Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 1924-2025

While electrification has transformed automotive transportation, the marine industry—particularly in high-power recreational and commercial applications—continues to lag behind. Gasoline-powered outboards remain the standard, despite their high emissions, noise, and maintenance demands. This thesis presents the design, fabrication, and validation of a high-performance, low-voltage electric marine outboard system tailored to fill this market and environmental gap. The system can deliver 20 kW of continuous shaft power at a nominal voltage of 55 V, integrating a dual-motor drivetrain, liquid-cooled inverters, and a modular 6.5 kWh battery pack within a corrosion-resistant, water-tight frame. The design also includes a long-range wireless control interface with video feedback and autonomous steering capabilities, laying the groundwork for unmanned and fully autonomous operation. Finite element analysis and physical testing verified the system’s mechanical stiffness, electrical performance, and thermal reliability. Compared to commercial offerings, the final system provides superior power-to-weight ratio and significantly reduced installation complexity. This work demonstrates the feasibility of compact, modular electric propulsion for a broad range of marine applications and serves as a platform for future development in scalable and autonomous electric boating.

While electrification has transformed automotive transportation, the marine industry—particularly in high-power recreational and commercial applications—continues to lag behind. Gasoline-powered outboards remain the standard, despite their high emissions, noise, and maintenance demands. This thesis presents the design, fabrication, and validation of a high-performance, low-voltage electric marine outboard system tailored to fill this market and environmental gap. The system can deliver 20 kW of continuous shaft power at a nominal voltage of 55 V, integrating a dual-motor drivetrain, liquid-cooled inverters, and a modular 6.5 kWh battery pack within a corrosion-resistant, water-tight frame. The design also includes a long-range wireless control interface with video feedback and autonomous steering capabilities, laying the groundwork for unmanned and fully autonomous operation. Finite element analysis and physical testing verified the system’s mechanical stiffness, electrical performance, and thermal reliability. Compared to commercial offerings, the final system provides superior power-to-weight ratio and significantly reduced installation complexity. This work demonstrates the feasibility of compact, modular electric propulsion for a broad range of marine applications and serves as a platform for future development in scalable and autonomous electric boating.

This thesis presents the design and implementation of a fully autonomous, electric go-kart, developed from a refurbished Yerf-Dog frame. The primary objective was to demonstrate vision-based autonomous navigation using low-cost hardware and open-source software. Major subsystems include a 72V electric drivetrain, a custom gear-reduction assembly, a steer-by-wire mechanism actuated via a high-torque motor, and a perception pipeline driven by real-time computer vision. A laptop running Python processes front-facing camera input using YOLOv8 for object detection and SegFormer for semantic segmentation. These outputs are encoded and transmitted to a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller, which actuates steering and throttle commands. The final system reliably performed lane following and object recognition (specifically for pedestrians and stop signs), validated through over 20 hours of autonomous testing on campus roads. Peak velocity reached 14 mph with excess torque available. The system operates for approximately 5 hours on a single charge and was built under a $2100 budget, with a total expenditure of $2040.17. Limitations in model inference speed and decision granularity were encountered, suggesting opportunities for optimization in both perception latency and control smoothing. This work serves as a proof of concept for low-cost, modular autonomous vehicles and highlights the practical integration of mechanical, electrical, and software subsystems under real-world constraints. Future development may focus on improving perception capabilities and reducing latencies of all types for higher-speed operation.

