Carl Hansen: 2015 Avrum Gudelsky scholarship recipient

Carl Hansen,  a senior in the astronautical engineering program, is the 2015 recipient of the Avrum Gudelsky Memorial Scholarship, endowed by Homer and Martha Gudelsky in memory of their son, Avrum. This scholarship recognizes and encourages academic excellence among outstanding seniors who are pursuing a bachelor of science degree. It is the highest academic honor the college confers.

Since beginning his studies at Capitol, Hansen has not only excelled in his classes but has helped develop and test an innovative satellite communications concept. 

He is a member of Project HERMES, which aims to develop a system that uses TCP-IP – the same protocol used on the internet – to communicate and control CubeSats. Hansen set up a radio-based backup communications system for use in HERMES test missions.  From 2013 to the present, he has been a participant in the University of Maryland’s Nearspace High Altitude Balloon project, helping to test the HERMES communications concept.

During the summer of 2014, Hansen participated in the NASA’s RockOn! Workshop, held at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. There, he helped build a payload that was placed on the Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket, which reached an altitude of 73.3 miles before splashing down in the Atlantic. He then continued with NASA’s ROCKSAT-X, where his team is preparing the HERMES payload for rocket launch in August 2015. It will be launched 100 miles into the atmosphere before landing in the ocean.

Meanwhile, Carl has kept a strong focus on academic excellence, maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.84. He has also been active in campus life. He revived and serves as the current president of Capitol’s Amateur Radio Club, is a current member of the Rocketry and VelcroSat Clubs, and assists with the Space Dish Project when needed.

Carl has been working as an intern for Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. since January 2014 on the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Flight Operations Team.  Carl hopes to continue with Honeywell Technology Solutions through graduation next year and then transition into a full time position.  His ultimate career goal is to be a part of the Flight Operations Control for the first manned mission to Mars.  His passion for space systems began with playing with Legos as a child, and later took shape as a career aspiration while Carl was a junior in high school.  “It was when the Space Shuttle program ended that I realized I can go after this field (astronautical engineering) contribute and achieve as opposed to thinking about it,” Carl said. 

A native of Bowie, Maryland, Hansen is a licensed ham radio operator, with the call sign KC3BXO, and is currently a Boy Scout Merit Badge Counselor for Space Exploration, Astronomy and Aviation merit badges.