STEPHENVILLE, Texas — A student team from Tarleton State University took first place and a $500 prize in the undergraduate team category of the recent American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Region IV Student Conference in Houston. The win advances them to compete in the AIAA Foundation International Student Conference during the AIAA SciTech Forum Jan. 11-15, 2027, in Orlando, Fla.
Team members Ashlan Benson, Austin Eckert and Ruben Ooms competed against students from Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Their winning paper, titled “FSO Optical Communications with Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulators for Hypersonic and Re-entry Vehicles,” explored how to correct signal disruptions that occur when a laser communication beam passes through the electrically charged air surrounding a high-speed or re-entering (an atmosphere) vehicle.
Benson explained that their experiment is a short-range demonstrator to determine how well a spatial light moderator can correct and direct its beam compared to traditional mechanical methods. The project was created as a simpler, no-moving-parts replacement for the complicated mechanical systems used in laser communications.
“We picked this research topic since laser communications show strong potential to enable reliable and secure communications with hypersonic and re-entry vehicles,” Benson said.
The Tarleton State AIAA team has presented at previous conferences, but this was their first time to win or place.
Dr. Rafael Landaeta, Dean of the Mayfield College of Engineering, said the project was the culmination of over a year of research and testing performed by the university’s student-led Hypersonic and Satellite Sensing Laboratory.
“This win is the result of the hard work and dedication of our students at the Mayfield College of Engineering,” he said. “We’ve focused our research on being relevant to emerging and complex problems in hypersonics re-entry communications and tracking. This provides our students with hands-on experience designing and working with laser communications and IR sensors.”
The students’ research efforts have been funded and guided by a joint NASA/UNP program, and they’re currently being advised by industry and government agency partners, as well as Tarleton State faculty, Dr. Landaeta added.
Benson said the win demonstrates that Tarleton State’s aerospace research and approach to a complex problem has strong potential applications and can stand at the same level as work done at R1 universities.
“We’re hugely appreciative of this honor from AIAA since it recognizes the time and effort that we’ve put into making this research novel and applicable to complex, real-world problems in hypersonics,” Benson said. “I want to give the credit for this achievement to my teammates, Austin Eckert and Ruben Ooms. Dr. Christopher Marble has also been invaluable while conducting this research; we couldn’t have done it without him.”
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of more than 21,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For over 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.