In Mr. Spalding’s room, there lies a certificate from National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) which has physically traveled to the moon and back on the Artemis I launch in 2022. LHS Stem in Space, Lambert’s first and only aerospace engineering club, was awarded the certificate last year for their Innovative submission in the NASA App Development Challenge, a recognition only earned by three other teams in the nation. This year, the club is ready to get working to be better than ever before – competition and community-wise.
“Our club does technical challenges for coding and programming, but we also have sectors for outreach and media where we host events,” President Ram Patel explained. “For example, last year we did World Quantum Day events where we had students from the library and volunteers.”
The club is very excited to get to work on the NASA App Development Challenge this year, and applications for it are due this Wednesday, September 16, 2025. LHS Stem in Space also plans on competing in NASA TechRise this year, a more engineering focused challenge, to provide students more avenues to explore their passions.
“We try to have opportunities where even if you’re not a coder, but you like to build things, you can join our TechRise team,” Co-President Nishchai Chawla added. “If you feel like, I’m good at hosting events or finding people to give presentations and have guest speakers, we have a whole section dedicated to that in the app development challenge, so it’s more diverse and allows more people to get exposure for what they do.”
LHS Stem in Space aspires to provide a haven for all students to explore different avenues of aerospace engineering, regardless of experience or specializations. The club’s main purpose is to help members expand their passions, and Mr. Spalding, the club advisor, believes that their competitions drive their purpose for their club and helps them stay active and connected.
“Having that sense of purpose for the club keeps things moving whereas some clubs don’t really have that purpose,” Spalding described. “I think the competitions really keep them motivated and focused.”
The club is looking forward to starting competitions and meetings with their members to meet their goal of placing even higher this year and strengthening the aerospace community at Lambert.
