Originally published on 2/13/2020
Thirteen years ago, NASA implemented a program to allow students an advanced opportunity to create and design tools necessary for day-to-day life on the International Space Station. The program is designed as a competition against high school students across the nation who are all vying for their chance to have the project they designed sent to space. HUNCH is broken down into 6 categories including softgoods, software, hardware, design and prototyping, video and media, and culinary. Alvin ISD is proud to have many students competing in different areas to show their talent!
Alvin High School's Advanced Fashion Design students have been working with the NASA HUNCH program since the 2018-2019 school year. The Softgoods category includes sewing flight articles by using fabric and other soft materials to create goods requested by different NASA centers, as well as the International Space Station Astronaut Crew. The variety of projects range from redesigning the crew pantry to creating kits for crew's personal items. Some of the items requested this year are Cargo Transfer Bags, an Extension Hose Kit, MO-3 bags, Jettison Stowage Bags, 6.0 Trash Bags, and an Emergency Mask Stowage Bag.
Students from Alvin HS will be working on 2 NASA projects; 6.0 Trash Bags for the training facilities and 30 Odor Control Jettison Stowage Bags for the flight crew. They are one of only 17 schools in the nation who are collaborating with the NASA HUNCH Softgoods department!
“The NASA HUNCH program has provided my Advanced Fashion Design students a chance at gaining real-life experience by working with commercial sewing machines, being able to read engineering blueprint or CAD patterns, and creating contract projects for NASA training centers and the space center. Eva Cantu, Alvin HS teacher shares. “It has given my students more STEM and 21st century skills which will help to launch their future careers in the fashion design field.”
To learn more about HUNCH, please visit nasahunch.com.