How a NASA Student Drone Challenge Launched an Engineering Entrepreneur's Career

From Campus Research to Defense Tech

Five years ago, Gavin Gardner was a Michigan State University engineering student researching next-generation drone technology through a NASA grant. While the technical demands of the research were expected, Gardner soon discovered an equally significant hurdle: navigating the financial and business side of advanced projects.

Today, those early lessons in budgeting, crowdfunding, and public outreach have materialized into AG3 Labs, an aerospace startup co-founded by Gardner, his brother Gryson, and fellow Michigan State alumni. Established in late 2024, the company specializes in manufacturing low-cost drones used for military training exercises, currently producing thousands of units per month following initial contracts with the U.S. Army.

The Role of NASA’s University Student Research Challenge

Gardner’s trajectory was heavily influenced by NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC), an initiative designed to provide grants to college student teams aiming to support the agency's aeronautical research goals. Crucially, the program requires students to demonstrate both engineering capabilities and entrepreneurship skills.

“Half the battle is building your product,” Gardner noted. “The other half is selling the product in a way that everyone else can understand what you’re doing and not talking in nerdy, engineering ways.”

Steven Holz, manager of the USRC program, emphasized that the initiative aims to serve as a launchpad for future innovators. Gardner's journey began in 2021 when he joined a student project called Aerial Intra-city Delivery Electric Drones (AIDED), which explored the concept of cargo drones "hitchhiking" on top of city buses to charge batteries during transit. Although that specific commercial concept was ultimately set aside due to dense urban flight regulations, the technical demonstration led to a second USRC award in 2023.

The second project, titled Laser Energized Aerial Drone System (LEADS), focused on transferring power directly to an in-flight drone via a laser. Working on LEADS allowed Gardner to build a prototype and expand his professional network, eventually securing an internship at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland while in graduate school.

Practical Implications and Context

For engineering students and academic institutions, the USRC framework demonstrates how combining technical funding with mandatory business training can bridge the gap between laboratory research and commercial viability. The program forces student teams to address crowdfunding, budgeting, and communication early in their development cycles.

However, transitioning from a university grant project to a commercial or defense-focused enterprise involves distinct challenges, including strict regulatory hurdles in civilian airspace and shifting market demands. While Gardner's team ultimately shifted away from urban delivery drones toward military training applications, the foundational business skills learned through the NASA challenge remained applicable.

What Is Confirmed Versus Unknown

• Confirmed: Gavin Gardner participated in NASA’s USRC program as a Michigan State University student, contributing to the AIDED and LEADS projects. He later interned at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, graduated with a master's degree in spring 2025, and co-founded AG3 Labs in late 2024 to build drones for military training exercises.
• Unknown: Specific financial figures regarding the USRC grants, the exact valuation or private funding details of AG3 Labs, and the long-term commercial roadmap beyond current defense training contracts were not disclosed in the official source.

Readers can verify the original announcement and read more about the initiative by visiting the official NASA article at [NASA Challenge Drone Entrepreneur](https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/nasa-challenge-drone-entrepreneur/).