Florida Tech is teaming up with the University of Florida, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Florida A&M University to create a consortium — the Center for Science, Research and Technology in Space, or C-STARS — to advance research in the space manufacturing sector .
And Florida Tech officials are thinking big . They hope C-STARS expands into a regional entity like the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine, a research coalition of North Carolina universities that will receive up to $160 million over 10 years from the National Science Foundation.
“What is space for us? It’s obvious. Space is in the DNA of Florida Tech ,” said Hamid Rassoul, Florida Tech’s chief research officer and senior associate provost for research.
“Since our founding, we have been dedicated to driving technology and innovation in the space sciences. We look at the history of Florida Tech and space — we are ‘The Countdown College.’ That was the name associated with us in ‘Jeopardy!’ games many, many years ago,” Rassoul said.