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High Altitude Balloon
This is just a suggestion for a possible starter project. We'd use a weather balloon to send a payload of our design to the edge of space - about 120k feet. This would require a good deal of development and planning, and a little bit of money. It's certainly something that could be done by spring as a send off for our graduating seniors.
Sparkfun has a pretty decent walkthrough that even prepares you for the distinct possibility of sending a grand worth of electronics aloft and never recovering it.
There are several facets to this project that could be broken down into smaller individual projects (this isn't comprehensive):
Balloon dynamics - capacity, predicted altitude, predicted flight path, controlled descent, etc.
Tracking and recovery - Usually done with a GPS and RF transmitter. There are some designs that use a smartphone.
Pretty pictures - Video of ascents, the balloon popping, etc are all really neat. Still images of the curvature of Earth are amazing. All require effort and planning.
Data Logging - What other data would you like to see?
This would cost money and we'd have to figure that out, too. Minimum cost is about $150 for just the balloon and helium with no electronics or payload. The sparkfun balloon ran $1200. We could run it off of individual contributions or do a few pizza sales in the lobby. Thoughts?
Again, this is just a suggestion. If you have ideas for a group project, please post them!