This thesis presents the design and implementation of a fully autonomous, electric go-kart, developed from a refurbished Yerf-Dog frame. The primary objective was to demonstrate vision-based autonomous navigation using low-cost hardware and open-source software. Major subsystems include a 72V electric drivetrain, a custom gear-reduction assembly, a steer-by-wire mechanism actuated via a high-torque motor, and a perception pipeline driven by real-time computer vision. A laptop running Python processes front-facing camera input using YOLOv8 for object detection and SegFormer for semantic segmentation. These outputs are encoded and transmitted to a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller, which actuates steering and throttle commands. The final system reliably performed lane following and object recognition (specifically for pedestrians and stop signs), validated through over 20 hours of autonomous testing on campus roads. Peak velocity reached 14 mph with excess torque available. The system operates for approximately 5 hours on a single charge and was built under a $2100 budget, with a total expenditure of $2040.17. Limitations in model inference speed and decision granularity were encountered, suggesting opportunities for optimization in both perception latency and control smoothing. This work serves as a proof of concept for low-cost, modular autonomous vehicles and highlights the practical integration of mechanical, electrical, and software subsystems under real-world constraints. Future development may focus on improving perception capabilities and reducing latencies of all types for higher-speed operation.

FyreFly is a technology demonstrator designed to aid first responders in a variety of fire scenarios through semi-autonomous systems targeting search, rescue, and delivery. Motivated by the need to reduce fatalities caused by smoke inhalation and remove barriers of access to trapped victims, this project presents a novel drone platform capable of assisting in identifying at-risk individuals, breaching glass windows, and delivering survival equipment. Leveraging the payload capacity of a Holybro X650, FyreFly integrates a spring-loaded window breaker, a precision package delivery system, and a smart camera framework utilizing YOLO and AprilTags for live object recognition. Throughout the design process, emphasis was placed on the modularity of parts and field repairability, incorporating 3D-printed components for rapid prototyping. FyreFly's various subsystems were validated using experimental testing, achieving over 98% delivery accuracy and consistent success in breaking through various types of structural glass. Through this report, FyreFly is demonstrated to be a proof-of-concept serving as the foundational architecture for future drone swarms tasked with life-saving missions in urban disaster environments.

FyreFly is a technology demonstrator designed to aid first responders in a variety of fire scenarios through semi-autonomous systems targeting search, rescue, and delivery. Motivated by the need to reduce fatalities caused by smoke inhalation and remove barriers of access to trapped victims, this project presents a novel drone platform capable of assisting in identifying at-risk individuals, breaching glass windows, and delivering survival equipment. Leveraging the payload capacity of a Holybro X650, FyreFly integrates a spring-loaded window breaker, a precision package delivery system, and a smart camera framework utilizing YOLO and AprilTags for live object recognition. Throughout the design process, emphasis was placed on the modularity of parts and field repairability, incorporating 3D-printed components for rapid prototyping. FyreFly’s various subsystems were validated using experimental testing, achieving over 98% delivery accuracy and consistent success in breaking through various types of structural glass. Through this report, FyreFly is demonstrated to be a proof-of-concept serving as the foundational architecture for future drone swarms tasked with life-saving missions in urban disaster environments.

FyreFly is a technology demonstrator designed to aid first responders in a variety of fire scenarios through semi-autonomous systems targeting search, rescue, and delivery. Motivated by the need to reduce fatalities caused by smoke inhalation and remove barriers of access to trapped victims, this project presents a novel drone platform capable of assisting in identifying at-risk individuals, breaching glass windows, and delivering survival equipment. Leveraging the payload capacity of a Holybro X650, FyreFly integrates a spring-loaded window breaker, a precision package delivery system, and a smart camera framework utilizing YOLO and AprilTags for live object recognition. Throughout the design process, emphasis was placed on the modularity of parts and field repairability, incorporating 3D-printed components for rapid prototyping. FyreFly's various subsystems were validated using experimental testing, achieving over 98% delivery accuracy and consistent success in breaking through various types of structural glass. Through this report, FyreFly is demonstrated to be a proof-of-concept serving as the foundational architecture for future drone swarms tasked with life-saving missions in urban disaster environments.

