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EDUCATION
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Master of Science – Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
May 2015
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
GPA: 4.0/4.0
Bachelor of Science – Mechanical Engineering
May 2012
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Mathematics Minor
GPA: 3.33/4.0
Master’s Thesis
Title: Analysis of the Potential for Flow-Induced Deflection
of Nuclear Reactor Fuel Plates under High Velocity Flows
* A process is presented for quantifying the flow-induced
deflection of fuel plates through explicit coupling of the
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Star-CCM+ and the
finite element method (FEM) code Abaqus.
* An experimental flow loop was utilized to collect data for
benchmarking the numeric FSI models using laser displacement
sensors, pressure transducers, and flow meters.
* A high-precision positioning system for the laser displacement
sensors was conceptualized, designed in SolidWorks, and
fabricated using a custom built 3D printer.
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INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
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Reactor Conversion Program Intern
Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, IL
Nuclear Engineering Division
Summer 2013
Developed techniques for computationally stabilizing FSI models with incompressible flow and large deflections in high aspect ratio geometries.
* Worked closely with industry-leading researchers to decrease
simulation time and to eliminate instability issues within
high Reynolds number FSI models
* Wrote an extensive report on my research conducted at Argonne
enabling other Argonne researchers to corroborate my results
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RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
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Graduate Research Assistant
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
May 2012 to May 2015
Research was funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI)to develop and validate numeric FSI models of a new low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel for the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR).
* Collaborated/communicated directly with Department of Energy
national laboratories on a bi-weekly basis to update research
progress
* Developed numeric FSI models with a variety of research
reactor specific geometries including laminate composite plate
structures
* Conducted stability analyses to reveal how varying certain
physical parameters in the FSI models affected their numerical
stability
* Decreased the uncertainty of measurements taken on an
experimental flow loop by designing and constructing a
high-precision positioning system for the flow loop’s
laser displacement sensors
* Developed a C# program to control Java and Python scripts to
automate the construction of FSI models for running parametric
studies and automating post-processing
Undergraduate Researcher
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
January 2012 to May 2012
Research was started on the new LEU fuel plate design for MURR under the NNSA’s high-performance research reactor conversion program.
* Worked directly with graduate researchers to learn CFD and ...
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