Aerospace Seniors Achieve Perfect 4.0

Join us in honoring David Dowdell and Thomas Nilles, two Aerospace Engineering students who are graduating with an overall 4.0 grade-point average. These outstanding students have never received less than an “A” in any of their courses. On May 4th, they were honored by President Harroz at a ceremony for their accomplishments.

David Dowdell’s favorite part of AME at OU is the small class sizes; being able to get to know his classmates. Dowdell majored in Aerospace engineering because he wanted to study engineering and believed aerospace to be the most exciting option.

“As far as strategies for success go,” Dowdell said, “I think what helped me the most was trying to get every assignment done early if possible. Even it wasn’t possible, the extra time I’d spend thinking about it usually helped me understand it.”

His plans after graduation are to start working for Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, CA in August.

The first piece of advice he’d give to any student is, “to avoid procrastinating.” Dowdell says, “The second is to be willing to learn more than just what the classes teach. Engineering requires it.”

Thomas Nilles says, “the engineering projects are [his] favorite part of AME here at OU. Almost every engineering course [he’s] taken has had a project associated with it. They are stressful, but they are also fun and rewarding.”

As a kid, Nilles loved to play with Legos. He thinks that is what fostered his development as both a creative person and a builder. Flight was always mysterious and magical to Nilles. His desire to understand what makes aircraft fly really cemented his desire to be an aerospace engineer.

Nilles said, his, “calculator and 5-hour energy helped [him].” Far more important than those things, he says, are the people who helped him. He has had, “so many great professors here at OU that have been as invested in [his] success as [he’s] been.” Nilles appreciates that they go above and beyond for their students. He says his “dad has also been a huge part of [his] success.” He is not only his dad but also his friend and mentor. He has been there for Nilles in the toughest times. Nilles says he, “could not have succeeded here at OU without him.” Finally, he says he owes a great deal to his daughter who has been a constant source of joy in his life. She keeps him grounded and he loves her so much.

Nilles says for him, “it’s time to start building.” He’s had a lot of fun here at OU, but he looks forward to getting back to work. He said he’s, “keeping [his] fingers crossed for the right job to come along soon.”

“[His] advice for other students is to get into the right mindset. You are not here to get A’s. You are not here to get a degree. You are not here to get paid the big bucks someday. You are here to get an education. Education is a team sport so be a team player. Work with your professors, not against them. Help your classmates when you can. Get involved in the competition teams and take some friends with you to the meetings.”

Oklahoma Aerospace Engineering Students Kickoff Design Project to Support International Space Station Resupply Missions

OU students travelled to Louisville, Colorado to meet with engineers at Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), and kickoff their capstone project work of designing ground support equipment for SNC’s Dream Chaser International Space Station resupply mission. Sierra Nevada Corporation is under contract with NASA to supply and recover payloads from the space station in support of NASA’s science and human spaceflight missions. Seven OU students from the Gallogly College of Engineering will spend their spring semester designing hardware to encapsulate and protect the Shooting Star cargo module of the Dream Chaser as it is prepared for flight.

Pictured from left to right: Chris Raatz (SNC), Brayden Cole, Alix Caudill, Sebastian Medina, Chandler Ziegler, Blake Mattioda, Patrick Turner, Abdelwahab Makhlouf, and Maggie Mueller (SNC)

This press release was written by Dr. Thomas Hays.

Aerospace Engineering Student Featured in OU Crimson Spotlight

Sarah Ciccaglione, an aerospace engineering student, was featured in the “Crimson Spotlight” segment of the Inside OU newsletter on March 13, 2019. In the video, she speaks about her involvement at OU and how the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering has made her feel at home.

Ciccaglione is a member of the Sooner Racing Team. She enjoys the mechanical systems behind the cars and competing with her team. Ciccaglione is interested in the technical side of aerospace engineering and she enjoys the math and science involved in her major. Furthering her career in the engineering field, she also got the opportunity to intern with Tesla in Palo Alto, California.

Ciccaglione is very involved on campus. She is a member of the rowing team and double majors in aerospace and vocal performance. Ciccaglione loves all of the opportunities that OU provides for its students and the support system she has gained.

Click here to watch the Crimson Spotlight video featuring Sarah Ciccaglione.

Launching Rockets in Kansas with Dr. Hays

On August 5th 2018, Dr. Hays’ research group in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering launched two 12.5 ft.-tall, 60+-pound rockets carrying customer payloads in Argonia, Kansas.  Undergraduate aerospace engineering students Alex Speed, Trevor Trevino, Christopher Hughes, William Wadkins and Jarrod Manning successfully built and flew the two rocket systems with assistance from Dr. Hays.

 

Senior aerospace engineering student Alex Speed obtained the University’s first undergraduate Tripoli Rocket Association Level 3 certification as a result of his successful launch of “Godspeed.”  The second launch of “Spednik” brought OU Aerospace into the supersonic realm by reaching Mach 1.15.  Both rockets successfully delivered customer data from the payload, and were tracked directly to their landing site using Telemega GPS telemetry systems.

ame-alex-speed

The AME department would like to thank our payload customer, the Kansas ‘Kloudbusters,’ and Tulsa TRA prefecture members for their help in making the launch such a success.

Wind Tunnel Design Team Takes 2nd Place at AIAA Student Conference

AME’s student wind tunnel design team recently accepted an award in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the weekend of April 13th at the student conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Representing the team, Karen Martinez Soto traveled to the conference to accept the 2nd place award on behalf of her team for the AIAA region IV team technical paper category. In addition to Soto, her teammates include Samuel Jett, Orhan Roksa, and Marko Mestrovic, who are all undergraduate students at AME.                                         Their paper highlights the design, fabrication, and uniformity testing of a low-budget, wind tunnel. With a budget of only $5,000, their group examined characteristics of wind tunnels through computer models and they continued their study further by building a tunnel of their own to test other aerodynamic components. The focus of their design and construction for this tunnel, according to their paper, serves to provide “a robust platform for development and testing of many aerodynamics components, including UAV propellers.” Congratulations to Karen, Samuel, Orhan, and Marko for their impressive efforts to design and test a wind tunnel and their 2nd place award from the AIAA student conference.

Link to the team’s paper: design-fabrication-uniformity (1)-1ghgtt2