Status: Completed
An ultra-lightweight rocket was constructed using fused deposition modeling and active foaming filament technology, the latter of which is capable of reducing airframe mass
by 26% compared to commercially available kraft paper commonly used in model rockets. The rocket launched
on April 18, 2026 at LDRS 44 in Pence, Indiana, but was not recovered due to high winds that day.
Status: In Progress | Deliverables available!
Under the advising of Dr. Nak-seung Patrick Hyun and alongside Jeffery Zhou, Gilbert Chang, and Logan Dihel, a gliding-enabled, mode-switching, unmanned sensing (GEMUS) flapping wing vehicle
is being developed as a control system development platform to better understand how birds with high aspect ratio wings are able to conserve energy via dynamic soaring.
The preliminary design has been partially validated through force transducer tests, with wind tunnel tests upcoming for further validation. Currently, the vehicle is capable of
producing 515 grams of thrust and 180 grams of lift while weighing around 250 grams.
*Involvement ended, project still ongoing.
Status: Completed
A custom solid rocket motor utilizing a three-point star port geometry was developed at Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories for use in a model rocket
that launched in November 2025, allowing us to validate the accuracy of ballistics and trajectory simulations. The grain geometry, chosen for its high volume loading,
was designed in SolidWorks and is estimated to be 4.6" x 1.212" in length and diameter respectively. From ballistics simulations, this H91 class motor was expected to produce
around 258.70 Ns of impulse for a burn time of 2.79 seconds while still providing a 1.390 safety factor for maximum chamber pressure. An openMotor ballistics simulation predicted a
maximum chamber pressure within 3% of recorded maximum chamber pressure, while a MATLAB trajectory simulation was able to get within 2% of altimeter apogee readings.
Status: Completed | Deliverables available!
As the final experiment for the Aerodynamics Laboratory (AAE 33401) course, a custom experiment was developed that would test the aerodynamic performance
of flexible, finite wings in a wind tunnel. More specifically, these wings would be additively manufactured with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and
would have varying levels of stiffness. When faced with high freestream velocities, the most flexible wings yielded surprising aerodynamic and structural behaviors.
Status: Completed | Deliverables available!
In collaboration with Anish Agarwal, Shreesh Nalatwad, Noah Smith, and Will Stupart, a MATLAB interface was developed to estimate
heating characteristics from forced convection and conduction for a simulated sounding rocket. Users are also able
to approximate insulation thickness needed to protect avionics and other internals. By leveraging lumped system analysis,
simulation time is reduced by over 90% compared to Ansys Fluent while only yielding ~10% error, making this a valuable tool for
early rocket design iterations.
Status: Discontinued | Deliverables available!
Under the advising of Dr. Nak-seung Patrick Hyun and in collaboration with Andrew Hadikusumo and Darin Tsai,
a biomimetic translational ornithopter robot was in development while Ptera Software's unsteady vortex lattice method was utilized to
determine aerodynamic characteristics of the wing-flapping motion based on varying linkage lengths and ranges of motion.
Status: Discontinued
Due to a need for low-stakes testing of avionics and control systems for future rocket projects, the Unmanned Controls/Avionics Test-Bed (UCAT) was
designed to provide a simple testing vessel for avionic communication range and eventually control surface deflection dynamics.
Status: Completed
Late into the 2023-24 VEX Robotics Competition season, a sub-6-inch height robot in the 15"x15"x15" category was designed that would end up with a record of 5 wins, 4 losses,
and recognition for the Design Award at the Illini Cornfield Clash tournament.
Status: Completed | Deliverables available!
In collaboration with Alayna Miller, Shreesh Nalatwad, and Nischal Suhas, a 72-page report was authored detailing a hypothetical Mars sample retrieval
mission based on mission parameter calculations done in MATLAB with the patched conics approximations.