Hello everyone! It is sad to see that my time is coming to an end at the Astrophysics lab in CU Boulder. All of my co-workers are such amazing people and it is hard saying goodbye. They want to see me succeed and they have provided me with many resources to help me decide what to do in college. The electrical engineer at the office, Jack, Offered me his electro magnetic textbook which is basically an overview of the electrical engineering field. He has sent me many useful links that I can use, if I decide to pursue physics in the future. This is just one example of many ways that they have helped me. I am constantly reminded to send them emails if I have any questions about their fields of study, and they are very eager to help. In terms of actual work, my last week at Boulder was very busy. The entire week, I was busy from 9-5 with minimal down-time in hopes of producing a prototype of the solar cell project. This has been such an amazing experience, and I want to thank the Pinhead Institute for such a spectacular opportunity. I could not have asked for a better internship than this. I also am going to thank our just out of college roommates, Brad, Timmy, and Hunter for excepting that they were going to have to live with high schoolers for six weeks.
Throughout the week, I did a lot of the same stuff. Firstly, I spent a lot of time on the computer this week designing and editing my new and improved solar stencil. I went back in fourth from the lab that had the laser engraver all week perfecting my stencil. It was difficult because the laser engraver was off to the thousandth of an inch. To over come this process, I created a hole size chart on Solidworks so that I could test proper fitting. I used drill bit sizes to make it easy. After finding the right screw size to fit the pin, Me and my mentor Dmitry re-designed the stencils to fit the appropriate size. We also drilled holes in the metal base plate we had created. These pins were used to make our set up stable and make it easy to apply glue. My whole week consisted of going back and forth in this process.
Solar cell stencil in solid works.
An actual solar cell circuit board that we will put glue on.
Base plate I made using a milling machine. For the accuracy of the glue placement and stability.
Our plan had been to have a final prototype by Friday, but unfortunately, there was a more urgent project happening with the laser, and we couldn’t use it. Instead, I learned how to solder. I soldered parts on a circuit board and they created light with applied power. We also put a banana in nitrogen and exploded it while getting rid of excess nitrogen.
For fun this week, Baen and I played frisbee golf as well as go to our roommates band gig. This week has been such a great finish to my internship and I am forever grateful for the opportunity I was given.
“The Dirty Turkeys”
An unforgettable experience.
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