Sooner Racing Team Begins Thousands Strong Campaign!

Sooner Racing Team has kicked off their Thousands Strong Campaign to raise money for the competition this year in Las Vegas! Help them reach their goal of $7,500 before their campaign ends on June 18.

The Sooner Racing Team is an OU student organization that designs, builds, tests, and races an open-wheel, formula-style race car. Each year, they compete against teams from around the world. SRT wants to take their 2021 car to the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition in Las Vegas, Nevada, but we need your help getting there!

Formula SAE competitions provide an invaluable professional experience for our team members. We learn hands-on skills and have the opportunity to network with businesses in the automotive field as well as with students from over 600 other universities around the world. During this past school year, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, our team has been hard at work designing and manufacturing our 2021 car, but we need your financial support to get it to the competition. Your donations will help cover travel costs to get us on the road, and if we exceed our goal of $7,500, extra funds will be put towards purchasing new sets of racing tires and carbon fiber.

“Please help spread the word about our campaign by sharing the link with your friends and family via social media! We cannot compete to the highest of our ability without the support of our amazing OU friends and family!”

Donate Here: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/26136

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.”

AME Honors Student Award Recipients

The recipients of the Outstanding Student Awards and Graduate Student Awards were honored at the annual award ceremony on April 20th for their hard work and dedication during the 2020-2021 school year. Congratulations to these outstanding students for their achievements!

Top row left to right: Javad Asadi, Md Tanvir Ahad, Joshua Overcash, Benjamin Basden, Christopher Billings, Brenden Chenoweth, and Simon Dempsey.  Bottom row left to right: Roshan Sameer Annam, Anirban Mondal, Emmanuel Hakizimana, Christian Newkirk, Avinash Singh Nayal, Megan Fox, and Lydia England.

 

Outstanding Student Awards

The Outstanding Student Awards include seniors Benjamin Basden and Simon Dempsey, juniors Megan Fox and Joshua Overcash, and sophomores Lydia England and Christian Newkirk.

      Outstanding Senior in Mechanical Engineering: Benjamin Basden

“I’m studying mechanical engineering because I enjoy problem-solving. I started as a little kid working on mechanical components, and getting to OU and working on the Sooner Off-Road team, I have confirmed my love for engineering. After graduation, I will be working at John Zink Hamworthy Combustion in Tulsa, OK.”

         Outstanding Senior in Aerospace Engineering: Simon Dempsey

“I am studying aerospace engineering because I have been fascinated by flight since a very young age. I am excited to join the ranks of a new generation of aerospace engineers seeking to pursue new forms of cleaner air travel, expand humanity’s reach into space, and tackle a whole host of challenging issues. In order to better prepare myself, I will be pursuing a master’s in aerospace engineering after graduation at either Purdue or the University of Illinois.”

     Outstanding Junior in Aerospace Engineering: Megan Fox
“I’m studying Aerospace Engineering because of its wide range of applications. From drones that help in reforestation to helicopters that fly on Mars, there is always something new to build and discover in this field. Studying all of the different mechanisms that contribute to flight has been one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences.”
   Outstanding Junior in Mechanical Engineering: Joshua Overcash
Joshua Overcash is studying mechanical engineering because he enjoys problem-solving and learning about the laws and principles that govern the world around him. He appreciates the challenging coursework and looks forward to using his degree to make a difference.
Outstanding Sophomore in Aerospace Engineering: Lydia England
“Space has always fascinated me. I love the excitement of discovery and creativity that is ever-present in the STEM field and the experimental and analytical aspects of engineering. Several times, I have set my alarm for the middle of the night to wake up and watch live streams of the critical moments of NASA or SpaceX missions, like spacecraft launches and the final moments of the Cassini mission. I am thrilled to be pursuing a career in Aerospace Engineering. In recent history, we looked to the heavens and found that they were within our reach. I hope to be a part of reviving our excitement to explore beyond this world, to pursue personal and scientific growth to the limits of my imagination and capability, and to inspire and educate others to do the same.”
Outstanding Sophomore in Mechanical Engineering: Christian Newkirk

“I’m studying mechanical engineering because of my interest in math and physics. One day I hope to work in the space industry and design space flight systems.”