NASA has selected Ice Giants exploration as the priority flagship mission of the next decade, with an orbiter and atmospheric probe being identified as the primary architecture. This design report proposes a Low-Cost Uranus Magnetosphere Observing Satellite (LUMOS) architecture to supplement the planned Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) mission, leveraging unused launch vehicle capabilities in the current UOP design. The LUMOS microsat will pursue magnetosphere mapping and ring imaging objectives in parallel with the primary orbiter's tour of the Uranian moons, improving the science return of the overall mission by increasing spatial and temporal coverage of the magnetosphere and rings and pursuing higher-risk science that is prohibitive for the primary orbiter. The feasibility of such an architecture is demonstrated with a low-fidelity trajectory design for the microsat, high-level design of the science payload and all key spacecraft subsystems, and a mission cost assessment. Each element of the mission design is presented with requirements definition, design approach, trade studies, key analysis, and verification and validation. The trajectory design closes with high coverage for mapping magnetic longitudes and latitudes and imaging ring longitudes. The spacecraft design closes within constraints, with a total mass footprint of 290 kg (microsat wet mass of 156 kg plus 134 kg of additional orbiter fuel for interplanetary cruise and insertion), maximum power draw of 345 W, and total launch volume envelope of 0.68 x 0.66 x 1.37 m^3, for a total volume of 0.62 m^3. The total cost of the mission is estimated at $180M (FY$25). We find that LUMOS is a feasible mission concept that can significantly improve the science return of the UOP Mission. Future work for this design concept will involve transitioning designs into high-fidelity models and analysis, optimizing the mission for science return and fuel consumption, and fully integrating with the UOP design.

NASA has selected Ice Giants exploration as the priority flagship mission of the next decade, with an orbiter and atmospheric probe being identified as the primary architecture. This design report proposes a Low-Cost Uranus Magnetosphere Observing Satellite (LUMOS) architecture to supplement the planned Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) mission, leveraging unused launch vehicle capabilities in the current UOP design. The LUMOS microsat will pursue magnetosphere mapping and ring imaging objectives in parallel with the primary orbiter’s tour of the Uranian moons, improving the science return of the overall mission by increasing spatial and temporal coverage of the magnetosphere and rings and pursuing higher-risk science that is prohibitive for the primary orbiter. The feasibility of such an architecture is demonstrated with a low-fidelity trajectory design for the microsat, high-level design of the science payload and all key spacecraft subsystems, and a mission cost assessment. Each element of the mission design is presented with requirements definition, design approach, trade studies, key analysis, and verification and validation. The trajectory design closes with high coverage for mapping magnetic longitudes and latitudes and imaging ring longitudes. The spacecraft design closes within constraints, with a total mass footprint of 290 kg (microsat wet mass of 156 kg plus 134 kg of additional orbiter fuel for interplanetary cruise and insertion), maximum power draw of 345 W, and total launch volume envelope of 0.87 x 0.69 x 1.16 m3, for a total volume of 0.7 m3. The total cost of the mission is estimated at $180M (FY$25). We find that LUMOS is a feasible mission concept that can significantly improve the science return of of the UOP Mission. Future work for this design concept will involve transitioning designs into high-fidelity models and analysis, optimizing the mission for science return and fuel consumption, and fully integrating with the UOP design.

