Projects
Research projects I have taken on independently, alongside my senior capstone. Each one runs from requirements through hand calculations to CAD, simulation and a written test plan. Every project page opens its own file cabinet: the requirements matrix, the risk register, the bill of materials, the parts list, the test matrix and the worked calculations, all readable in the browser.
CubeSat Space Readiness Test Chamber
A vacuum chamber for GW's Micropropulsion & Nanotechnology Lab that measures drag on 1U–3U CubeSat models at a simulated 200–300 km orbit, using a heated gas nozzle and a magnetically levitated carriage. I lead the attitude-control simulation.
- 13×drag vs gravity-gradient torque at 250 km
- 15×thruster roll authority
- 240–4,200×chamber vs orbit drag
- 5gaps found in the audit
Self-Pointing Satellite Testbed
A 0.8 kg, 3U-scale satellite model hangs from a nylon line and turns itself with a brass reaction wheel. It slews 90° in 20 s and holds ±2°, with a camera underneath reading the true angle that the controller never sees.
- 4.2×wheel momentum margin
- 374 Hzbolted first mode, 150 Hz required
- 1.1°pointing error with feedforward
- 13tests in the plan
3D-Printed Metal Cold Plate
Three aluminium cold plates — machined channels, printed channels and a printed gyroid lattice — run side by side at 50–150 W to separate what the shape does from what the printing does.
- 0.079–0.094K/W, machined plate
- ~20×fitting losses vs plate core
- 3plates in the comparison
- 50–150 Wheat load range
Deployable Solar-Panel Hinge
A spring hinge, latch and burn-wire release that swings a CubeSat solar panel open in 0.20 s, sized to NASA-STD-5017 with 173% torque margin.
- 173%torque margin, NASA-STD-5017
- 0.20 sdeployment time
- 206 Nlatch impact load
- 58 → 0.5 srelease time after re-spec