NOC Rocket Team Earns Grand Prize in Wisconsin Competition

The Northern Oklahoma College Rocket Team won the Grand Prize in the 2024 NASA Artemis Student Challenge: First Nations Launch Competition.  The 15th Annual competition was held in Wisconsin in late April.

Team members include Grant Biggers (NOC Enid), Andrew Lewis (NOC Enid), Jayce Daniels (NOC Enid), and Raven Bruce (NOC Tonkawa).  Taylor Steven was also part of the team but did not travel to Wisconsin.

The NOC team participated in the “Moon Division.”  They earned a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this fall.  The other Grand Prize winner was a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  They participated in the “Mars Division.”

The team is sponsored by faculty mentors Dr. Frankie Wood-Black and Ken Black.  This is NOC’s third year to compete in the competition.

The event was sponsored by NASA’s Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC)

This competition is an opportunity for students attending a Tribal College or University (TCU), a Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution (NASNTI), or who are active members of an American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) collegiate chapter at a non-TCU/NASNTI university/college to design, build, and fly a high-powered rocket to be launched at a competition at the Richard Bong State Recreational Area in Kansasville, WI.

The Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium First Nations Launch competition offers Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI), as well as active American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) collegiate chapters the opportunity to demonstrate engineering and design skills through direct application in high-power rocketry.

The competition requires teams of undergraduate students to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with high-power rockets.

Nearly 200 students representing 23 colleges and universities participated in the event.

  Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public two-year community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services.

NOC serves nearly 4,000 students through the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, and NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater.  Of these students about 80% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. 75% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.

The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science; the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs; and the Accreditation Commission for Education and Nursing.

For more information about Northern Oklahoma College please call (580) 628-6208 or visit the NOC website at www.noc.edu.