 

Graduate Student Awards

Marathon Oil Scholarship:

Christopher Billings

 

John E. Francis Scholarship:

Avinash Singh Nayal

Md Tanvir Ahad

 

Jim and Bee Close Scholarship:

Emmanuel Hakizimana

Anirban Mondal

Mohammad Naghashnejad

Fatema Tarannum

Javad Asadi

Parisa Marashizadeh

Roshan Sameer Annam

Avinash Singh Nayal

 

Frank Chuck Mechanical Engineering Scholarship:

Mohammad Abshirini

 

Dr. Gan Receives George Lynn Cross Research Professorship

Rong Zhu Gan

Dr. Rong Gan has received the George Lynn Cross Research Professorship, the highest research and creative activity honor given by the University to a faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership over a period of years in his or her field of learning or creative activity. Join us in honoring Dr. Gan for this remarkable achievement!

Dr. Gan came to OU in 1999 after serving as the Director of Biomedical Engineering at Hough Ear Institute in Oklahoma City and has been a part of AME since. She says this is because of her strong foundation here at AME. She has a “good connection with the Health Science Center and the Norman Campus.” Dr. Gan said she also has a lot of support here from her mentors, the University, and the “excellent students.”

“No matter what kind of student, no matter their background,” Dr. Gan says, “you have to pay attention to them and guide them.” You have to, “know how to mentor them because they are so important to research.” Dr. Gan wants students to be motivated for their future because the future is, “totally in their hands.”

Dr. Gan says the George Lynn Cross Research Professorship is a huge recognition of accomplishment for her research and education, two things, Dr. Gan says, “are connected and can’t be separated.” She says researchers must-have, “100% confidence in their original area, but have to look for a new direction because there must be innovation to solve the problem.” Dr. Gan’s advice for researchers is to seek innovation, collaboration, and for them to publish their work. She says for people to, “always keep good motivation and to work hard,” for the benefit of future generations.

See the article below for more information about Dr. Gan’s research and awards:

With her strong background in biomechanics and implantable devices, Dr. Gan has developed a truly transformational, well-funded research program at OU in Biomechanics for Protection and Restoration of Hearing, including implantable hearing devices, dynamic properties of ear tissues, auditory function tests, and computational modeling of sound and blast wave transmission through the ear.

As PI for all of her funded research projects, Dr. Gan has built an exceptionally strong research group that simultaneously conducts physical experiments in animals and human cadavers as well as foundational 3D computational modeling of human and animal ears.

The ability to carry out all these research activities covering both basic and applied research, instrumentation, data acquisition, theoretical modeling, and device design and testing in one lab is Dr. Gan’s research strength. She uses biomechanics systems approaches as fundamental methods with the goal to develop innovative technologies for measuring sound or blast wave transmission through the ear and the 3D physics-based computational model of the human ear for an understanding of hearing and protection mechanisms, improving diagnosis of middle ear diseases, and serving as a tool for the design and evaluation of implantable hearing devices and hearing protection devices.

Dr. Gan’s research work has been mainly funded by highly competitive grants from Federal and State government agencies such as the DOD, NIH, NSF, OCAST, and the Whitaker Foundation. Particularly in recent years, Dr. Gan’s research activities have been extended into new areas of biomechanical modeling and measurement of blast injury and hearing protection mechanisms for U.S. military priority research. This innovative development is based on original concepts of normal sound transmission through the ear and stimulated by Dr. Gan’s scholarship in the areas of measurements in human cadaver and animal ears and the finite element modeling of sound transmission through the ear.

Dr. Gan’s research has resulted in numerous publications and led to breakthroughs in implantable devices, computational modeling, and therapeutics for hearing restoration with 4 patents (two pending approval). She is a world-class researcher, a truly exceptional scholar, and among the very best educators we have at the University of Oklahoma. Her research has a direct impact on human health in terms of restoring hearing and improving the quality of life for the 38 million Americans with hearing impairment and providing hearing protection for military personnel. The George Lynn Cross Research Professorship award is a recognition of her superb research productivity and remarkable contributions to biomedical engineering research and education at the University of Oklahoma.

