My name is Trevor Jordan and I am doing my internship with AMPT (Advanced Mobile Propulsion Test ). This is a facility were Rockets motors are designed, built, and tested. They build Rocket motors for small rockets and in space propulsion but not Rockets for lifting man or rovers off of the earth. The internship runs March 2nd through March 20th.
3/2/15:
Today was more of an orientation day on the building and a little on how things were run. I spoke with my mentor for a while on how rockets work and the concepts of the airflow and how they affect how and what goes on at the test sight. I was immediately put on helping with research for ways to construct parts for designs and prototypes. There are a lot of great was to quickly built parts and most of those include several different ways of 3D printing. The issue with that is the build material is generally not capable of withstanding the pressures and temperatures of rocket engines.
3/3/15:
I just continued to preform research for fabrication methods and information about the machines.
3/4/15:
Today I started working on putting what I found into an excel spread sheet. I continued to do research and find out more about the materials used and the specifications of the machines.
3/5/15:
I did not go in to AMPT today, I was at the regional science fair from 8:00 to 5:00.
3/6/15:
I had to reformat my excel spread sheet into a better, cleaner form. I was able to find good detailed information on most of the materials and put the information on to the spread sheet with the specs from the machines.
3/9/15:
I did some touching up to the spreed sheet and emailed Steve and Zoe back and forth about having them come up Friday afternoon and I will show them what I have been doing in my project so far, how a rocket works, and how the rockets are tested. I will then take them to the test sight and give them a quick tour.
3/10/15:
Today I researched into equations and designs of rocket engines and nozzles. I did some looking into 3D printing a model rocket.
3/11/15:
Today I continued to research rocket engines, nozzles, and equations. I designed two rocket nozzles with combustion chambers. I wanted to give a thank you gift to the people here so I did some looking into Thingiverse.com and found them some cool model rockets that they can have on there desks that I plan on 3D printing and giving to them. As well as a second rocket engine model for my mentor Daudi.
3/12/5:
I worked with my research and designs until noon. Steve Smith, my chemistry teacher came out to check out my internship and see what I was doing. When he showed up I was able to show him what I have been working on and tell him some about the machines and materials that I have researched. I also went through a basic explanation of a rocket and how they work. I also gave a basic explanation at how the test sight works. Mr. Barnes and I then took Steve up to the test sight and went through a safety briefing before getting to tour the test sight. We then got suited up in some safety gear and started our tour. We first looked at the fuel tanks and the pressure hosing and regulators. We then walked around back and looked at the vents and suppressor stacks and the fuel line vents before moving inside. Inside the test sight we got to see the rocket engine and all of the components to get all of the needed data. Then we walked into and viewed the control center and a lot of the measurements that are taken.
3/16/15:
Today I did research into testing materials and how they are tested. I then emailed the companies and asked what the costs would be for the needed materials for the needed tests. I then designed another rocket nozzle in a little different way than what I have been doing.
3/17/15:
I worked with pressure testing methods and talked to my mentor, Daudi about how to test it and we came up with a way to test the materials.
3/18/15:
Today I designed and have the pressure test design built and ready to send to the companies. I was not able to do this yesterday because I left the computer that I needed at home. This was a more complicated design due to the sphere, box extension, and threaded insert.
3/19/15:
Today I built a few more designs for pressure testing the materials. I built them with cubes and spheres in the designs.
3/20/15:
Today was my last day and I was able to give my parents a tour of the headquarters and the test sight. We also had an amazing lunch that they made at the test sight. I wrapped up all of my information and Put all of my research and spreadsheets into a flash-drive to give to Daudi.
Reflection:
This internship was an amazing experience and helped me a lot with expanding my views on the fields of aerodynamics. I have definetly learned a lot and have created many cool ideas from this experience. This is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life and will help me through my life. This is something that I can add to my resume that could help me get jobs and get into college. This was a pretty great experience and great people to work with. I was offered to see if I wanted to come back over the summer and do some more work with them. This sounds like fun to me and something I will look into doing again.
What was the project?:
This projet was to reasearch different fabrication methods and materials and machines. but due to confedentiality reasons I can not upload my final results.
