< Previous50 UNIVERSITY NEWS AUBURNTIGERS.COM Scott Murray, Chase Claborn, James Cannon and Will Royer are among the first to enroll in Auburn’s new graduate certificate in space systems, jointly of- fered by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and College of Sciences and Mathematics. Each sought to elevate their careers with additional education, but Murray ‘69, Claborn ‘22 and Cannon ‘25 may have a head start as Auburn engineer- ing alumni. Royer has a history degree and yet, he fits. “You don’t need an engineering degree,” said Department of Aero- space Engineering Chair Brian Thurow. “Someone with a business background, for instance, working in the space sec- tor, can take this sequence to better un- derstand the field.” Launched this fall, the program is what Engineering Dean Mario Eden calls “another step toward solidifying Auburn as a leader in training space in- dustry professionals.” Royer, now a defense contractor in Huntsville, Alabama, has found ca- reer success without a technical back- ground, but he’s aiming higher. “With this certificate, and eventually a master’s, I hope to equip myself with the knowledge needed to contribute to the growing space sector,” he said. “I want to lead teams working on cut- ting-edge space systems, and I can’t do that without furthering my education.” TEAM EFFORT Housed in Aerospace Engineering, the program is three courses taught by faculty from both colleges. Physics Professor Mike Fogle called the part- nership a natural fit, noting that “phys- ics is the foundational discipline under- lying all of engineering.” Fogle has been involved in similar collaborations, including the Auburn University Small Satellite Program, which began in COSAM’s Department of Physics in 2001. Now, under the direction of Fogle and Electrical and Computer Engineer- ing Professor Mark Adams, students are on the front lines of space explora- tion, designing, building and operating small satellites. Their latest project will voyage to low Earth orbit this fall. Thurow, Fogle, Associate Professor Davide Guzzetti and Adjunct Professor Craig Whittinghill led the creation of the certificate. Whittinghill, also deputy di- rector for applied research and services for Auburn’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, de- signed and teaches the first course. “This program provides foundation- al knowledge about space systems and explores their applications and impacts on our ever-advancing world,” said Whittinghill, a 29-year Navy veteran. A LOGICAL STEP The certificate’s establishment aligns with Auburn’s expansion in the space industry through innovative re- search and collaboration with NASA, the Department of Defense (DOD) and private-sector partners. One such project, aimed at reme- diating small pieces of orbital debris, earned Aerospace’s Guzzetti a NASA Early Career Faculty award. This year, Auburn named Derek Tournear, former director of the Space Development Agency, as its inaugural director of space innovation. He reports to Jonathan Pettus, a NASA veteran and executive director of Auburn’s Ap- plied Research Institute (AUARI). Partnerships and projects acceler- ated after the Auburn University Re- search and Innovation Campus opened in Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park in 2022 and AUARI in 2023. By 2024, growth prompted AUARI’s expansion. The 50,000-square-foot building, opening in February, will ac- commodate additional partnerships and enable rapid prototyping and rad hardening — ensuring microelectronics can withstand the intense radiation en- vironments of space. With an $11.4 million DOD contract, the facility’s cyclotron will simulate space radiation for defense system testing. The particle accelerator makes Auburn the only U.S. university with the capacity for high-energy proton radia- tion testing. Also at AUARI, a $1.5 million NASA investment will establish the Auburn University Space Manufacturing Ini- tiative, led by Engineering’s Masoud Mahjouri-Samani and Brock Birdsong, AUARI’s director of research. FILLING A GAP As the global space industry grows — and Huntsville prepares to host U.S. Space Command — Auburn is helping meet the demand for a highly trained workforce. “Our goal is to prepare professionals for this transition into the expanding space sector,” Thurow said. Fogle emphasized the urgency: “Stakeholders across government and industry highlight the need for broadly trained, interdisciplinary professionals. And that’s exactly what we aim to de- liver.” UNIVERSITY NEWS BY: AMY WEAVER LAUNCHING CAREERS: NEW GRADUATE CERTIFICATE STRENGTHENS AUBURN’S SPACE LEGACY Physics and Engineering are natural collaborators at Auburn, including fostering students to design, build and test small satellites for their latest mission to low Earth orbit next month. Auburn’s new facility in Huntsville will accommodate major research projects, including simulating space