Ocean Acoustics: Sediment Classification

Research Synopsis: For the past 6 months, I have been interning at the New Jersey Institute of Technology learning machine learning techniques such as decision trees and linear regression models. The research that I assist in concerns sediment classification on the ocean’s sea floor. In order to classify sediments as Clay, Silt, Sand, Gravel, or Moraine — which is useful for understanding the movement of geological plates, ecological environments and discovering oil deposits and optimal fiber optic cable locations— it is important to understand their differences. The principal difference between these sediments is in their grain size, which can be differentiated through sonar techniques. By creating and editing techniques to analyze and categorize frequency data, these five sediments can be differentiated, characterized and identified. My role is to assist Dr. Michalopoulou and her graduate students in enabling this process.

Aerodynamics: Airfoil Morphing Design

Research Abstract: Airfoils are designed to perform optimally at a specific flight regime. Inefficient flight is caused when a fixed geometry is used at both supersonic and subsonic speeds (speeds that are above and below the speed of sound respectively). Super- sonic airfoils do not generate enough lift to be used effectively at subsonic speeds and subsonic airfoils generate more drag than lift at supersonic speeds. The ideal airfoil maximizes lift while minimizing drag. A prototype that changes airfoil geometry mid- flight was thus constructed in our paper, tested using computer simulations (Ansys and COMSOL), and proven to be efficient with aerodynamic equations, revealing the effectiveness of a morphing airfoil in multiple flight regimes.

My Contribution: My four co-authors and I wrote this paper at the New Jersey Governor's School of Engineering & Technology during the summer of 2022. My role focused on the mathematics and programming for proving that morphing airfoils (airplane wings) are more efficient than static airfoils. For the mathematics, I employed kinematic equations and relevant aerodynamic formulas to calculate quantities such as lift, drag and pressure for different airfoil geometries; I did this to determine which combinations of airfoil morphs maximized lift while decreasing drag. I then used these values and the MATLAB programming language to calculate fuel efficiency for the aircraft the airfoil would theoretically be attached to. With information about the lift, drag and fuel efficiency, my team was able to determine an airfoil morph that best optimized aerodynamic efficiency in sub and supersonic flight regimes.

Awards: Published and Presented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) IEEE Undergraduate Research Technology Conference, Published and Presented at the Rutgers New Brunswick GSET Symposium