Joseph Heimerl Email & Phone Number

At the beginning of my sophomore year, my lab advisor Dr. Moble Benedict identified a need for direct measurements of the unsteady fluid dynamics acting on a cyclorotor. My independent project since the fall of 2019 has been to design and build a test rig capable of performing instantaneous fluid dynamic measurements of a cycloidal rotor blade while controlling four key experimental parameters. An electronically pitched blade driven by a NI LabVIEW feedback loop allows the rig to instantly… Show more At the beginning of my sophomore year, my lab advisor Dr. Moble Benedict identified a need for direct measurements of the unsteady fluid dynamics acting on a cyclorotor. My independent project since the fall of 2019 has been to design and build a test rig capable of performing instantaneous fluid dynamic measurements of a cycloidal rotor blade while controlling four key experimental parameters. An electronically pitched blade driven by a NI LabVIEW feedback loop allows the rig to instantly change RPM, pitch behavior, or thrust vector. I conducted 482 experimental trials of 302 unique configurations, which I processed and analyzed in Python and MATLAB programs.Before the pandemic, I also gave tours of our lab to incoming freshman and visiting high school students. I worked with my peers to rebuild the lab's website, and I assist my advisor Dr. Benedict in other minor duties as needed.I am also the only undergraduate student on Team Harmony, our lab's winning entry to the international Boeing GoFly competition. I am leading the design of our next-generation prototype by designing a subscale vehicle that can demonstrate unique capabilities including quiet rotor blades and a fly-by-wire system featuring fully independent electronically controlled coaxial rotors. Show less

In my freshman year, I collaborated with graduate students in Dr. Manoranjan Majji’s Land, Air, and Space Robotics lab in a project that seeks to remove dangerous space junk from Low Earth Orbit. The concept is to capture and dispose of rockets left tumbling in space by anchoring a drag device to their engine bell. To demonstrate a harpoon that could deploy inside a mock rocket nozzle, I designed and built a pneumatic launcher with a regulated exit velocity. Under tight time constraints… Show more In my freshman year, I collaborated with graduate students in Dr. Manoranjan Majji’s Land, Air, and Space Robotics lab in a project that seeks to remove dangerous space junk from Low Earth Orbit. The concept is to capture and dispose of rockets left tumbling in space by anchoring a drag device to their engine bell. To demonstrate a harpoon that could deploy inside a mock rocket nozzle, I designed and built a pneumatic launcher with a regulated exit velocity. Under tight time constraints requiring many late nights at the lab machine shop, I also delivered a three-axis manipulator capable of aiming the harpoon launcher and other payloads. My contributions gave the lab’s robotic platforms three extra degrees of freedom, and a paper on the orbital debris project was presented at the 2020 AAS conference. Show less

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd

Phd, Aerospace Engineering

Bachelor'S Degree, Aerospace, Aeronautical And Astronautical Engineering, Freshman

Activities and Societies: Engineering Honors, Advanced Vertical Flight Laboratory, AIAA, Hullabaloo Pep Band

Education record