National Defense Award

Mikaela Leevy, a graduate student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, earned a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, given to students who intend to pursue a doctoral degree aligned with Department of Defense focus areas in research and development. It pays full tuition and fees for the duration of the fellowship and includes a monthly stipend of $3,600.

She is using 3D printing to build reduced-scale aeroelastic wind tunnel models by optimizing the wing so it structurally responds the same way in the model wind tunnel as the full-scale flight vehicle. 3D printing is more cost effective than machining the parts, as it allows Leevy the flexibility to be more iterative so she can come up with more designs and try new things.

"What we're doing differently is that optimization can help us play with different thicknesses of the wing skins and internal structure," she says. "With a 3D printer, you can actually build the geometry that you've designed." ₪