PI: Long-range Mars Rotorcraft. Using machine learning with high performance computing to leverage higher-fidelity simulation data in the design optimization of next generation aircraft for Mars. Titan Dragonfly: I support the NASA New Frontiers Mission, Dragonfly, to send an autonomous octocopter to Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Dragonfly's mission is to search for the existence of pre-biotic chemistry needed for life as we know it here on Earth. Scientists believe Titan to be the most Earth-like planetary body in our Solar System, and the most likely place to succeed in this search for the fundamental building blocks of life. My roles include vehicle design focused on the rotorcraft segment enabling the lander's flight. (rotor design, testing, fabrication) The project is extremely interconnected so I work closely with other teams such as mechanical/structural, control systems, entry descent and landing, and many more. NASA RVLT: I am also working to support and accelerate the coming future of Urban Air Mobility via the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Project in the Advanced Air Mobility sub-division of NASA Aeronautics. NASA supports several companies working to bring this UAM technology to the market by providing SME support along with design and analysis tools to aid safety, reliability, and performance.

The research I am currently conducting is for my PhD within the Department of Aerospace Enigneering at Penn State. The project involves the design and analysis of an octocopter rotorcraft operating on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The work will provide insight into the feasibility of using a vertical take-off and landing vehicle in the Titan environment, improve the knowledge base of multicopter performance, and provide a high fidelity tool with methodology to analyze future configurations.

My involvement with the Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition for the past three years has been one of the most influential activities I pursued at Penn State. I have been able to balance being a productive team player with being a leader comfortable delegating tasks and managing three thousand dollar budgets. As a result of a proposal we submitted to the College of Engineering, one of my team members was even funded to conduct research in creating a passive pitch controlled wind turbine on the micro scale. As peer mentoring is a strong interest of mine, I guided my team on how to effectively perform this research. The team has a demonstrable record of achievement holding three 1st place awards and one 3rd place from the national competition.

In addition to my school and work commitments, I decided to carry out a conceptual design study of my novel VTOL configuration as an extracurricular activity. At the start the project was purely educational in nature; however, with the encouragement of those around me I submitted an abstract to the SAE International Powered Lift Conference. The work focused on closing the “speed gap” between fixed wing and VTOL aircraft. The configuration was pitched as a fast and accessible means of transportation with the ability to land at vertiports placed just about anywhere. The work presented a new engine configuration which I call Turbolift engine technology. Having had the opportunity to present my work at the conference in September gave me a taste of what I will do much of throughout my graduate studies and career. As was the purpose of the project, I learned more than I had ever anticipated.

Upon taking the summer Penn State study abroad course, ENGR 118-Impact of Culture on Engineering in China, I realized just how much there is to see in the world. Since the day I returned to the US nearly two years ago, I have encouraged my friends and fellow classmates to look into the opportunity. This year I am ecstatic to say that I am being sponsored by the College of Engineering to serve as the Teaching Assistant for the program. I will assist and guide a class of 40 students in developing a global perspective in a rapidly developing part of the world.

I served as a teaching assistant in two different classes early on at Penn State. There are several reasons why I thoroughly enjoyed this role. First off I love doing anything I can to help new students. I remember how tough the transition to college was for me and always think back to how glad I was when an older student would offer some guidance or advice. Another reason I love this particular job is that it allows me to develop my skills beyond what one semester allows for. Following my freshman year in college I conducted research over the summer at the Pennsylvania State University. While I was there I served as a teaching assistant for the course Engineering Design 100. This is an introductory engineering class that focuses on showing incoming students what engineering is like. My role in the class was to aid students with the computer aided drafting software SolidWorks. The other TA and I would give lessons and help the class through the tutorials. Whenever they would get stuck or not fully understand how to go about completing a task we would step in to explain. Fall and spring semester of my sophomore year I served as a teaching assistant for Engineering Design 497K (CATIA V5). This was a similar role to my first position. The two main differences were that the class was made up of mostly upperclassmen and that the software is considerably more complex. I had not yet taken the class myself until that fall so my professor had me work several chapters ahead to be able to assist students with any difficulties. These positions were extremely rewarding in that I became quite proficient with CATIA and SolidWorks, developed myself professionally, and helped other students do the same. This has helped me immensely in extracurricular roles as well as at my internships with Bell Helicopter and NASA. I am extremely grateful to have had these opportunities.