NASA has selected Ice Giants exploration as the priority flagship mission of the next decade, with an orbiter and atmospheric probe being identified as the primary architecture. This design report proposes a Low-Cost Uranus Magnetosphere Observing Satellite (LUMOS) architecture to supplement the planned Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) mission, leveraging unused launch vehicle capabilities in the current UOP design. The LUMOS microsat will pursue magnetosphere mapping and ring imaging objectives in parallel with the primary orbiter’s tour of the Uranian moons, improving the science return of the overall mission by increasing spatial and temporal coverage of the magnetosphere and rings and pursuing higher-risk science that is prohibitive for the primary orbiter. The feasibility of such an architecture is demonstrated with a low-fidelity trajectory design for the microsat, high-level design of the science payload and all key spacecraft subsystems, and a mission cost assessment. Each element of the mission design is presented with requirements definition, design approach, trade studies, key analysis, and verification and validation. The trajectory design closes with high coverage for mapping magnetic longitudes and latitudes and imaging ring longitudes. The spacecraft design closes within constraints, with a total mass footprint of 290 kg (microsat wet mass of 156 kg plus 134 kg of additional orbiter fuel for interplanetary cruise and insertion), maximum power draw of 345 W, and total launch volume envelope of 0.87 x 0.69 x 1.16 m3, for a total volume of 0.7 m3. The total cost of the mission is estimated at $180M (FY$25). We find that LUMOS is a feasible mission concept that can significantly improve the science return of the UOP Mission. Future work for this design concept will involve transitioning designs into high-fidelity models and analysis, optimizing the mission for science return and fuel consumption, and fully integrating with the UOP design.

While electrification has transformed automotive transportation, the marine industry—particularly in high-power recreational and commercial applications—continues to lag behind. Gasoline-powered outboards remain the standard, despite their high emissions, noise, and maintenance demands. This thesis presents the design, fabrication, and validation of a high-performance, low-voltage electric marine outboard system tailored to fill this market and environmental gap. The system can deliver 20 kW of continuous shaft power at a nominal voltage of 55 V, integrating a dual-motor drivetrain, liquid-cooled inverters, and a modular 6.5 kWh battery pack within a corrosion-resistant, water-tight frame. The design also includes a long-range wireless control interface with video feedback and autonomous steering capabilities, laying the groundwork for unmanned and fully autonomous operation. Finite element analysis and physical testing verified the system’s mechanical stiffness, electrical performance, and thermal reliability. Compared to commercial offerings, the final system provides superior power-to-weight ratio and significantly reduced installation complexity. This work demonstrates the feasibility of compact, modular electric propulsion for a broad range of marine applications and serves as a platform for future development in scalable and autonomous electric boating.

Feather-like control surfaces are shown to increase net lift at post-stall angles of attack, yielding benefits in efficiency and control for small aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Inspired by covert feathers on birds’ wings, ongoing wind tunnel experiments aim to optimize the design and configuration of passively-deployed aeroelastic flaps.

A single-degree-of-freedom model describes the aerodynamic forces on the flap due to the pressure differential over the wing surface, using a combination of analytical and numerical methods. The pressure distribution is integrated for the resulting forces; a user can determine the magnitude of the forces contributing to flap deployment for various locations (leading edge at 0.2 of the chord or trailing edge at 0.7 of the chord) and for distinct angles of attack and flow conditions.

Advancements in search and rescue (SAR) drone design have offered life-saving support to thousands of people around the world. Current drone technology typically favors flight time or maneuverability through the respective use of fixed-wing and quadrotor drones, however, in many instances, both features may be required. The goal of this project is to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle that is capable of achieving the benefits of both of these vehicle categories for enhanced versatility in SAR missions.

This thesis presents the design and analysis of WingSpan, a novel tailless UAV featuring a wing system that can expand to produce lift during long-distance aerial searches and retract to access confined spaces at low altitude. The design of the extended configuration proposes a tailless wing made from a symmetrical NACA 0016 airfoil profile, with a swept and tapered design to improve flight stability. Lifting-line theory simulations revealed that this design produces sufficient lift, indicating its effectiveness in improving flight time and increasing efficiency. In addition, FEA simulations indicated that the expanding mechanism could withstand standard operating loads without failure, while weighing less than 2 kg in total. Although theoretical in nature, this thesis aims to provide a foundation for further development and prototyping of morphing UAV platforms tailored to real-world SAR applications.

