The Undergraduate Student Association is home to over 150 clubs. Beginning last year, the club council coordinators set a new precedent: each year, a club will be awarded Club of the Year.
This year, the coordinators chose Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDs), an engineering club. SEDs was chosen out of six nominated clubs.
Club of the year is determined by a vote between the six club coordinators. The six coordinators are representatives of the club councils in the SA: the Academic; Engineering; International; People of Color; Special Interest, Services & Hobbies; and Sports Council.
Each council nominates one club as Club of the Year, and then each coordinator votes for a club he or she thinks is the best in all of SA, but they cannot vote for their own councils.
Last year's Engineering Coordinator Dan Pastuf nominated his club as Club of the Year because he said the club did everything it were asked of, and more, in fulfilling its purpose.
"The club has seen great growth and is doing an amazing job advocating their mission statement," Pastuf said.
This year, they ran seven project groups: Rocketry, Astronomy, Educational Outreach, High Altitude Weather Balloon, Nanosat, Rocket Plane, and NASA Rover. The rocketry group is currently among the leaders in their national competition for the design process and will be launching shortly.
SEDs received a two-year research grant in the spring for approximately $100,000 to build a satellite, which will cost in excess of $150,000, from the U.S. Air Force. The club is currently in the middle of this project and is highly rated to possibly win the launch opportunity based on the review done by the Air Force reviewers in March.
It also won a competition proposal for the NASA Robo-Ops competition, alongside a $10,000 grant to construct the robot.
Pastuf encourages freshmen to join a club at UB.
"Clubs are a great way of participating in both on-campus and off-campus events," Pastuf said. "They allow you to get involved with things that are bigger than you alone can do, and serve to meet people and learn much more than you will in the classroom."
Email: news@ubspectrum.com
