Dr. Snowden is looking for students to work on the following projects in her lab. Please send her an email at darci.snowden@cwu.edu or stop by her office for more information.
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Project 1: Comparison of Magnetic Field and Ion/Electron Density in Titan’s Upper Atmosphere
This project involves pulling and sorting magnetic field data, Langmuir Probe (electron density data), and INMS-ion data from the Planetary Data System and comparing them. We would be looking for evidence of magnetic field-aligned ion outflow in Titan’s atmosphere. Data will eventually be compared to a model of magnetic field-aligned electric fields.
Desired Skills: some programming (PHYS 361 required)
Skills Acquired: programming in Python, scientific visualization, data analysis/comparison
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Project 2: Common Payload PCB for High Altitude Balloons
Integrate the components of several sensors to come up with a single PCB board to record pressure, temperature, and altitude of a high altitude balloon flight.
Desired Skills: some electronics
Skills Acquired: hardware and instrumentation, Eagle Schematic/PCB Design, Arduino
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Project 3: Supersonic Rocket Research
A group of students will be working on building supersonic high powered rockets. Launches will take place in October and March. I don’t have a specific research project in mind, but students involved with this project could design their own research project.
Desired Skills: Some experience with electronics/Arduino (PHYS 306 preferred)
Skills Acquired: hardware and instrumentation, Solid Works, 3D printing, Arduino, engineering
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Project 4: Altitude Regulator for High Altitude Balloon
Continue work of a previous student to build a device to leak gas from a high altitude balloon, which allows the balloon to stay at a specific altitude. This project is appropriate for a group of students and could include some computer modeling in addition to building/testing the device.
Desired Skills: some coding and electronics (PHYS 306 preferred), SolidWorks (or other CAD program)
Skills Acquired: hardware and instrumentation, Solid Works, 3D printing, Arduino
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Project 5: Build an Ionospheric or Extra-terrestrial Radio Antenna
This project would involve building a radio receiver to sound the Earth’s ionosphere or, potentially, other strong radio sources like Jupiter or the Sun. Students would design and build a printed circuit board (with instructors), set up an antenna network, and record and analyze signals.
Desired Skills: some coding and electronics (PHYS 306 or 361 preferred
Skills Acquired: radio astronomy, hardware and instrumentation, Eagle Schematic/PCB Design
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Continued projects….
Last year students in my lab built a force table to measure solid rocket engine thrust and chamber pressure and a muon detector for a high altitude balloon. Both of these project could be continued by another student. For example, the force table could be used to test nozzle design or could be improved with a re-designed circuit board and housing. The muon detector could be slightly redesigned and further tested on several balloon flights.
Desired Skills: some coding and electronics (PHYS 306 or 361 preferred)
Skills Acquired: hardware and instrumentation, Eagle Schematic/PCB Design