This study aimed to simulate and compare the thermal performance of a liquid cooling system and a phase change material (PCM) system for an electric vehicle battery pack. The liquid cooling system operates through the active dissipation of heat, where a fluid circulates around the thermal source, absorbing heat and transferring it away, thereby preventing excessive temperature rise. In contrast, the PCM system functions passively by storing thermal energy as it undergoes a phase change, typically from solid to liquid. This allows the PCM to regulate temperature by absorbing heat without immediately dissipating it, providing a buffering effect. However, a PCM has no way of effectively dissipating the heat it has absorbed through its phase change. This is where convective air cooling becomes essential, providing a continuous heat removal pathway that enables the PCM to maintain its thermal buffering capacity and prevent long-term temperature rise within the system. We constructed models of both systems in order to compare them in a direct context. However, the simulations failed to converge due to improper meshing techniques or inherent complexities with modeling the thermal behavior of PCMs around boundaries. Despite these difficulties, the proposed design remains viable, and with improved modeling techniques, future simulations could provide a direct comparison between the two systems and show the potential of an air-cooled PCM system.

A 6 Degree-of-Freedom (6DoF) Flight Simulator in Python was made, leveraging open source libraries to build a simulator capable of running in real-time and offline modes. This simulator, named Python Laptop Air Vehicles (PLAV) is capable of piloted control and has a Hardware-In-The-Loop (HITL) proof-of-concept mode implemented with an Arduino-compatible micro controller. The project is open-source and prioritizes simplicity, with the intent that amateur aircraft designers can use it to test their unique designs with their own flight dynamics model and simulate their flight control with HITL simulation.

The simulator has been validated using the NASA Engineering and Safety Center's Check-cases for Verification of Six-Degree-of-Freedom Flight Vehicle Simulations, ensuring that for a good Flight Dynamics Model (FDM) the simulation gives accurate results. The relevance of implementing the a rotating ellipsoidal Earth is also analyzed in amateur contexts such as high power rocketry. The code is published at https://github.com/adinkojic/PLAV

This study develops a probabilistic modeling framework—PWDRIV (Probabilistic Wind-hazard Damage and Resilience Investment Valuation)—to assess the economic viability of climate resilience investments in the coastal transmission sector. Focusing on the Tampa Bay region, the model incorporates climate change-induced trends in extreme wind hazards through stationary and non-stationary Gumbel distributions. Using Monte Carlo simulations and a calibrated cubic excess-over-threshold (CEOT) damage function, the framework translates future wind hazards into annual damage cost projections. These are then evaluated using both Net Present Value (NPV) and Decoupled Net Present Value (DNPV) methodologies to quantify maximum justifiable investments under varying climate and financial scenarios. Results show that non-stationary climate assumptions significantly increase estimated damages and justifiable resilience investments. The DNPV method more accurately reflects the long-term benefits of resilience by separating risk and time-value effects, supporting its adoption in policy and planning. This work offers a replicable tool for guiding infrastructure adaptation decisions under deep climate uncertainty.

In the wake of widespread decarbonization efforts due to climate change, hydrogen and ammonia have emerged as promising clean alternatives to hydrocarbon fuels. As such, H2 and NH3 have been explored in a number of industry applications ranging from manufacturing to power generation. In many such applications, the surface reactions between these fuels and common industrial materials are not well understood. In this study, the surface mechanisms of reduction and nitridation via H2 and NH3 were examined. An apparatus was designed to stagnate H2 and H2/NH3 flames on the surfaces of iron and nickel test plates mounted above a burner. Experimental investigation was supplemented by 1-D flame simulations using Cantera to develop an understanding of how temperature and radical formation led to the observed surface phenomena. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to quantify the extent to which surface processes occurred. Conditions for considerable nickel nitride formation at temperatures beyond those previously studied for this surface phenomenon were discovered. Once these conditions were established, the height of the test sample above the burner and the time of flame exposure were varied to observe the effect of changing kinetics on surface reactions. Iron was found to nitride considerably less under the same conditions. Reduction of both metals under H2 flames was minimal, though the degree of reduction of the nitrided nickel samples was much higher. The present work lays the groundwork for future study of these surface processes and their mechanisms.

As Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles become a key area of interest for sustainable and efficient short-range transportation, there is a growing need to optimize propulsion systems for performance. Counter-rotating stacked propellers present a promising alternative to traditional single-rotor systems, offering potential benefits in thrust generation, efficiency, and swirl minimization. This thesis explores the aerodynamic performance of these stacked systems, with a focus on how aft rotor parameters—axial spacing, radius, RPM, and blade count— influence overall system performance. Using CROTOR, a range of configurations were analyzed and compared to baseline single-rotor setup. The results demonstrate that tailoring the aft rotor radius and RPM in response to the axial velocity distribution can improve normalized thrust by up to ≈3.5%. Furthermore, lower aft blade counts were found to achieve higher efficiency. These findings contribute empirical insight into stacked rotor dynamics and provide a foundation for deriving sizing heuristics that can streamline design of optimal eVTOL propulsion systems.

The International Moth is a small racing sailboat that can reach top speeds of 35 knots (18 m/s), due to its use of hydrofoils, which lift the entire hull clear of the free surface. The hydrofoils replace the hull as the primary generators of hydrodynamic forces within the vessel system, and in turn, heavily drive the overall performance of the vessel. Optimizing the shape and planform of the foils is a key to achieving race-winning designs. However, hydrofoiling sailboats are highly coupled systems that operate in two simultaneous fluid media, and a change in foil configuration can have cascading effects on the overall vessel state. Thus, a design framework is formulated that allows foil designs to be evaluated within a 6 degree of freedom velocity prediction program (VPP). The framework integrates gradient-based shape optimization tools in 2 and 3 dimensions. Evaluation of the framework demonstrates functionality for design optimization independent of the VPP, but the presented approach to modeling hydrodynamic forces within the VPP requires improvement in order to produce meaningful results that can inform design decisions.

Mars exploration is governed by a ruthless mass-ledger: every kilogram of ascent propellant ferried from Earth displaces payload or science return. Laser-ablation propulsion (LAP) addresses this constraint by transferring energy remotely. A laser mounted on a lander or orbiter delivers nanosecond pulses to a small pad on the vehicle; the pad ejects a high-velocity plasma plume, and the recoil produces thrust while the power plant stays off-board. This thesis quantifies LAP performance for the first time under Martian ambient (600 Pa, 210 K CO₂). A coupled thermal–mechanical model implemented in ANSYS Mechanical APDL tracks crater evolution, phase explosion, and impulse generation for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), carbon-fiber composite, and basaltic/regolith ablators. Parametric sweeps over 1–10 J pulse energy and 50–200 µm spot diameter predict momentum-coupling coefficients up to (4.2 ± 0.3) × 10⁻⁵ N·s·J⁻¹ and specific impulse 900–3200 s. These figures exceed chemical engines in propellant efficiency and encroach on Hall-thruster territory while retaining orders-of-magnitude higher thrust-to-mass because the laser mass is external.

Mission-level scaling indicates a 500 kW orbital fibre-laser can loft a 50 kg sample-return canister to 1.2 km with <15% pad mass, cutting Earth-launch mass by ~30% relative to methane/LOX ascent. Pulses shorter than 20 ns favor plasma-dominated ablation and maximum specific impulse (I_sp); pulses around 50 ns maximize the momentum-coupling coefficient (C_m) for hopper-scale thrust. A hybrid composite–regolith pad is proposed to reconcile coupling efficiency with in-situ manufacturability.

In the future, laboratory validation can be done using a torsional thrust stand and gated schlieren plume imaging, after which computational fluid dynamics can be embedded to capture dusty-gas entrainment. By mapping the material–pulse design space and demonstrating a credible mass advantage, this work positions externally powered LAP as the missing middle ground between high-thrust chemical rockets and high-I_sp electric thrusters—enabling agile surface mobility and lightweight ascent for the next generation of Mars missions.