Raymond L
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Stanford University

Expertise

propulsion systems, plasmas, space environments (e.g., meteoroids), fluid dynamics

Bio

My name is Raymond Lau and I am a PhD candidate at Stanford University studying Aeronautics & Astronautics. I am interested in studying space, particularly propulsion systems for spacecraft and different phenomena in the space environment, such as solar winds. I work on creating simulations to study these effects, such as simulating plasma on a satellite and analyzing the radiation that is formed. In my free time I really like cooking, playing the guitar, and swimming. I love cooking different East Asian cuisines, particularly Vietnamese and southern Chinese food. I also enjoy watching TV with my friends; currently, I am binging 30 Rock!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Interactive Shockwave Calculator

When an aircraft is moving at supersonic speeds (i.e., moving faster than the speed of sound), a shockwave forms in front of the aircraft, producing a sonic boom. This shockwave causes a lot of heating, a rise in pressure, and energy to be lost. Because of this, it is important to know how the temperature and pressure rise. This project would be to create a simple, interactive calculator to see how much the pressure and temperature change depending on the speed of your aircraft, and also depending on which atmosphere you are flying in, such as Earth, Mars, or more.

Coding skills

MATLAB, Python, C++

Teaching experience

I have been a teaching assistant for the Intro to Engineering Computation class at my undergraduate, where I taught students without prior coding experience to code in the MATLAB programming language. I have also tutored high school students in math in a company similar to Kumon.

Credentials

Education

Rice University

BSE Bachelor of Science in Engineering (2020)

Mechanical Engineering

Stanford University

MS Master of Science

Aeronautics & Astronautics