Gordon Center Presents Adventures of an Industrial Physicist

On May 20th, The Gordon Engineering Leadership Center hosted Dr. Jonathan Arenberg for their quarterly forum. The forum took place in the Powell-Focht Bioengineering Building ground floor. Dr. Arenberg gave a wonderful presentation on his work and life experience working in the interesting and ever-expanding field of industrial engineering within the realm of physics.

Each quarter, the Gordon Center brings in professionals within a myriad of industries, such as bioengineering, aerospace, technology, and more, to speak on behalf of their experiences. Many of the visiting speakers hold extensive years of experience within their fields and are able to impart useful knowledge and helpful tips to the audience.

Dr. Arenberg, with years of experience working with optical, space, and laser systems, brought to students words of advice about career decisions, how to advance in a career, understanding the importance of loving what you do, and being unafraid to change career paths should you find something you truly enjoy doing more.

In his presentation, rightly titled "The Adventures of an Industrial Physicist: A Curated Tour," Dr. Arenberg touched upon his educational growth. Dr. Arenberg is a UCLA alumni who was initially interested in physics but found engineering to suit his lifestyle more as he discovered his passion for it via a college internship. As he decided to apply to graduate programs for both physics and engineering, he trusted his gut and made the decision to follow through with engineering school. He claims that this pivotal choice was "the best decision I've ever made as an adult."

He opened up about the true reality that is the engineering workforce, remarking that the beginning assignments may not always be the most fun, but that true satisfaction builds after having gone through those less exciting assignments and job positions. Dr. Arenberg also touched upon the fact that engineering is generally a career path that does not yield immediate satisfaction. Still, despite all of it, he is glad he made the decision and cannot see himself doing anything else with as much passion and dedication.

Touching upon his experience with optical telescopes, helping to create and sell the technologies helping with discoveries of exoplanets, and the ever-expanding future of industrial engineering and physics, he ended the presentation optimistically. As he added in the end, "I look forward to tomorrow's challenges, and look forward to the promise of the skyline."

We invite the local engineering community to join or consider sharing their story at our next forum.

Triton rocket club sets new record for altitude in flight

The Triton Rocket Club (TRC) at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering set a record this past weekend when they sent their Astraeus rocket soaring 28,000 feet into the desert sky.

The flight sets the record for the highest rocket every flown by UC San Diego students. Besides being reaching a record height, this rocket was the biggest, heaviest, fastest, most powerful for TRC. 

"This design serves as the proof-of-concept for our 10” diameter space rocket, and officially marks the beginning of the home stretch for our launch to space in Spring 2017," said Nico Montoya, a graduating senior and member of the club. "The next step is to fly an 8" diameter rocket to 100,000+ feet which will set the record for highest one-stage college rocket!"

Check out the video, and keep scrolling for more photos!

Video Credit: Austin Torgerson

TRC wasn't the only group out firing rockets over the weekend. The MAE 155B Aerospace Senior Design class successfully static fired the Atlas missile LR-101 engine seen here:

Stay tuned for another test on June 4!

Astronaut Scott Kelly configures UC San Diego-led experiment aboard the International Space Station

Wayne Wright, Tracy Neff, Scott Kelly, Jennifer Storck, astronaut Mike Fossum and Sharon Reinke met at the Johnson Space Flight Center in December 2014 to train Kelly to use the fluids and combustion experiment hardware on the space station.

Credits: NASA

It’s not every day that researchers at UC San Diego can enlist a NASA astronaut to tweak their experimental set-up, but when duty calls, Scott Kelly is at the ready.  

 

The astronaut, who returned to Earth two weeks ago following a one-year mission aboard the International Space Station, made crucial adjustments during his mission to an experiment led by Forman Williams, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Williams’ Flame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX) study – one of several microgravity experiments being run on the ISS’s Destiny Laboratory – is an effort to learn more about so-called cool-burning flames, which could lead to the production of safer spacecraft as well as cleaner, more efficient engines for vehicles back on earth.

Kelly spent two consecutive days configuring test hardware to perform test points for the FLEX system. He also replaced needles, a fiber arm, igniter tips and reservoirs in support of the experiments.

All the FLEX experiments take place in the ISS’s Multiuser Droplet Combustion Apparatus, which can generate and ignite droplets from different fuels in different atmospheric conditions. The chamber is crammed with sensors and equipped with video cameras that record experiments. It’s located inside an experimental facility called the Combustion Integrated Rack, which is roughly the size of a 5.5-foot bookcase, weighs close to 560 lbs and records the data for transmission back to Earth.

Researchers believe that cool flames – which were discovered during an experiment aboard the ISS in 2014 – are the result of elementary chemical reactions that do not have the time to develop around burning fuel droplets on earth, where they can only exist for a very short period of time. The FLEX study seeks to learn more about how quickly fuel burns, the conditions required for soot to form, and how mixtures of fuels evaporate before burning. The microgravity environment of the ISS, where there is no buoyancy, makes it possible to provide a sufficient amount of test time required to support the chemical process that creates cool flames.
Press release from NASA: 
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/kelly-contributed-to-fluid-and-combustion-research

Related story:  Researchers discover cool-burning flames in space

#ILookLikeAnEngineer: Paul Epperson

Meet the next student with our campaign who hopes the hashtag #ILookLikeAnEngineer will inspire peace of mind and positive change.

