Each year, the International Space Station (ISS) Research and Development (R&D) Conference, held in coordination with the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, NASA, and the American Astronautical Society, highlights individuals who have pushed the boundaries of space-based research through the presentation of research awards. This week, we are spotlighting awardees in the category of “innovation,” honoring individuals who have leveraged the ISS to pioneer a new frontier in space-based science. Today’s spotlight is on Dr. Ilia Guzei of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for innovation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
ISS National Laboratory Opportunities
Find out about new research opportunities onboard the ISS National Laboratory, including recent Requests for Proposals in the areas of Advanced Materials and Industrial Biomedicine. See how you can leverage the unique space environment to advance your research and development.
The Space Crystal Prize provides the winning team of students from the annual Wisconsin Crystal Growing Competition with an opportunity to take crystallization from their classroom to the ISS National Laboratory. Through this program, led by Dr. Guzei, students test their optimized conditions for Earth-based crystallization against microgravity-based crystallization by translating their ground-based experiments into a flight project to be conducted on the ISS National Laboratory. Through the program, students learn about crystallization techniques and the advantages of using microgravity for crystal growth studies, comparing data from crystals grown on the ISS with ground-based results.

Learn more in these related resources:
- Student Researchers Study Crystal Growth on the Space Station
- Student Contest Winners Grow Crystals in Space
- Student Spotlight: My Experiences with the Space Crystal Mission
- Student Spotlight: From Wisconsin to Space — Twice!
You can also learn more about the groundbreaking research taking place on our nation's only orbiting laboratory in Upward, the official magazine of the ISS National Laboratory! Visit Upward.ISSNationalLab.org to view the latest issue.