radiation for defense system testing.52 AUBURN FOOTBALL GENERAL MANAGER AUBURNTIGERS.COM Part of general manager Will Redmond’s job is to free up Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze to do what he does best. “When I got hired here, the goal was to take a lot off of Coach Freeze’s plate,” said Redmond, who came to Auburn from LSU in January 2024 after Freeze’s first season on the Plains. “To keep him the transformational coach that he is versus becoming part of the transactional side of college football over the last three years, moving into year four of the NIL, and now revenue share, era.” Putting his team together, Redmond prioritized people he describes as “Swiss Army knives,” skilled in multiple areas. “You’ve got to have people who can recruit first and foremost,” Redmond said. “Everybody in this building recruits under Coach Freeze, which is awesome. Secondly, people who can evaluate high school tapes and are able to project long-term success from high school kids, which is where coach wants to foundationally build the program. Fans have seen this been a really smart move, bringing in top 10 classes and then hitting the portal. “We also need to be able to evaluate college tape, which is very different because in high school evaluation you go from watching presumably the most dominant player on the field who sticks out because they’re a college-ready player playing high school kids versus a level playing field. “It takes a little more to peel back layers, and you have to have a trained eye for that.” To help develop those skills, Auburn staffers attend scout schools and work with NFL scouts. “To help us sharpen our eyes for what plays at the NFL level,” said Redmond, breaking down which regions of the country produce the most NFL players at various positions. “The majority of quarterbacks drafted in this year’s draft came from west of the state of Texas, and understanding where those pockets of people are,” he said. “Tight ends typically come out of the Midwest. Offensive linemen can come from a range of areas. When it comes to skill players, a lot can happen right here in our own backyard. “A quarter of the NFL Draft came out of four states in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi, so we don’t have to go far to find some of those pieces. “Understanding trends, understanding what plays in the NFL, and pulling that from the portal to sift through all the names that enter is the key piece to all of all that. “You have to have people who can recruit, evaluate college tape and understand the high school tape as well and projecting up.” When college football’s revenue share era launched in July, it created additional responsibilities for Auburn’s front office, finding the right balance between retention and recruiting in resource allocation. “While we’re making decisions from the spring and summer going into the fall of an individual’s senior year, you’re promising revenue to student-athletes who haven’t played a down of college football with a season still to be played, from a pool of money that’s going to take care of your locker room as well,” Redmond said. “It’s a concerted effort, making sure that through every phase of our offseason program and in-season program, we are consistently evaluating our current roster to ensure the best players remain here.” To help Auburn manage these mission-critical tasks, Redmond has assembled a recruiting and evaluation dream team. Once all the information is gathered and analyzed, final decisions rest with the head coach. “You bring in all these opinions, you stir it up in a ‘gumbo of evaluation’ and it helps us as decision makers, our coaches and coach Freeze to take in all the information and then make a decision that is best for our roster,” Redmond said. “Ultimately coach Freeze has the final call and say in that and he’s dang good at it, so we’re lucky we work for a head coach who understands and values these positions. He is the most dialed in and in tune with this side of things as a coach that I’ve been around in a long time. “I’m honored to serve with these guys and be part of this institution because there’s something to be said about running out of that tunnel wearing that Auburn logo on your chest that’s pretty special.” AUBURN FOOTBALL GENERAL MANAGER BY: JEFF SHEARER THE GM: WILL REDMOND LEADS AUBURN’S RECRUITING, EVALUATION TEAM54 2025 STADIUM MAP 2025 STADIUM MAP AUBURNTIGERS.COMThe Medical School making a difference in our community EVERY DAY ©2025 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. All rights reserved. Please go to www.vcom.edu/outcomes for a copy of our outcomes report. At the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) in Auburn, Alabama our mission is to train future physicians who are community-focused and ready to make a difference. That starts right here at home. 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