Click here to find the Norman Campus Faculty Tribute Award article written about Dr. Gan.

Boomer Rocket Team and Sooner Off-Road Begin Their Thousands Strong Campaigns!

This month, Boomer Rocket Team and Sooner Off-Road kicked off their Thousands Strong Campaigns! These student teams want your support to help them get to competition.

Sooner Off-Road is a student team that designs, manufactures, and races an off-road vehicle for the Baja SAE competition. They are hoping to raise $7,000 before their Thousands Strong campaign ends on December 5, 2020, at 11:55 p.m. The money donated to them will go towards the construction of the vehicle, software used for design, and travel expenses. As of today, they have reached 53% of their goal, and they could use your help! Donate to Sooner Off-Road by visiting their Thousands Strong website: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/22820

Boomer Rocket Team is a group of multidisciplinary engineering students dedicated to the design, construction, and launch of high powered rockets. BRT hopes to raise $3,000 before their Thousands Strong campaign ends on December 11, 2020, at 11:55 p.m. The money they receive will be used to purchase materials and send students to the Argonia Cup in Kansas. So far, they have reached 54% of their goal, and they need your help! Visit BRT’s Thousands Strong website to donate: https://thousandsstrong.ou.edu/project/22934

Thank you for your support!

AME Faculty Profiles

We have amazing professors here at AME who love teaching and working with our students. This week, get to know these seven outstanding faculty members. 

Dr. Chung-Hao Lee

Dr. Lee’s research interests include Cardiovascular Biomechanics and Multiscale Computational Modeling. He teaches Solid Mechanics, Numerical Methods, Solid Mechanics Lab, and Biomechanics, and his favorite class in college was Finite Element Methods. In Dr. Lee’s free time, he enjoys watching TV and sports! Dr. Lee’s favorite thing about OU is working with students from various disciplines and his advice to students is to pay attention to the details and read instructions carefully.

Dr. Zahed Siddique

Dr. Siddique’s research interests include Engineering Education, Oil and Gas Component Characterization, Neuro-Responses to Creativity, and Product and Process Design. He teaches Principles of Design and Design Practicum. In college, he enjoyed programming courses. In Dr. Siddique’s free time, he likes to watch movies. His favorite thing about OU is working with students on projects involving design, manufacturing, and testing. Dr. Siddique recommends that students collaborate and cooperate with integrity.

 

Dr. Farrokh Mistree

Dr. Mistree is interested in defining the emerging frontier for the “intelligent” decision-based realization of complex (cyber-physical-social) systems when the computational models are incomplete and inaccurate. Applications: Healthcare, Rural Development (people living in extreme poverty), Education. He teaches Preparing for a Life in Academia, Designing for Open Innovation, Principles of Engineering Design, and Design Practicum (Capstone). In college, his favorite course was Architecture and Town Planning of Ancient Rome. His passion is to engage in activities that provide an opportunity for highly motivated and talented people (around the world) to learn how to define and achieve their dreams. Dr. Mistree’s favorite thing about OU is the flexibility proffered in the graduate curriculum.

His is advice to graduate students is that it doesn’t matter what topic you study; the details are going to be out of date pretty soon. What matters is what you learn by reflecting on what you do in your thesis/dissertation. Find a mentor who is keen to invest in educating (not just training) you. His advice to undergraduate students is that graduate education is typically free in the US for students who wish to pursue a graduate degree. Take at least one course that exposes you to research and then think deeply about pursuing a graduate degree. Plan on developing non-technical competencies for careers post-graduation. Dr. Mistree says, “Talk to me about graduate education.”

