Eric Gutierrez Week 1: Aerospace Engineering

Hello! My name is Eric Gutierrez, I’m a student at Montrose High School. This summer, I have the privilege of interning at the Unmanned Systems Research Institute (USRI) at Oklahoma State University, led by Dr. Jamey Jacob.

The high school student team, (from left to right) Tim Nelson, me, Meghana Fathepure, Omar Abouzahr, Nicco Wang, Alex Booker. Not in photo, Daniel Tikalsky.

On my first day, right off the bat, I was informed of the upcoming projects that we would be working on. Our main project that we will be mostly focused on this summer is the development of inflatable wings. Using special heat sealable oxford fabric, the team has designed a wing that could potentially serve as a safer mode of flight by deflecting hail, debris, and other hazardous material rather than smacking it with a wooden wing. In the near future, once it is ready for testing, the inflatable wing will be put on a fixed-wing vehicle (aka an airplane) and then into the air. Currently we are working to improve the design in aspects of production and quality by learning effective heat sealing methods.

A USRI Team flying over Lake Carl Blackwell.

Another project the USRI is apart of is the monitoring of invasive Floating Yellow Heart in Lake Carl Blackwell, located here in Stillwater, Oklahoma. About a year ago, an unknown source transmitted this aquatic plant into the lake. Floating Yellow Heart, although initially attractive to the eye, is actually lethal to the other organisms within the water. Due to its lily pad shape, it drowns out the sunlight and kills other ecosystems. Stillwater is the only known case of Floating Yellow Heart within the nation. Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), our team treks out to the site, sends up a UAV, and we then capture photos in a lawn-mowing pattern to be able to analyze the entirety of the lake. Oklahoma State University is working on treating the plant chemically with safe-to-use herbicide and it is then our job to report back weekly on its status.

Manually piloting a UAV with Andrew Cole, the group supervisor.

I’m having a wonderful time here in Stillwater. Outside of the lab, I’ve visited the local YMCA to get a good workout in and swim. I found that when the temperatures are averagely sitting at 91-95 degrees fahrenheit, you find yourself relaxing in a pool more often. But besides that, I’ve gotten to manually pilot the UAVs we send and I’ve learned a lot this week about the aerospace industry. I’m very eager to be working with all these great people and to continue my internship here at Oklahoma State University.