Aleksandra Nikolaeva, a 4th year bachelor program student of the Institute of Aviation and Rocket Engineering at Samara University, was awarded a medal and a prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences for her work “Study of the stress-strain state of large elastic elements of a spacecraft under the action of a thermal shock.” The corresponding decision was made on June 27 by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, summarizing the results of the 2022 competition for young scientists and students of educational programs of higher education organizations.



RAS annually awards a medal with prizes for the best scientific works in order to identify and support talented young researchers, promote professional growth of scientific youth, encourage creative activity of young scientists of Russia and students of higher educational institutions in conducting scientific research. The size of the prize for the winners is 25 thousand rubles for students and 50 thousand rubles for young scientists.

The works were presented in 21 nominations, each judged by its own expert council formed by RAS departments. By decisions of the expert commissions, based on the results of the competition, 51 works in 21 areas were recommended for medals. Of these, 33 are the works of young scientists and 19 are student papers. The authors of the works recommended for awarding (applicants for RAS medals) are 47 young scientists and 19 students.

“In our area, they considered work in three major tracks: machine building, mechanics and control processes. Two student winners nationwide! This is not a bad statistic,” says Andrey Sedelnikov, Aleksandra’s supervisor, Professor of the Department of Theoretical Mechanics and the Department of Space Engineering. “Let me also add that RAS experts do not distinguish weak works in principle: in five sections, there were no winners among students at all.”

Andrey Sedelnikov believes that Aleksandra was capable of winning the medal due to her basic training: “I’ve been working on this topic since 2009, and have been looking for a long time for a student to get involved in the research. I told the students about it, but they feared to take on the difficult calculations. And Sasha, as a mechanic, turned out to have the right basic training for the subject. She wasn’t afraid and pursued the topic.”

The phenomenon of a thermal shock occurs when a spacecraft leaves the Earth’s shadow for a sunlit orbit, and there is a jump-like change in the temperature of the spacecraft’s surface. The temperature field, in turn, generates thermal stresses within the solar cell panels that lead to thermal deformations. The topic of Aleksandra Nikolaeva’s research was the stress-strain state of solar cell panels of a spacecraft under the action of a thermal shock.

“My scientific journey began since enrollment, because the chosen area was fundamental,” believes Aleksandra. “And as early as in the first year of my bachelor’s program I started to speak at conferences. So far, university level. And in my third year, I was asked to undertake a study of the effects of thermal shock on spacecraft. I liked the topic immediately, because I wanted to go deep into the mathematical apparatus, and especially since it was meant to be applied. I must confess that it is difficult; however, the very process of finding a solution to the problem is fascinating. In science, as in any occupation, there are ups and downs, and I am inspired to keep developing by the lecturers of the department, which you want to look up to. I thank my scientific supervisor Andrey Valerievich Sedelnikov, who opened the door to science for me and shares his knowledge and experience. For example, we have co-authored several papers in Q2 and Q1 rated journals.”

Aleksandra is going to enter the master’s program at Samara University and continue her research, make the mathematical model of the problem more sophisticated and keep moving forward.
 
For reference:

The applications for RAS medals with prizes for young scientists of Russia and for students of educational organizations of higher education of Russia must be scientific works performed by individual young scientists or students, as well as their teams (not more than three people). The works that are accepted can be performed either independently by young scientists or students (under 36 years old) or in co-authorship with older colleagues, if the creative contribution to these works on the part of young scientists or students is significant. Each winner of the competition is awarded a medal and diploma of the laureate, a badge, and is paid a premium. The amount of the prize for the winners of the 2022 competition is 50,000 rubles for young scientists and 25,000 rubles for students.