Applied Physics Laboratory

A few years ago I did some mechanical design work for the APL, a semi-independent unit of Johns Hopkins that functions similar to MIT's Lincoln Labs.

One of the projects I worked on here involved converting a research vehicle to run on Compressed Natural Gas. One of the major engineering challenges in this project was installing high pressure composite gas tanks in the trunk area. I was asked to take measurements of this part of the car and create a CAD model in order to plan the modifications.

Here is a picture of the vehicle I measured.

Here is the CAD model I generated.

Another project I worked on concerned the Advanced Composition Explorer, or A.C.E., a satellite which is now positioned at the L1 point, where there is an equilibrium between the gravitational fields of the Earth and the Sun. I produced several small test fixtures for this project, and some equipment for the launch process. I also spent some time generating a simplified, scaled CAD model which was used to produce wooden models of the satellite.

Here is the CAD model for the wooden model