USC Space Lab Opens Its Doors as A New Era of Space Competition Takes Off - USC Viterbi | School of Engineering

Dave Barnhart delivering welcome remarks at the SERC Open House (Photo/Marc Ballon)

USC’s Space Engineering Research Center, or SERC, has spent years building satellites, developing robotic systems and training the next generation of space engineers. Until now, much of that work has happened behind closed doors.

On Wednesday, July 15, SERC officially welcomed the public inside for the first time, hosting its inaugural open house at USC’s Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey. About 60 business leaders, entrepreneurs, and USC researchers and community members attended morning and afternoon sessions that offered a behind-the-scenes look at one of USC’s fastest-growing research centers.

Visitors toured laboratories, watched live technology demonstrations and met USC Viterbi students building robots, satellites and giant telescopes designed to explore the universe.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” said SERC director, research professor in the Department of Astronautical Engineering and cofounder David Barnhart. We’ve reached the point where we have enough exciting projects and enough students doing remarkable work things that it’s time for people to see what we’re doing,”