Hello everyone! My name is Loudon Doemland and I had quite an eventful fifth week. My sympathetic mentor, Dmitry, let Baen and I miss two days of work this week to travel back to telluride to visit friends and family for the fourth of July. Because we missed two days(excluding the day off, being the 4th), we started on Thursday.
On Thursday, I spent the entire day testing our epoxy, taking measurements, and gathering information. The tests I ran were to test the overall durability of the epoxy. I started by wiping the slides down with isopropanol(a cleaning resource) to see if the glue dissolves from the iso. From then, I took the slides to the optical comparator in another room to look at the glue at a microscopic level. Seeing that the glue stayed the same from the start, I put the slides in a oven heated to 85 degrees Celsius(185F). Finally, the tests that I took on ESD safety precautions and Cleanroom rules had a purpose. Baen and I got fully dressed up in protective gear to go into the room where the oven is. After letting the glue bake for an hour, we repeated the process and took the slides to an optical comparator to look for change. Again, no change was found and we could continue our testing. The next test was to freeze the slides in a 40 Degrees Celsius freezer for two hours. In the two hours, I continued to work on my power point. Once the timer went off, I took the slides back to the optical comparator seeing no change in the glue.
The view of the glue using the optical comparator. The large blue and silver blob in the middle is a bubble the had formed when applying the glue.
On Friday, Baen and I started to work on different projects because for our presentations, we are each going to talk about one of the two projects. I wanted the Structural epoxy project to share so I started to work on different tasks than Baen. I quickly got back to work and began taking more measurements of the glue. The final test for the glue was to vacuum the slides. The vacuum chamber was so much fun to use and I got to learn how to use it on my own. It looks more sophisticated than it actually is. After this test, I went back to the optical comparator to make the final measurements. For the rest of the day, I worked on my power point and used it to store all of the data I had collected. I finished off the day by having a meeting with Dmitry and one of the Mechanical Engineers, Dana. Together, we decided to start a prototype of the satellite beginning next week.
The vacuum chamber I learned how to use.
One of the slides on my powerpoint showing the minimal changes, proving that the glue will work.
As I mentioned previously, Baen and I drove back for the fourth of July in Telluride. I got to spend time with my friends and family which was a blast. While in Boulder, I went to a local book store and bought a new book to read. Also, Baen and I met up with my friend from Denver, and we played frisbee golf during sunset at an awesome course. To finish the weekend off, Baen taught me how to make some delicious chicken tenders and fries.
Loudon, your pinternship sounds like it is going quite well. Have you run into many challenges with your project or has it primarily been smooth sailing? I’m glad to hear that you got to visit back home for the 4th!