Department of Physics and Engineering Physics Links/Abstracts

John Clarke, Joey Gore, Robert Johnson, Ryan Kosson, Brittany Simone

Project Link: http://www.alad-optics.com/

Automated Laser Alignment Device (ALAD) is designed to simplify the process of aligning lasers and optical components in a laboratory setting. ALAD aims to be a smaller, cheaper, and simpler product than existing 5-axis alignment devices on the market. We use stepper motors and an integrated circuit to facilitate movement of a photodetector and run the output into a feedback loop to identify the position corresponding to a signal maximum. Combined with a simple graphical user interface for controls, ALAD allows for customizable operations that replace manual alignment and allow for features such as data analysis and wireless device communication.

Sponsors: Newcomb Tulane College and Newcomb Institute

Mentors: Dr. Kazi Islam, Siddharth Padmanabha, Wenlei Zhang, Dr. Matthew Escarra

Jake Gus, Sam Matluck, Kaitlyn Miller, Diego Pinzon, Leo Simanonok

Project Link: https://dawn-audio.com/

DAWn aims to tackle the current inefficiencies regarding collaboration on Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). DAWs are used throughout the music and entertainment industries in recording, production, and editing of all audio (i.e. music, podcasts, films, etc.), but there are currently too many different DAWs and no compatibility between them, meaning collaboration is analogous to Microsoft Word pre- Google Docs. By enabling cross-software compatibility, real-time collaboration, remote editing, and remote recording, DAWn becomes the only product to holistically address audio collaboration. Ultimately, DAWn’s mission is to foster a global community of co-creators by enabling unprecedented audio collaboration and building a “DAW-network."

Sponsor: N/A

Mentors: Justin Peake, David Bode, Dave Gerstenberger

Gabriella Becerra, Samuel Minix, Andrew Annulis, Jose Antonio Perez Reed, Matthew Catalano

Project Link: https://www.harrytompsonproject.com/

The Harry Tompson Center wasn’t designed to last for more than 2 years; now that over a decade has passed, there are several areas of the center that could use innovative ideas to improve the overall quality of service the center can provide. Our project will aim to tackle two issues at the center: lack of storage space and the inability for clientele to charge their phones securely. We will create a new, onsite storage unit for the center and a custom, secure phone charging locker to solve these two problems.

Sponsors: Tulane University, Michael McCurdy, Marcy Minix, Peter Minix, Dolores H Ehrhart, Megan Scofield, Carlos Becerra, Kirk Rogers, Sergio San Pedro, Marybeth Mcbain, Brian and Jeannie Nordahl, Elsa Kackley, Richard Bays, Alexander Adamick, Wendy Taylor, Andrew Su, Jaye Kreller, Apple Liu, Alex Long, Brian and Julie Annulis, and all the anonymous donors who donated through our wavestarter fundraiser

Mentors: Stuart Stoller and Emily Bussen Wain

Kyra Rubinstein, Kedrick Hebert, Matt Rossman, Briggs Lucia, Morgan Allison

Project Link: https://www.lunartics.info/

This year, NASA created a challenge to design, build and test novel lunar dust prevention and mitigation technologies that are suitable for lunar surface applications. Lunar dust is not only dangerous to human health when inhaled, but also causes damage to equipment. We created the Moon Walker, which will reduce the amount of dust that lands and sticks to the space suit by utilizing both passive and active dust mitigation technologies. The Moon walker has a work function matching epoxy coating combined with a moving electric field in order to remove dust from the spacesuit’s surface.

Mentor: Meghan Bush

Quinn Urell, Ian Pimenta, Jarrett Bealer, Maria Yanovskaya

Project Link: https://potentiallydiffere.wixsite.com/potentiostat/mission

Potentially Different is working with ReactWell to design a mid-range potentiostat that is capable of applying current over 1 amp. Potentiostats are pieces of electronic hardware commonly used in electrochemical analysis. Budget potentiostats currently operate at the milliamp range, while more costly potentiostats operate at the one amp range with an inflated voltage range for many experiments. Our design provides a budget conscious potentiostat that is capable of reaching 1 amp utilizing a micro-controller based system.

Sponsors: ReactWell, Brandon Iglesias, Edward Seymour

Mentors: Dr. Ryan Gelfand, Dr. Tim Schuler

Teagan Cronin, John Harkins, Max Hinkle, Calli Taitz

Project Link: https://tubright.wixsite.com/solar

Our senior capstone project is our entry into the Department of Energy’s Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition. We have created a complete conceptual design and techno-economic analysis of an interconnected solar photovoltaic-plus-battery electric storage system that maximizes energy offset and minimizes costs for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Additionally, we are creating a 3D model to visually represent our photovoltaic placement.Through this project, our group has familiarized ourselves with modeling software such as Aurora Solar and System Advisor Model (SAM), financial planning techniques and practices, and even participated in the IEEE Student Poster competition.

Sponsor: Newcomb-Tulane College Grant

Mentors: Jeff Cantin (Solar Alternatives), Pierre Moses (127 Energy)