TREVOR JORDAN
Essay Prompt:
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful that they believe their application would be incomplete without it.
Colleges I’m Considering:
I have a desire for seeking challenges and meeting them with the attempt to solve them the best way possible. In all of the hobbies and activities that I do both inside and outside of school, I seek out a lot of challenges both physically and mentally. Airsoft is a sport I play that encompasses both aspects of mental and physical. I usually operate as the role of a sniper in many of the games. This gives me the challenge of requiring better performance as well as allowing me to be very effective and a potential game changer on the field. When I am on the field I must always have a high level of awareness, be constantly thinking of my position, the level of noise I am making, my state of camouflage to the area around me, my method of moving, and the best position to be hidden and effective. Then another challenge arises, the shots made. Every shot made has to be as effective as possible. This requires a lot to be accounted for and calculated: the angle, the distance, wind direction, wind speed, power of the rifle, the current power setting of the scope, the target’s movement, any obstacles in the way, and the awareness of the target. This is why this is one of my favorite sports and why this is my favorite position. It requires me to be physically fit, as well as be constantly thinking and making calculations all the time to be as effective as possible.
I also enjoy brainstorming new inventions and ideas, as well as making them a reality, if possible. I love to design and engineer new things. For example, in my junior year of high school, I learned a lot about airplanes and all of the aerodynamic affects that they use. I designed an airplane wing that used a fairly simple concept that had never been done before. The design was a relatively simple one, but what it did to the aerodynamic affects was rather complex. I had won an award to join the America Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Through this membership I was put in contact with the United States Airforce Academy in Colorado Springs, and was invited up to test my science fair project wings in one of their wind tunnels. I was able to take up my wings that I had modified and 3D printed up to the Airforce Academy to test them. This design was started to help improve the efficiency of aircraft. In my testing, I found the design to work. It had tripled the efficiency of the standard wing as well as improved the lift drag ratio and allowed for slower flights without stalling at all. It also helped the performance of the wing by inducing more flow and keeping the flow attached for a longer period of time when the angle of attack was increased, allowing the wing’s performance range to double the angles of attack that can be reached before stall. With the science fair project that I had done I was able to compete in the regional, state, and the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair. I was awarded first overall at regionals, first in my division at state, and fourth in my division at INTEL ISEF. I also was awarded many special awards and some scholarships totaling $64,000. The science fair is just another example of my desire for meeting an issue or challenge with the intention of a solution.
This project really advanced my understanding of aerospace engineering and engineering in general. It also revealed to me my passion for aerospace engineering and my desire to invent and create new things. Whether it be to make something better and more efficient, to build something to solve a problem, or to engineer something cool and ridiculous for fun, because I am American, and that’s what we do.
Essay Prompt:
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful that they believe their application would be incomplete without it.
Colleges I’m Considering:
- Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
- West Virginia University
- Colorado State University
I have a desire for seeking challenges and meeting them with the attempt to solve them the best way possible. In all of the hobbies and activities that I do both inside and outside of school, I seek out a lot of challenges both physically and mentally. Airsoft is a sport I play that encompasses both aspects of mental and physical. I usually operate as the role of a sniper in many of the games. This gives me the challenge of requiring better performance as well as allowing me to be very effective and a potential game changer on the field. When I am on the field I must always have a high level of awareness, be constantly thinking of my position, the level of noise I am making, my state of camouflage to the area around me, my method of moving, and the best position to be hidden and effective. Then another challenge arises, the shots made. Every shot made has to be as effective as possible. This requires a lot to be accounted for and calculated: the angle, the distance, wind direction, wind speed, power of the rifle, the current power setting of the scope, the target’s movement, any obstacles in the way, and the awareness of the target. This is why this is one of my favorite sports and why this is my favorite position. It requires me to be physically fit, as well as be constantly thinking and making calculations all the time to be as effective as possible.
I also enjoy brainstorming new inventions and ideas, as well as making them a reality, if possible. I love to design and engineer new things. For example, in my junior year of high school, I learned a lot about airplanes and all of the aerodynamic affects that they use. I designed an airplane wing that used a fairly simple concept that had never been done before. The design was a relatively simple one, but what it did to the aerodynamic affects was rather complex. I had won an award to join the America Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Through this membership I was put in contact with the United States Airforce Academy in Colorado Springs, and was invited up to test my science fair project wings in one of their wind tunnels. I was able to take up my wings that I had modified and 3D printed up to the Airforce Academy to test them. This design was started to help improve the efficiency of aircraft. In my testing, I found the design to work. It had tripled the efficiency of the standard wing as well as improved the lift drag ratio and allowed for slower flights without stalling at all. It also helped the performance of the wing by inducing more flow and keeping the flow attached for a longer period of time when the angle of attack was increased, allowing the wing’s performance range to double the angles of attack that can be reached before stall. With the science fair project that I had done I was able to compete in the regional, state, and the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair. I was awarded first overall at regionals, first in my division at state, and fourth in my division at INTEL ISEF. I also was awarded many special awards and some scholarships totaling $64,000. The science fair is just another example of my desire for meeting an issue or challenge with the intention of a solution.
This project really advanced my understanding of aerospace engineering and engineering in general. It also revealed to me my passion for aerospace engineering and my desire to invent and create new things. Whether it be to make something better and more efficient, to build something to solve a problem, or to engineer something cool and ridiculous for fun, because I am American, and that’s what we do.