During my time working with Penn State's VLRCOE, I gained an understanding of a wide breadth of rotorcraft concepts. In addition to my main research involving a ground resonance test stand, my adviser stressed the importance of learning these fundamentals and instructed me to read about the various subjects at least two hours each day. My readings consisted of topics from blade flutter to turbomachinery of turboshaft engines. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity this experience presented to me and found myself evermore passionate about my journey in aerospace engineering.

During my summer internship at Bell Helicopter in the Flight Technology Research and Development group, I was first tasked with analyzing the impact an aerodynamic design change had on the flow quality into the engine inlet of the Bell 525 Relentless. My work utilized a CFD model to ensure we met the inflow requirements set by GE. This work accurately and cost-effectively showed a positive result. My second project was creating a custom MATLAB code for the propulsion engineers to use throughout the 525 flight test program. The code’s purpose was to take data from a pressure rake installed in the engine inlet and calculate both temperature and pressure distortion, as defined by GE. The code, which outputs easy to understand contour plots of the distortion as well as text files with detailed results, will be used to efficiently certify the aircraft.

My internship at the NASA Ames Research Center in the Rotorcraft Aeromechanics branch involved acoustics of multicopter unmanned aerial systems (MUAS). The purpose of my research was to determine if the 7-by 10-foot wind tunnel is usable as an acoustic testing environment as well as expand the general knowledge of MUAS acoustics. I created custom MATLAB codes to read acoustic measurements taken in the wind tunnel and transform them from a voltage time history to a frequency spectrum with A-weighted sound pressure levels (dBA). The research verified that the 7-by 10-foot wind tunnel can be used to obtain amplitudes of the blade passage frequencies as well as airframe and motor noise. Additional testing which I planned, conducted, and analyzed pinpointed the motors under loading as what sets the noise level for the MUAS. These conclusions will guide future testing and lead to mitigated noise signatures of the aircraft in the future.

The V-22 project I worked on was a pitch horn blended damage analysis. For this project I modeled the blended damage in CATIA and created an ANSYS model of the geometry to analyze the stresses. The analysis qualified the part to fly. For the Bell 429 an issue came about where the blade grips given to us from the supplier were out of tolerance. We used digital image correlation as well as coordinate measuring machine data to calculate the stresses in the grips from pre-tension. This information coupled with fatigue tests and prior analysis allowed us to qualify many parts that would have otherwise been discarded; saving both time and money. For the DARPA TERN project I first started with the anti-drive model which I created in ANSYS. I created an optimized part in CATIA that weighed less, cost less to manufacture and was stronger than the original design. The last project I worked on was the hub model for TERN. The model, which I started from scratch, contained over three hundred parts. I imported the geometry from CATIA and created all of the bolts, nuts and washers required to secure the components together. Additionally, I learned how to model elastomeric bearings, shear bearings and needle roller bearings. Throughout my internship I learned much more than I had ever anticipated. From how to act in a professional environment to the ins and outs of networking; I was always learning something. Additionally, I was selected to present my work to the Executive Leadership Team and Technical Fellows. This experience has reaffirmed my passion for rotorcraft engineering and I cannot be happier with the way I spent my summer.

The Bell Helicopter Boot Camp is a week-long endeavor in which two teams of students are given an engineering challenge. The event took place over winter break of 2015. The first night in town we met the Drill Sergeants (supervisors at Bell), the mentors (engineers at Bell), and the students who we would be working with as well as competing against. The challenge was to design an emergency medical services kit to be implemented in the new Bell 505. We wasted no time and got straight to work. Ideas began flying around the room while we ironed out what aspects were most vital to success. As we progressed further through the week our design had quickly taken shape. It was amazing to me seeing how the different responsibilities of the project were split among the students. Each team had six mechanical engineers, two electrical engineers and two aerospace engineers. One task I took on consisted of developing a caddy system that would be used to transport all the necessary medical equipment quickly to a patient while they are being prepared to go onto the helicopter. I had to consider aspects in the design such as cost to manufacture, lead time and crash worthiness. Another task I faced was creating the flight envelope. We had to be sure that with our configuration and fuel burn the helicopter would maintain enough control movement to fly.The week had quickly come to an end and the last thing for us to do was present our work. We started out by presenting to the technical fellows of the company. After hearing their feedback we made a few changes to our presentation and then presented to the Bell Executive Leadership Team as well as the then CEO, John Garrison. In the end, my team was voted as having the better design and we won the competition. I was amazed at how much I had learned in this one short week and was very grateful to have had the opportunity. This experience drove my passion for rotorcraft to an even higher level.