Dr. Chris Dalton

Dr. Dalton’s research interests are in STEM Outreach and he teaches Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, IC Engines Lab, Capstone, Design of Thermal/Fluid Systems, Solid Mechanics, and Freshman Engineering Experience. In college, his favorite class was Physics 1. He had an excellent professor that made the class very interactive and engaging. He uses structures from that class in his classes to this day. In his free time, he is a big sports fan. He follows the Sooners, the OKC Thunder, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Atlanta Braves. He also enjoys going to the movies. As an alumnus of OU, his favorite thing about OU is getting to share past experiences with students and see how their experiences are similar and different from his. Dr. Dalton’s advice to students is to find activities to get involved in outside the classroom, like student organizations or research. Employers want to see a well-rounded student, not just an academically strong one.

Dr. Feng C. Lai

 

Dr. Feng C. Lai

Dr. Lai’s research interests include Heat Transfer, Enhanced Heat Transfer Using Electrical Field, Electrohydrodynamics, and Heat Transfer in Porous Media. He teaches Principles of Heat Transfer, Design of Thermal and Fluid Systems, Heat Transfer, and Thermodynamics, and his favorite course in college was Thermodynamics. In his free time, Dr. Lai enjoys traveling, watching movies, and listening to classical music. His favorite thing about OU is its good balance between academic and athletic programs. Dr. Lai’s advice for students is to balance their work and play.

 

 

Dr. David P. Miller

Dr. Miller’s research interests are Assistive technology, robot planning, robotics for STEM Education, localization, and planetary surface exploration. He teaches Programming, space science, and robotics, and his favorite course in college was Works of Mark Twain. In Dr. Miller’s free time, he enjoys reading and saltwater aquariums. His favorite thing about OU is Opera and his advice to students is to talk to users.

 

 

Dr. Pejman Kazempoor

Dr. Kazempoor’s research interests are Carbon Capture and Utilization, Sustainable Energy, Environmental Management, Energy Storage, and Electrochemical Energy Systems (Fuel Cells). He teaches Fluid Mechanics; Modeling and Simulation of Energy Systems. His favorite course from college was Advanced Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics. In his free time, he enjoys playing music. Dr. Kazempoor’s favorite thing about OU is its Diversity and Inclusion. His advice to students is that success is a process.

2019-2020 Outstanding Student Award Recipients are Announced!

Outstanding student awards for the 2019-2020 school year include seniors Will Fossett and Riley Barnes, juniors Callen Koiner and Hunter Lau, and sophomores, Megan Fox and Abbey Moore.

      Outstanding Senior in Mechanical Engineering: Riley Barnes

Riley Barnes is currently the lead teaching assistant for Circuits 1 (DC Circuits), Circuits 2 (AC Circuits), and Electromechanical Systems.

After graduation, he plans to work full-time as a mechanical design engineer in the aerospace industry for L3 Harris Technologies at their Greenville, TX location.

“I initially discovered my passion for mechanical design and manufacturing during my sophomore year on the Sooner Rover team, when we designed and built a new rover. Since that time, professors and colleagues in the AME program have continued to push me to grow as an engineer and a professional.  Leveraging resources in the AME program I was able to obtain a design engineer internship with Terex Corporation and this experience reinforced my desire to work as a design engineer.  The technical knowledge and lessons I’ve learned in AME are truly invaluable and will remain with me throughout my career.

         Outstanding Senior in Aerospace Engineering: Will Fossett

 Will Fossett is part of Sigma Gamma Tau, the national aerospace engineering honor society. He is also a team member of OU’s DBF, where he worked on static stability analysis, structural analysis, and construction of the fuselage and spar for the team’s aircraft. Fossett is also the teaching assistant for AME 3333 Flight Mechanics.

After graduation, he will be working in the Electronics and Payloads division at Northrop Grumman in Oklahoma City.

“OU’s AME program has introduced us to each of the primary fields of aerospace, such as propulsion, structures, aerodynamics, and flight controls. These classes allowed us to experience the basics of these fields so that we can understand what fields we are interested in and have aptitudes for. By introducing us to many different aspects of aerospace, the OU AME program has allowed me to find the aspects of aerospace that truly interest me.”

     Outstanding Junior in Aerospace Engineering: Callen Koiner

After graduation, Callen Koiner plans on furthering his education by pursuing a Master’s degree so that he can better understand how to design components for the next generation of air and space vehicles to help push humanity further than ever before.

