For my practicum project, I interned for the US Navy at Pax River Naval Air Base. I worked for NAVAIR, which is devoted to providing materiel support for aeronaval aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy. I worked specifically in the Turbofan/Turbojet Engine Design Branch under Alex Fleck. This branch focuses on the continued component improvement of every jet engine currently by the US Navy. I was assigned to a subteam that focused on the F-135 Engine (used in the F-35 aircraft) where we assed and facilitated new and continue changes to the F-135 Engine.
I found this site through an old boss I interned with in high school. During high school, I applied and got into the science and engineering appreciation program (SEAP), working for an environmental test lab at Pax River. As this internship is only meant for high school students, freshman year, I reached out to my old boss to see if he or anyone he knew was interested in a STEM student employment program (SSEP) internship program. This program is more intensive and is meant for students in college. He responded with Alex Fleck’s contact information, and I had an interview the next week. If I had to advise future SGC students trying to get a practicum, it would be to make and leverage your connections. Take every opportunity to get to know people in the field you want to pursue. Treat every interaction as if your life depended on it, making good impressions. Make people believe in you through your actions. Now that the hard part is out of the way, don’t be afraid to send emails asking about opportunities. Reach out to that professor you liked, or the class you received an A in. You will always miss the shot you never took.
While working on the F-135 jet engine, I performed three main tasks. My first task was to learn how the F-135 engine works and relate what I had learned in college to this. This involved the first month of work, reading books, asking questions, and attending classes. Then, since the F-135 has three variants, I had to learn how they differ and what the differences do to engine performance. The second task was attending meetings and learning how our team is meant to perform our job. This was basically showdowning my peers and learning from them. My final task was performing a degrader analysis on the F-135 engine. I looked at all the service and flight logs, processing the data to associate each component with the number of service hours. This tells us how long each component stops the aircraft from flying due to failure. I then compiled a list of the top ten components that contribute to aircraft service time. The degrader analysis will help guide our team to determine what component needs to be improved in the upcoming year.
Being in SSEP has taught me the science behind how jet engines function. To achieve flight at extraordinary speeds, air needs to be compressed, ignited, and controlled to provide the jet propulsion. While there are three main steps, each step requires many functions to complete. Heat needs to be managed, the force of the explosion needs to be contained, and everything needs to be monitored and timed correctly. Jet engines are so complex that failure and unforeseen circumstances are a given. My experience with failure analysis has shaped my future endeavors. I am now aware of product life after the initial design validation. Products have to be constantly iterated and improved as real-world data is collected. When I go to the store, I now look for straight changes in products and consider the rationale behind each change. This internship even inspired me to pursue an M.S. degree in vibrations and controls. Who knows where the wealth of information gained from this internship will take me.