The Undergraduate Student Instrumentation Project (USIP) was a NASA program to engage undergraduate students in rigorous scientific research, for the purposes of innovation and developing the next generation of professionals in space research. The program is student led and executed from initial ideation of research objectives to the design and deployment of scientific payloads. The University of Houston was selected twice to participate in the USIP programs. The first program (USIP_UH I) ran from 2013 to 2016. USIP_UH II ran from 2016 to 2019. USIP_UH I (USIP_UH II) at the University of Houston was composed of eight (seven) research teams developing six (seven), distinct, balloon-based scientific instruments. This project was a for-credit course two years in duration. The program has been so successful in terms of improved student career outcomes the University has decided to continue the project with purely local funding. The pandemic has produced a substantial instructional challenge since this project is a lab class! The virtual classroom that we designed to meet this need provides tools for ongoing collaboration, revisions, storage, project planning, systems engineering, and a tool to request immediate feedback from faculty and fellow researchers. Additionally, the classroom provides an ongoing place to store data from different students for many years. New students can use this continuity in a consistent and secure way. We also provided tools for conferencing and communication. A combination of several tools were selected and customized to meet this need. These tools include Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Git, Groupme, and Zoom.

The University of Houston’s USIP (Undergraduate Student Instrument Project) Remote Sensing team is designing and building an airborne LiDAR with the intention of using it to 3D map landslides and for possible mineral exploration. The maps will be used to conduct landslide analyses and failure predictions while the magnetometer feedback will be used to determine the presence of possible metallic minerals in the area. The LiDAR will employ the use of two lasers with different output wavelengths; 1550nm will be used for typical terrain mapping and 532nm will be used for snow depth reading to extrapolate the underlying terrain characteristics. Trade studies are currently underway for the lasers, sensors, IMU’s and magnetometers. It is planned for the LiDAR to collect data near Fairbanks, Alaska, with further research into potential study sites being conducted. The scan pattern is still being decided on with the most likely option being a circular scan for the 532nm laser and a zig zag pattern for the 1550nm laser both set at a maximum scan angle of 20 degrees. The Remote Sensing team has been facing unforeseen obstacles due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon initial lockdown, weekly scheduled in person meetings and lab work were prohibited. After the first week, though, new mediums of communication were established. The USIP group decided to conduct online meetings through Microsoft Teams and use Slack for text-based communication outside of meetings. Unfortunately, lockdown and COVID chaos brought psychological issues to group members that can be difficult to overcome. This included high stress levels caused by the chaotic events as well as isolation-induced depression. After some deliberation amongst all USIP groups, it was decided to occasionally hold non work-related meetings through Microsoft Teams. This reduced some of the isolation depression by relaxing, talking, and eating pizza. After lockdown restrictions were lifted, the university had begun preventing the previous number of students from being in the lab at once. On top of that, individuals were understandably hesitant to go to the lab, often opting out. Despite this, small groups of USIP students have been going to the labs to clean, disinfect, and get the lab ready for work. New lab procedures have also been created to adhere to social distancing norms.