“Ever since I was a kid, I have always been interested in the science of flight. I chose Aerospace Engineering because it allowed me to develop an understanding of all the different mechanisms of flight through the help of many different professors and faculty during my time at OU.”

   Outstanding Junior in Mechanical Engineering: Hunter Lau

After graduation, Hunter Lau hopes to enroll in the University of Oklahoma Medical school to pursue an MD.

“I am studying mechanical engineering in order to have the broadest and representative understanding of the Engineering field! I enjoy learning the variety of topics Mechanical Engineering has to offer including circuits, solid/fluid mechanics, heat transfer, biomechanics, and computational analysis.”

Outstanding Sophomore in Aerospace Engineering: Megan Fox

In the future, Megan Fox hopes to work on military aircraft and bring innovative ideas to an ever-evolving field.

“My natural curiosity and instinctive need to explore the universe have led me to know that aerospace engineering has always been my calling. Choosing my major may have been a simple decision, but I fell in love with it in a way I never expected. I came to love my major because of the way that it requires creativity. When it comes to exploring the universe, there will always be more questions than answers, and I’ve learned that sometimes the best solutions come from the most unexpected ideas. Building gliders and rockets has shown me that there is never an exact solution, but applying ideas and principles in an innovative way is how progress is made. Every time I see my ideas in action, I am reassured that I am in the right major.”

Outstanding Sophomore in Mechanical Engineering: Abbey Moore

After graduation, Abbey Moore plans to continue working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center where she can work on the next generation of spacesuits and support NASA’s return to the Moon.

“I’m studying mechanical engineering because I love the range of tools– from fluids and solids to design and analysis– that it gives me to address complex and dynamic problems.”

Dr. SeungYeon Kang Gives Seminar over Advanced Laser-Materials-Processing Techniques for Nanofabrication of Functional Materials and Energy Harvesting Devices

SeungYeon Kang, Ph.D. presented a seminar Friday, March 6, over, “Advanced Laser-Materials-Processing Techniques for Nanofabrication of Functional Materials and Energy Harvesting Devices.” Dr. Kang is a Program Manager for NSF’s SHAP3D additive manufacturing center at the University of Connecticut.

Abstract: Increasing number of novel materials, structures and device are being designed every day to revolutionize our future. Accordingly, new fabrication methods to complement the designs must be developed for actual realization of the devices. In this talk I’ll start by discussing the use of ultrafast lasers for advanced materials processing techniques and the significance of developing new nanofabrication methods for cost-effective manufacturing and rapid prototyping with high accuracy. The focus of my talk will be on a novel direct laser writing technique that enables fabrication of 3D metal-dielectric nanocomposite structures of tunable dimensions ranging from hundreds of nanometers to micrometers. This true 3D patterning technique utilizes nonlinear optical interactions between chemical precursors and femtosecond pulses to go beyond the limitations of conventional fabrication techniques that require multiple postprocessing steps and/or are restricted to fabrication in two dimensions. The first part of the talk will end with a further discussion on possible applications including metamaterials, graphene-based devices and etc. In the shorter second part of the talk, I’ll introduce a relatively new material of research interest called piezoelectrochemical materials and another advanced laser-materials-processing technique that utilizes laser induced forward transfer (LIFT). I’ll end with a discussion on how one can use these two research areas to develop energy harvesting devices that convert ambient mechanical energy into electrochemical energy.

Biography: Dr. SeungYeon Kang is currently the program manager for NSF’s SHAP3D additive manufacturing center at University of Connecticut. Her research interests are focused on advanced laser materials processing techniques, fundamental principles and application of light-matter interaction, nanofabrication and energy technology. She obtained her B.A. degree from Cornell University in chemical engineering and received her Ph.D. degree in applied physics from Harvard University, where she focused on ultrafast laser processing of materials and developed a novel 3D nanofabrication technique. After her graduate studies, she worked at Samsung SDI as a senior research engineer on lithium ion batteries and at Princeton University as a postdoctoral research associate. Her various research resulted in several patents and she is the recipient of Samsung SDI Scholarship, Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) research Fellowship and Princeton Postdoctoral Fellowship in scientific writing.