Name: Paul Epperson

Major: Computer Science

Graduation Date: June 2018

Why did you choose engineering at UC San Diego?

I chose engineering at UC San Diego because I wanted to be able to make real things. As someone with an interest in computer science, I had a desire to be able to design and create practical code that would provide useful solutions to applicable problems.

What are your career goals?

My career goals are to help design and implement software solutions for hard, science-based problems. The closer to outer space and robots, the better.

Do you have a favorite quote or mantra?

"As I stand out here in the wonders of the unknown . . . I sort of realize there’s a fundamental truth to our nature: Man must explore . . . and this is exploration at its greatest." - Dave Scott, becoming the 7th person to step on the moon.

What are three things that are unique about you?

I actively study calculus and linear algebra because I find the subjects really enjoyable. I fantasize about controlling robot swarms in space. I composed and improvise on some of my own musical piano themes.

What does this campaign mean to you?

I appreciate efforts by groups of people to shift social perspectives away from otherwise inordinate stereotypes. I support actions to better define what it means to be a certain individual in a world where there are many distinct definitions, accurate or inaccurate. Hopefully this gives a wide spread of people peace of mind, confidence and inner strength to enact positive change.

Triton Rocket Club wins second place in national competition

Update Nov 10: a related story ran in the San Diego newspaper, UT San Diego under the headline: "UCSD aims to send rocket into space"

Congratulations to the Triton Rocket Club, which placed second in this year's University Student Rocketry Challenge! It's all the more impressive that this was the club's first time in the contest.
The goal was to fly a common payload consisting of electronic measuring devices weighting 3 lbs. to 10000 feet above ground level. Teams sent design and manufacturing reports pre-flight as well as post flight analysis and reports over eight months.

The UC San Diego team actually built its own motor and static-fired it on July 19. "We wanted to stand out and be creative with our design," said Nicholas Montoya, the club's president. The team's rocket was made from a sleek, all black carbon fiber body with a fiberglass nose-cone. They launched it Oct. 4 at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry site in the Mojave Desert. The rocket reached a maximum velocity of 835 mph--or Mach 1.09--and a maximum altitude of 15,541 feet above sea level--about three miles high.

Next up: a launch in Spring 2015, with the goal of reaching space, roughly 62 miles in attitude.
The Triton Rocket Club is sponsored by NASA through the California Space Grant Consortium and by SPAWAR and Northrop Grumman Aerospace. The rocketry challenge is hosted by the national organization Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.

More about the Triton Rocket Club here: http://tritonrocket.ucsd.edu/

More pictures of the fun, as well as of the rocket's flight trajectory below.

MAE Alumnus, Douglas C. Hofmann, Earns Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

Douglas C. Hofmann, an alumnus from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is developing bulk metallic glasses to be used as shielding for spacecraft to protect them against orbital debris impacts. For this and related work, Hofmann  has been named a recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Douglas C. Hofmann

Hofmann earned a B.S. (’02) and M.S. (’03) in mechanical engineering from UC San Diego. He was advised by Kenneth Vecchio, now Professor and Chair in the NanoEngineering Department at UC San Diego. Hofmann went on to earn a M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science at Caltech before founding the Metallurgy Laboratory at NASA JPL in 2012, where he works as a Principle Investigator. Hofmann also teaches at Caltech, where he has a Visiting Associate appointment.

Hofmann is being honored “for his innovative research in metal-matrix composites for future NASA missions.”

In December 2012, Hofmann gave a seminar at UC San Diego on related work entitled “Amorphous Metals (AMs) & Composites for NASA Spacecraft Hardware; Science & Applications.” The abstract for that talk is below:

The current talk focuses on the science and applications of new materials for future NASA spacecraft, with emphasis on how real-world problems drive materials development. Among the materials that will be discussed are amorphous metals and bulk metallic glass composites. These materials have been developed for use as low-temperature gears for a future Mars rover, orbital debris shielding for spacecraft and satellites, net-shaped mirrors, cellular structures and optical mounts. In each application, a new material or manufacturing process enables a function that cannot be obtained through traditional techniques. Collaboration between Dr. Hofmann’s and Professor Vecchio’s groups on some of these materials will be discussed. The talk will also contain details on an upcoming NASA spaceflight experiment to the International Space Station in 2016 to perform fundamental physical science research using the new Materials Science Research Rack.

Images from hypervelocity impact testing experiments performed by Hofmann and colleagues at NASA. "We have been developing bulk metallic glasses to be used as shielding for spacecraft to protect them against orbital debris impacts. This is the same problem highlighted in the recent movie 'Gravity', Hoffman wrote in a recent email. 

The Presidential Early Career Awards, according to a statement released on the White House website, embody the high priority the Obama Administration places on producing outstanding scientists and engineers to advance the Nation’s goals, tackle grand challenges, and contribute to the American economy.

“The impressive achievements of these early-stage scientists and engineers are promising indicators of even greater successes ahead,” President Obama said. “We are grateful for their commitment to generating the scientific and technical advancements that will ensure America’s global leadership for many years to come.”