AEDC summer students conclude program with presentations

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, TENN. --  Just as summer is coming to a close, so are the part-time student programs at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 in White Oak, Md.

Five undergraduate students worked on site at Tunnel 9 as part of a mentoring program funded by AEDC. Based on their chosen field of academic study, the students had the opportunity to apply what they have learned to test and evaluation at Tunnel 9. 

The program's participants are chosen from the honors program at the University of Maryland. As part of the selection process, they are interviewed for aptitude in hands-on test and then placed with Tunnel 9 mentors.

The five college students recently completed their 2014 assignments and gave final briefs at a conference held in August at the Federal Research Center. According to Tunnel 9 director Dan Marren, the students presented on topics they, with guidance from their mentor or mentors, researched throughout the summer-long program.

"These students were among more than 100 other university students from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration," Marren said. "It's a great opportunity because the poster sessions are attended by thousands of health-related science professionals. If you can effectively communicate high-temperature gas dynamics to a cell biologist, you will find aerospace engineers an easy audience. Our students did a really outstanding job and stood their ground."

2014 Tunnel 9 Summer Program Participants

This year's students, their mentors and the topics of their poster sessions are as follows:

John Juliano, junior at the University of Maryland studying Aerospace Engineering. Mentors: Inna Kurits and Joseph Norris. Poster title: Quantifying Sharpness of Imaging System.

Hiroshi Furuya, junior at the University of Maryland studying Aerospace Engineering. Mentors were Inna Kurits and Joseph Norris. Poster title: Tunnel 9 Imaging Optics System Optimization.

Brian Free, senior at the University of Maryland, studying Aerospace Engineering. Mentors: Inna Kurits and Joseph Norris. Poster title: Characterizing the Usable Lifetime of Temperature Sensitive Paint.

Jack Draper, junior at the University of Maryland, studying Aerospace Engineering. Mentor: Dr. Eric Marineau. Poster title: Aerodynamic Force Measurement in Tunnel 9.

Parth Kathrotiya, senior at the University of Maryland, studying Mechanical Engineering. Mentor: Michael Metzger. Poster title: Heater Vessel Seal Redesign Study.