Robert Hillan entered a NASA student contest, then watched his design become a real object in orbit

Something that begins as a challenge in the classroom can often evolve into something groundbreaking with real-world consequences. For example, when high school senior Robert Hillan participated in NASA's Future Engineers Space Tool Challenge, he did not expect that his creation would ever be used in space because initially the task seemed more of an academic one.

However, the situation suddenly changed after NASA officials recognized the multipurpose maintenance tool designed by Hillan as the winner of their contest and printed the design at the International Space Station. The case is unique because the process of creating and manufacturing the tool was quite straightforward and transparent to the public. According to the data from NASA, Robert Hillan received first place in NASA's 3-D Printing in Space Tool Challenge in the teenage category in January 2015.


It is essential to understand that the tool was selected for the competition not just because of its functionality but because it could serve as an addition to the program developed by NASA aimed at investigating whether it would be possible to print some parts in space. This particular point means that NASA decided not to wait until someone else invented something but acted ahead and tested new technologies themselves.

Hillan entered the challenge with almost no prior modeling experience

Another aspect that makes the story so unusual is that the student was not officially represented at the time he started working on the project as someone highly qualified, with a deep knowledge of aerospace engineering or advanced manufacturing techniques. As explained by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Hillan first learned about NASA's challenge via an ad and had not worked with 3D modeling software before entering the contest. This factor adds extra spice to the tale.

At the same time, the same feature explains why Hillan managed to become a designer of one of the first student-made objects to be created via additive manufacturing aboard the International Space Station. In addition to the fact that the story sounds much more real and interesting because it involves a regular student, not an experienced engineer or scientist, it is now clear that his work led to the creation of something that astronauts can use.

NASA viewed the tool as part of a larger manufacturing experiment

The reason NASA was so enthusiastic about the project was not just because of the creative work that students were able to do. The space agency was actually investigating whether additive manufacturing could help lower dependency on cargo resupply during long-term flights. As explained by NASA ISS Research, additive manufacturing can be used on spacecraft to enable astronauts to manufacture whatever they need when they need it, as opposed to sending up each and every thing from the planet Earth. This would be particularly significant for future lunar and Martian explorations.

Later on, NASA confirmed that the design by Hillan was printed on the ISS once the facility capable of doing so became available, i.e., the Additive Manufacturing Facility. While the device itself was rather small, the idea behind its creation was quite significant. Namely, NASA wanted to test the ability to turn a digital file into a hardware object in orbit using means other than physically transporting it from Earth.

This is precisely what made the story told about Hillan so important. Here, one needs to note that it presents an uncommon example of how students' work can contribute to the overall space flight engineering development. Specifically, it fascinates with the way in which everything fits together. Namely, a teenager enters a competition, their design is selected by NASA, it is then printed in orbit by astronauts, and ends up as a piece of space history. Finally, what is so captivating about it is the way it materializes the idea created by a student.