 

People’s Choice Award: 6U CubeSat: Maratus Mission  

Team: Nicholas Chu, Athil George, Thomas Key, Luke Kuklenski, Carie Lai, Jae Lee, Josh MacLurg, Nicholas Sianghio, Nicholas Toyama, Eric Wills

Advisers: Taylor Reynolds and Charlie Kelly

Best in Show Award: SARP Propulsion: Aerospike Nozzle

Team: Kristina Dong, Josh Forsythe, Michelle Graebner, Adrian Lo, Jared Smythe, Zach Tom, Oliver Ruo, Chris van den Heuvel, Catherine Wilborn

Advisers: Jim Hermanson and Ms. Nyssa Thompson

Honorable Mention: Applewhite Baton 

Team: Joseph Bellevue, Jillian Hottelli, Janet Liu, Brian Mach, Haley Stewart, Ethan Uehara 

Adviser: Kristi Morgansen

Capstone Technical Excellence Awards 

We are also thrilled to announce the Technical Excellence Awards, which recognize the continuation of our A&A tradition of outstanding undergrad design work. A panel of volunteer jurors including A&A faculty, industry experts and graduate students reviewed the team presentations and reports.  

Overall Technical Excellence Award: 6U CubeSat: Maratus Mission 

Team: Nicholas Chu, Athil George, Thomas Key, Luke Kuklenski, Carie Lai, Jae Lee, Josh MacLurg, Nicholas Sianghio, Nicholas Toyama, Eric Wills

Advisers: Taylor Reynolds and Charlie Kelly

The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Award: SARP Propulsion: Aerospike Nozzle 

Team: Kristina Dong, Josh Forsythe, Michelle Graebner, Adrian Lo, Jared Smythe, Zach Tom, Oliver Ruo, Chris van den Heuvel, Catherine Wilborn

Advisers: Jim Hermanson and Ms. Nyssa Thompson