PhD Student

• Aug 2019 - Present

Undergraduate Engineering Research

• May 2018 - Jul 2019

I worked with and interdisciplinary research group to study the dynamics of the vapor phase transport mechanisms, diffusion and convection, during the evaporation of sessile drops. I applied fluid dynamics and signal processing skills along with computed tomography to help develop an experimental technique and analysis process to determine the vapor concentration surrounding an evaporating drop. Using the concentration distribution measurements, the analysis procedure computes the diffusive flux within the vapor cloud. I specifically designed a digital filtering technique, within the analysis process, that applied stochastic filtering to reduce the experimental uncertainty in our computations. Enabling my research team and I to obtain essential quantitative information about the rates of diffusive and convective transport, thereby helping us to advance our understanding of how these vapor phase transport mechanisms control the evaporation process of sessile drops. Show less

Secretary Assistant

• Aug 2015 - May 2019

Undergraduate Engineering Research

• May 2017 - Jul 2017

This chemical engineering research focused on measuring the individual component concentration of the evaporation cloud formed above pure and bi-component sessile droplets. Knowing the vapor phase concentrate distribution enables us to analyze the transport mechanisms that control the evaporation process. In turn we can increase our understanding of how the dynamics involved with the evaporation process differ for bi-component and pure droplets.I worked with three specific hydrocarbons 3-methylpentane, hexane, and isooctane during my experimentation because of their unique volatiles and molecular structure. I used a technique that involved a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) to measure the spectral absorbance along a path passing through the vapor cloud above an evaporating sessile droplet. After developing MATLAB code to help quantify the experimental data my research team and I were able to demonstrated our ability to make semi-quantitative, simultaneous measurements of the vapor phase concentration of an evaporating bi-component sessile drop. Show less

Undergraduate Physics Research

• May 2016 - Aug 2016

I conducted physics research at Trinity University with Dr. Ugolini, the chair of the physics department as well as a specialist in optics within the department. Together we worked on his continued research with the Laser Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) studying charge build up and decay on the optics used inside the observatory. We accomplished by cleaning the optic with acetone or methanol and used an atomic force microscope (AFM) along with a custom built vacuum chamber to map out the charge build up on the optic at the nano scale. We also constructed an undergraduate LIGO based physics lab that can be implemented into upper level labs to help educate students on how the LIGO observatory is able to detect gravitational waves. Show less