I love designing experiences.
At the University of Michigan, that means studying Industrial Engineering to understand and optimize complex processes.
But beyond, it means designing interfaces that help travelers create itineraries, prototyping GUIs for the FAA to control air traffic, or surprising friends with last-minute trips around the world.
Flying ✈️
I love to fly - no matter the destination. Learn about some of my experiences with planes (and 🚀) below!
Flight Testing the Cessna SkyCourier
May - August 2021
During the summer of 2021, I was out in Wichita, KS flight testing Cessna's newest clean-sheet aircraft: the SkyCourier
On the SkyCourier, I mainly executed flammable fluid tests. These tests ensure that if a flammable fluid like fuel or oil leaked, they would not be ingested into critical areas like hotspots of an engine and ignite. As the airplane performed a series of maneuvers, I engaged a pump that would push dyed fluid to the engine and fuselage to trace where a flammable fluid would end up in the case of a leak. In the process, I learned how flight test engineers work with pilots to collect data to prove the airworthiness of an aircraft and bring it to market!
In addition to flight testing on board the aircraft, I analyzed data from different flight tests and helped write certification test plans that would be submitted to the FAA to certify the Cessna SkyCourier.
Building Rockets Together: AeroAstro IA
2017-2019
AeroAstro IA, our high school's first-ever rocket team, was born out of my love for things that fly. I designed, built, and test-flew rockets with a team of 7 other students. Our main project was the rocket built for the Team America Rocketry Challenge, where we created a rocket that reached 800 feet with a flight time of 41-43 seconds.
AeroAstro IA is more than just building rockets - It's about sharing the magical experience of flight with my high school community.
Pictured above is our finished practice rocket. The goal of this elaborate kit rocket was to familiarize ourselves with the different rocket parts, how they join together, and to learn different techniques for building a rocket. I was involved throughout the entire build process, and completed tasks such as applying resin to the balsa nose cone and transition section, sanding them, and gluing them using epoxy and microballoons. I reinforced the balsa fins with fiberglass, and helped adhere them to the body of the rocket. I also was involved in finalizing the color scheme of the rocket, and applied the AeroAstro IA logo decal to the rocket. I also photographed this and edited it in Photoshop to create a dramatic black background to showcase our work in an impactful way.
After doing extensive research on aeronautical principles, and building and flying a practice kit rocket, it's time to design our competition rocket for the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). We use OpenRocket CAD software, an open-source model rocket simulator to design the competition rocket. It has a built-in database of thousands of parts, and also allows me to design custom parts for the rocket. Above is an annotated diagram of the completed rocket design. I was mainly responsible for the selection of the rocket motor and fine-tuning the mass, and coordinating with other sub-teams to achieve the target apogee of 800 feet and a flight time between 41 and 43 seconds. As the Team Lead, I was also involved with design decisions throughout the whole rocket; members would discuss a certain design problems they had and I'd work with them to solve it.
Left: Construction of competition rocket. Some of my contributions include applying resin, glue and sanding the nose cone, help cutting out the holes for the thru-the-wall fins with the Dremel tool, and reinforcing the fins with fiberglass and glue. I also helped apply coats of primer to the rocket.
Right: Completed competition rocket. It is on the launch rod, ready for test flights in Michigan's windy weather. We began with some lower power E-motors to ensure that all systems on Astra 8 (like the parachute) performed normally and that its flight was stable. Then, we moved into our official F32-6T motor. One significant challenge we faced was the unpredictable, windy and cold Michigan weather which would hinder the rocket's consistency in performance. We conducted many simulated test flights in OpenRocket to prepare for the worst, and that certainly helped. It still was a real challenge flying in Michigan winters, but rewarding the closer we got to achieving target performance (800 foot apogee, 41-43s flight time).
I designed and created the entire AeroAstro IA website that showcases our team, its mission, our projects, and our passion for aerospace. In order to create the website, I taught myself how to use WordPress and learned a lot about web development in the process. This is one example of how I combine my love for art and engineering.
You can visit the website at http://www.aeroastro.org/