Wind Tunnel Instrumentation and Data Analysis

Students: Jack Ropelewski, Maria Lebron, Essam Alzahrani, Britta Hagood, Nolan Behringer
Advisor: Dr. Diego Turo

Wind tunnels are structures in which a fan draws air through a nozzle to create high moving air which
allows the user to study the aerodynamic and fluid properties of a test subject. The goal of this project is
to instrument an existing wind tunnel structure, connect a data acquisition system, and write a
computer program to create a system to collect and analyze data for the user. The instruments added
include pitot tubes to measure the velocity profile in the front and back of the test subject and a load
cell to measure the lift generated by the test subject. A LabVIEW program collects the data while a
MATLAB program analyzes it and presents it in graphs to use in future calculations. With these
additions, the wind tunnel will be a teaching tool for future students in a variety of engineering classes.

SAE Aero Design Project

Students: Virginia (Grace) Boras, Mary Cain, Kayla Gumina, Shannon Harrington, Ryan Kennedy
Advisor: Dr. Diego Turo

The purpose of this project was to design a completely electric, remote-controlled, fixed-wing aircraft
that can take off on a 100-ft runway and land on a 400-ft runway while carrying outsized payloads. The
RC plane is limited to a 120 in-wingspan and must carry both boxed and spherical cargo while weighing
less than 55 lb. The boxed cargo must be steel plates, and the spherical cargo must be at least one
soccer ball. The plane must be in balance both when it is loaded and unloaded. In order to design this
airplane, the critical systems and analysis were divided into five categories: wing planform design;
stability, control, and vehicle design; electronics; drag analysis; and thrust and propulsion. Each group
member took the lead on one of these categories in collaboration with all of the other group members.

Efficient Buoyancy Engine for Ocean Operation

Students: Alexander Caporale, Joseph Patrick Kane, John Kenny, Brennan Woo, Omar Bayazeid
Advisor: Dr. Jandro Abot

The goal of this project is to design a buoyancy engine with low power consumption used to ascend and
descend in ocean operation through seawater displacement. This buoyancy engine will operate inside
autonomous underwater vehicles. With support from Phoenix International Holdings, Inc., the buoyancy
engine is expected to provide innovative, cutting-edge performance to be integrated into modern
systems. It will be able to operate at 100 meters of depth, however, the goal for the design is to be
scalable to 6000 meters depth. This device must be compact so that when scaled, it fits inside the
constructs of current commercial equipment and is more energy-efficient than the current means of
ascent and descent in ocean vehicles.

Autonomous Scuttling Buoy

Students: Ben Higgins, Cid Porter, Will Pyne, Christopher Hurlbut, Connor Gutherie
Advisor: Dr. Jandro Abot

Oceanographic buoys are used extensively in government and private research. These oceanographic
devices are capable of sinking and resurfacing, while collecting a data profile of the aquatic environment
they are exposed to. This project sponsored by Areté Associates requires the development of an
autonomous scuttling buoy, capable of sinking and resurfacing, while collecting data on a limited power
supply. The Buoy will use a plastic hollow cylindrical tube to house the internal electrical and mechanical
components. The buoy will be controlled by a microcontroller/microprocessor, which will manage data
along with power regulations and system operations. The controller will use solar panels as a power
generation system, coupled with high-rated batteries to store and supply adequate resources to each
system. In order to make the buoy sink and resurface, the buoy will have a water-bladder mechanism,
which requires the intake and expulsion of water to balance the buoyancy and weight of the buoy. The
Scuttling buoy will also have temperature and pressure sensors that will store data into the system
controller. With the solar panels regenerating enough power to the system researchers are able to
deploy and later retrieve the buoy to obtain the collected data.

Health Monitoring Steering Wheel

Students: Ahmed Fenais, Riyadh Alghuraybi, Abdullah Aldhafeeri, Mauro Quercia, Saeed Alghamdi
Advisor: Dr. Jandro Abot

This project aims to increase safety in automobile industry by detecting drivers’ health status. Heart rate
is a one significant way to keep up with human health and awareness. Furthermore, in this project we
focus in analyzing heart rate by using CNT yearns which is piezoresistive and very sensitive element that
its change in electrical resistances can be turned to measurement of a heart rate. CNT yarns are very
delicate element but also it is so sensitive which make it able to acquire data in real time. As well as
installing a display that is connected to the system where the driver can know the status of his own
health to avoid any irregularities that can lead to any risk.

Remotely controlled corrosion removal device

Students: Abdullah Altassan, Musaad Aloraini, Fahad Alsowayigh, Abdulrahman Alshammari
Advisor: Dr. Jandro Abot & Dr. Robert Latorre

Remotely controlled corrosion removal device that can remove corrosion inside ship tanks beams. The
device will have two brushes underneath it to remove corrosion, each brush will have its own DC motor
with the speed of 6000 rpm. The device motion will be via two tires for better stability and will be
connected to a DC motor with a speed of 5 rpm. The device will have a vacuum pump and vacuum bag
to suck the dust caused by the process of removing corrosion. The device is going to be assembled in
parts that are cut from aluminum sheet. The thickness of the sheet is about 0.04 in which is appropriate
for our design based on the calculations performed.

Significantly Improving the Insulation in Saudi Arabian Homes using Concrete Paneling Technologies

Students: Megan Maley, Yasser Almutairi, Mohammed Alomair, Sean Coughlan, Ahmed Alnaif
Advisor: Dr. Jandro Abot & Dr. Robert Latorre

Saudi Arabia is facing a massive energy crisis due to the lack of insulation in residential homes. With
temperatures reaching 140 ℉, the lack of insulation causes people to keep their air conditioning units
running constantly to try and keep cool. The average home in Saudi Arabia could spend 70% of their
monthly electric bill to cool their home. The addition of insulation to the concrete panels already in use
can have a massive impact. We are proposing the design of a concrete panel that will be easily
manufactured in a Saudi Arabian market that will resolve this issue. With the addition of a layer of
insulation in between two concrete layers, we plan to make the heating and cooling of residential
homes 40% more efficient and decrease the heat loss by about 30%. This work will end up saving the
user an average of 31,824.06 Saudi Riyal or 8,483 USD.