KWU STEM Clubs Big Plans With NASA

What Big Project Does the STEM CLUB have in store-

Kansas Wesleyan Senior Elijah Resano, President of the Kansas Wesleyan University STEM Club, shared a new and exciting project with student media that is being built on campus right now. Resano has been the president of this club since 2024 and has created major waves in promoting the value that the STEM Club brings to the community by being awarded a grant from the Greater Salina Community, which is a grant centered around funding education. Once the club was awarded, Elijah then immediately got in contact with his former professor and technical mentor, Pete Sias, who recently brought a project to Elijah and explained how, with the support of the STEM club and the CKARC, short for the Central Kansas Amateur Radio Community, of which Pete is an active member can accomplish for recognition of STEM at Kansas Wesleyan University and the greater education of the Salina Community.

With the Support from all organizations Elijah and the Club set foot to the 5th floor of peters science hall to build a “Low Earth Orbit ground station” on which is explained as a station that is specifically designed to transmit certain wavelengths and frequencies that actually allow the ground station their creating to bounce off signals that can be sent to not only space but also NASA ground stations that exist around the United States. In more simplistic terms, the club is creating a two-way communication system whose primary role is to send out signals, transmit them receive them. This is something a small town like Salina, Kansas, has never had the opportunity to be a benchmark location that can transmit signals and collaborate with NASA. Furthermore, something that is this new to a small private college not only takes time but also has a lengthy process.  

Where is Progress now…

Elijah tells reporters that right now the stem club is undergoing an a licensing acceptance process with the Amateur radio on the ISS a group that helps facilitate contact with the international space station for college level schools he believes our station after being built by his team will be accepted to actively use the project here in Salina to be able to transmit signals for the next 30 years  Even though the club is waiting on this acceptance the project still must go on regardless and is currently being built and tested. In the early stages of the development, this project has already allowed Elijah to perform experiments with radios, such as the “Doppler shift”, which was an experiment that centered on the existence of the phenomenon, which Elijah proved to be true with his advanced expertise in Radio communication.

Once Accepted…..

And after the construction of the station is complete Elijah shares what value this means for the students of the salina community as they partner with the USD 305, Sacred Heart and South East of Saline with the hopes that local students will be able to send out their own messages to the space station to show students the education value that radios and stem have to offer. Elijah also shares the importance of exposing high school students to cool, innovative technology, as this was something that he wished he could have seen more of as a student who graduated in Salina.

He also shares how big projects like this will hopefully show local students what opportunities even small private colleges like Kansas Wesleyan University can offer for students’ education, and hopes this signal gets sent further than just the Salina community. He hopes that this project also promotes the longevity of the STEM Club, as he has shown and proved what heights a club like this can reach with the correct leadership. As Elijah and the STEM club finish this wonderful project, he encourages students and faculty who show interest in the work to reach out to him a Elijah.Resano@Kwu.edu because this small head head-driven team can always use a helping hand   

For More Stories about the STEM CLUB, please reach out to KWUstudentmedia.com.