Daudi Barns is the founder and lead engineer of AMPT. He started AMPT with water and fluid testing in small scale rocket nozzles. AMPT has greatly advanced and is currently rapidly growing in size. Daudi has advanced AMPT so far that AMPT has become a major competitor with NASA in the small thrusters field.
3/2/15:
Today was more of an orientation day on the building and a little on how things were run. I spoke with my mentor for a while on how rockets work and the concepts of the airflow and how they affect how and what goes on at the test sight. I was immediately put on helping with research for ways to construct parts for designs and prototypes. There are a lot of great was to quickly built parts and most of those include several different ways of 3D printing. The issue with that is the build material is generally not capable of withstanding the pressures and temperatures of rocket engines.
3/3/15:
I just continued to preform research for fabrication methods and information about the machines.
3/4/15:
Today I started working on putting what I found into an excel spread sheet. I continued to do research and find out more about the materials used and the specifications of the machines.
3/5/15:
I did not go in to AMPT today, I was at the regional science fair from 8:00 to 5:00.
3/6/15:
I had to reformat my excel spread sheet into a better, cleaner form. I was able to find good detailed information on most of the materials and put the information on to the spread sheet with the specs from the machines.
3/9/15:
I did some touching up to the spreed sheet and emailed Steve and Zoe back and forth about having them come up Friday afternoon and I will show them what I have been doing in my project so far, how a rocket works, and how the rockets are tested. I will then take them to the test sight and give them a quick tour.
3/10/15:
Today I researched into equations and designs of rocket engines and nozzles. I did some looking into 3D printing a model rocket.
3/11/15:
Today I continued to research rocket engines, nozzles, and equations. I designed two rocket nozzles with combustion chambers. I wanted to give a thank you gift to the people here so I did some looking into Thingiverse.com and found them some cool model rockets that they can have on there desks that I plan on 3D printing and giving to them. As well as a second rocket engine model for my mentor Daudi.
3/12/5:
I worked with my research and designs until noon. Steve Smith, my chemistry teacher came out to check out my internship and see what I was doing. When he showed up I was able to show him what I have been working on and tell him some about the machines and materials that I have researched. I also went through a basic explanation of a rocket and how they work. I also gave a basic explanation at how the test sight works. Mr. Barnes and I then took Steve up to the test sight and went through a safety briefing before getting to tour the test sight. We then got suited up in some safety gear and started our tour. We first looked at the fuel tanks and the pressure hosing and regulators. We then walked around back and looked at the vents and suppressor stacks and the fuel line vents before moving inside. Inside the test sight we got to see the rocket engine and all of the components to get all of the needed data. Then we walked into and viewed the control center and a lot of the measurements that are taken.
3/16/15:
Today I did research into testing materials and how they are tested. I then emailed the companies and asked what the costs would be for the needed materials for the needed tests. I then designed another rocket nozzle in a little different way than what I have been doing.
3/17/15:
I worked with pressure testing methods and talked to my mentor, Daudi about how to test it and we came up with a way to test the materials.
3/18/15:
Today I designed and have the pressure test design built and ready to send to the companies. I was not able to do this yesterday because I left the computer that I needed at home. This was a more complicated design due to the sphere, box extension, and threaded insert.
3/19/15:
Today I built a few more designs for pressure testing the materials. I built them with cubes and spheres in the designs.
3/20/15:
Today was my last day and I was able to give my parents a tour of the headquarters and the test sight. We also had an amazing lunch that they made at the test sight. I wrapped up all of my information and Put all of my research and spreadsheets into a flash-drive to give to Daudi.
Reflection:
This internship was an amazing experience and helped me a lot with expanding my views on the fields of aerodynamics. I have definetly learned a lot and have created many cool ideas from this experience. This is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life and will help me through my life. This is something that I can add to my resume that could help me get jobs and get into college. This was a pretty great experience and great people to work with. I was offered to see if I wanted to come back over the summer and do some more work with them. This sounds like fun to me and something I will look into doing again.
What was the project?:
This projet was to reasearch different fabrication methods and materials and machines. but due to confedentiality reasons I can not upload my final results.
Daudi Barns is the founder and lead engineer of AMPT. He started AMPT with water and fluid testing in small scale rocket nozzles. AMPT has greatly advanced and is currently rapidly growing in size. Daudi has advanced AMPT so far that AMPT has become a major competitor with NASA in the small thrusters field.