Skip to main content

2017/2018 Aeronautics & Astronautics Industry-Sponsored Student Capstone Projects

AeroTEC

Trailing Pressure Measurement System

Download project poster

Sponsor:
Project Name:
Trailing Pressure Measurement System
Students:
Zachary Rotter, aeronautics and astronautics
Laura Smit, aeronautics and astronautics
Kirby Taylor, aeronautics and astronautics
Bohao Zhu, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Faculty Adviser:
Chris Lum, Research Assistant Professor, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

One of AeroTEC’s main focuses is flight testing, and they are continuously looking for ways to improve the process. Trailing cones have long been used to measure static pressure accurately away from the local disturbances caused by the aircraft. Some issues with typical trailing cone systems are broken pressure lines, pressure lag, and position inaccuracies in dive conditions. The student team worked to develop a more accurate trailing cone system.

 
A group of students

AT&T

LTE Antenna for Tethered Drones

Download project poster

Sponsor:
Project Name:
LTE Antenna for Tethered Drones
Students:
Musaad Alolayan, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Tarik Haj-Khalil, aeronautics and astronautics
Essey Reda, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Timothy Ro, aeronautics and astronautics
Faculty Adviser:
Adam Bruckner, Professor Emeritus, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

AT&T has an existing tethered drone solution with onboard LTE radios and antennas to provide temporary cellular coverage to first responders and to the public after a natural disaster or other network impacting events. Payload weight and space are limited on drones, so AT&T would like to explore the potential of long wire (aka random wire) antennas integrated into the existing tether in place of traditional LTE antennas mounted on the drone. The student team worked to research, develop, test, and evaluate a long wire antenna to provide public LTE transmit and receive services from a drone.

A group of students

Blue Origin

New Glenn Booster Robotic Approach

Download project poster

Sponsor:
Project Name:
New Glenn Booster Robotic Approach
Students:
Julianna Bethune, aeronautics and astronautics
Nicholas Greenwood, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Jonathan Hall, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Trevor Hedges, aeronautics and astronautics
Nathan Mars, aeronautics and astronautics
Aaron Misola, aeronautics and astronautics
Cole Morgan, aeronautics and astronautics
Thomas Pryor, aeronautics and astronautics
Faculty Adviser:
Kristi A. Morgansen, Professor and Interim Chair, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

The New Glenn 1st stage booster will land down range autonomously on a vessel out at sea. After landing, it will need to connect to the vehicle for power, communications, and nitrogen supply. Ideally, these connections would happen as soon after landing as possible to minimize the need to carry these commodities onboard. For safety reasons, the landing vessel will not have people on it during the landing operation. Some amount of time is required to safe the vehicle prior to transferring personnel back onto the vessel. The team worked to create a robotic system that can approach the vehicle and make these connections shortly after landing to significantly increase operational capability.

A group of students

Boeing

Hybrid-Electric STOL Air Taxi Design

Download project poster

Sponsor:
Project Name:
Hybrid-Electric STOL Air Taxi Design
Students:
Jordan Ho, aeronautics and astronautics
Cory Lock, aeronautics and astronautics
Max McDonald, aeronautics and astronautics
Ashenafi Mendera, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Mozhgan Mirarabshahi, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Pierce Paynter, aeronautics and astronautics
Andrew Quam, aeronautics and astronautics
Ben Rizzardi, aeronautics and astronautics
Severiano Sandomirsky, aeronautics and astronautics
Faculty Adviser:
Behcet Acikmese, Associate Professor, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
JK Yang, Assistant Professor, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

The team set out to design a Hybrid-Electric STOL air taxi. The entry into service (EIS) is 2028 for a STOL 4-seater with 400 nmi of range. The intent is to have energy storage to supplement takeoff, climb, go-around and emergencies via batteries and electric motors with an engine providing additional power and/or direct propulsion for cruise to extend the range and recharge the batteries during cruise. The team worked to create a white paper design report, to be improved upon by future teams to eventually create a proof of concept UAS demonstrator.

A group of students

GKN Aerospace

Effect of Embedded Dissimilar Materials on the Fatigue Life of Honeycomb Panels

Download project poster

Sponsor:
Project Name:
Effect of Embedded Dissimilar Materials on the Fatigue Life of Honeycomb Panels
Students:
Siqi Chen, aeronautics and astronautics
Timothy Gormley, aeronautics and astronautics
Shida Xu, aeronautics and astronautics
Faculty Adviser:
Marco Salviato, Assistant Professor, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

GKN Aerospace forms titanium honeycombs panels at elevated temperature. In order to prevent the contamination of the titanium, the parts are covered with stainless steel foil. The high temperature and high contact pressure may cause steel particles to be embedded in the titanium face sheet. The student team set out to create a numerical method to simulate the effect of the embedded steel particles on the titanium face sheet mechanical properties, and recommend a solution.

A group of students

GKN Aerospace

Flow Characteristics of Manufacturing Defects on Lip Skins and the Effect on Specific Fuel Consumption

Sponsor:
Project Name:
Flow Characteristics of Manufacturing Defects on Lip Skins and the Effect on Specific Fuel Consumption
Students:
Andrew Brodsky, materials science & engineering
Jeremy Hall, aeronautics and astronautics
Asia Morris, aeronautics and astronautics
Pablo Trefftz Posada, aeronautics and astronautics
Faculty Adviser:
Antonino Ferrante, Associate Professor, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Tony Waas, Boeing-Edtvedt Chair, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

The team set out to study the lip skin manufacturing defects for mid-size aircrafts such as the 737Max, and how they affect the Specific Fuel Consumption. They worked to describe all the defects and their influence on the Specific Fuel Consumption, and used geometric data to predict the effects and quantify the percentage Specific Fuel Consumption increase due to these effects (waviness, roughness, change of thickness), resulting in a parametric trade study and a simple model.

Sagetech

Angle of Attack Sensor for Small UAS

Download project poster

Sponsor:
Project Name:
Angle of Attack Sensor for Small UAS
Students:
Kylle Ashton, aeronautics and astronautics
Silviu Gruber, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Gregory Sanon, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Faculty Adviser:
Adam Bruckner, Professor Emeritus, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

The student team set out to design a method of electronically sensing Angle-of-Attack that is suitable for a medium sized UAS (55-500 pounds). Sensing aircraft Angle-of-Attack is of interest in the field of Unmanned Aerial Systems, specifically at low speeds, for enhancing autonomous landing capability. The team created a feasibility prototype that demonstrates the capability of their designed method.

A group of students

Vulcan Technologies LLC

Poacher Discovery and Tracking from an Aerial Vehicle

Download project poster

Project Name:
Poacher Discovery and Tracking from an Aerial Vehicle
Students:
Alex Bernard, aeronautics and astronautics
Christopher Lynch, aeronautics and astronautics
Gabriella Sciuchetti, aeronautics and astronautics
Samden Sherpa, UW Bothell, electrical engineering
Faculty Adviser:
Chris Lum, Research Assistant Professor, William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
About the Project:

The student team set out to identify techniques and technologies to detect and track poachers in Africa and elsewhere. For example, poachers use cell phones, drive in trucks, and deploy barbed wire to indiscriminately snare roaming animals (spooling and storing this material in large piles when not in use). Discovering these anomalies and forwarding this data in real time to authorities will deny materials and territory to poachers and produce evidence of their activities. The team developed a final system, using aerospace expertise to complete design tradeoffs, determine the difference between expected and delivered performance, fabricate experimental hardware, and create performance test plans.

A group of students