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.

Dr. Jeongmoo Huh Gives Presentation Over Micro Propulsion Systems for the Next Generation Space Missions

On Friday, February 14th, Dr. Jeongmoo Huh gave a presentation over, “Micro Propulsion Systems for the Next Generation Space Missions.” Dr. Huh currently works in the Space Engineering Department in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology as a visiting researcher.

Abstract: Many miniaturized satellites have recently been launched and proved the feasibility of distributed space systems in space missions with improved revisit time, the time elapsed between observations by satellites, at an extremely low cost. Most preliminary small-scale satellites such as CubeSat and PocketQube, however, were either not equipped with a micro-propulsion system for its altitude/orbit control or not ready for various space missions due to inherent theoretical performance limitations of space propulsion systems that currently exist as well as limited performance achievement of micro propulsion systems. Not only normal operation of miniaturized satellites but also the next generation space mission using CubeSat/PocketQube will not be feasible without successful downsizing of space propulsion systems and their performance improvement.

The seminar will start with general principles of several chemical rockets and difficulties of downsizing of chemical rockets, and report how a chemical rocket was successfully miniaturized including a photolithography process, a MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical Systems) based fabrication technology, and catalyst manufacturing process as well. Performance of thruster generation and propellant decomposition efficiency of 50 mN class MEMS-based monopropellant micro thrusters will be discussed based on experimental data showing how much performance was improved by using a blended propellant and regenerative micro cooling channels in micro scale thruster systems.

This will be followed by an introduction to electrospray micro colloid propulsion, one of space electric propulsion systems, which has arguably the highest specific impulse performance, up to a range of 1,500-7,000 s depending on electric power supplied. The different nature of the working principle of the system and its performance characteristics compared with chemical one will be identified. Pros and cons of chemical and electric propulsion systems will be discussed with inherent performance limitation of both propulsion systems, and a new system configuration for space micro propulsion will be suggested to meet the performance requirement of miniaturized propulsion systems for the next generation space missions, an interplanetary mission of miniaturized satellites.

Biography: Dr. Jeongmoo Huh currently works in Space Engineering Department in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands as a visiting researcher starting from July 2019. In Delft, He’s working on high energetic gel phase novel propellant development for space propulsion applications. Before joining the group, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL), in the UK from April 2017 to June 2019 participating in an electric propulsion project funded by the EU. The project was about high-performance low-cost disruptive propulsion technology using electrospray colloid propulsion for small-scale satellite applications. There was a consortium for the project and it was composed of a university, QMUL, and three different space-related companies, AirBus in the UK, NanoSpace in Sweden, and SystematIC in the Netherlands. The successful outcome is now on its way to commercialization. Dr. Huh stayed in Daejeon, South Korea for about 5 years from Feb 2012, for his graduate course and one year of postdoc experience. He received an M.S./Ph.D. degree in the Department of Aerospace Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon in Feb 2016. For his Bachelor’s degree, he studied in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Korea Aerospace University, Goyang, South Korea, from March 2008 to Feb 2012. His research topic in graduate school was about micro-scale chemical space propulsion for Nano-satellite applications, for which a MEMS(Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) fabrication process was designed and employed, validating successful manufacturing and operation of 50 mN class monopropellant thrusters with the suggested development procedure. As a postdoctoral researcher at KAIST, he also experienced classical size monopropellant, bipropellant, and hybrid propellant rockets and had hands-on experience on its application to sounding rockets, sounding rocket flight testing, and numerical code development for propulsion performance and flight performance estimation. One of his journal papers related to the micro chemical propulsion was selected as the best paper in Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering at 2013 and 2014, and several conference papers related to micro propulsion, sounding rockets, and micro reactors were the best paper awarded and selected for further manuscript work at several international conferences held in the UK, France, Korea, and the US. Overall, chemical and electric space propulsion, sounding rocket systems, MEMS-based combustion and propulsion, and new energetic materials and novel propellants are what he has experienced and where his expertise lies in.