Jerry L
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Stanford University

Expertise

Aerospace Engineering, specifically propulsion, aerodynamics, and structures; Aviation Management

Bio

I am an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and Ph.D. student at Stanford University. I spent one year conducting research with Professor Ron K. Hanson in the High-Temperature Gasdynamics Laboratory, studying high-temperature thermal and chemical nonequilibrium for applications in atmospheric entry, air-breathing propulsion, hypersonic flight, and next-generation energy systems. I currently work with Professor Fu-Kuo Chang on structural health monitoring (SHM) and multifunctional energy storage composites (MESC), including a Boeing SHM project focused on developing and evaluating technologies for monitoring the condition and structural integrity of aircraft. I am presently taking a leave of absence from Stanford and working at Boeing as a service engineer, where I apply my research and engineering experience to real-world aviation challenges. Outside of research and engineering, I am passionate about aviation and enjoy flying as a private pilot, especially taking friends and family on short trips. I also enjoy photography because it allows me to capture memorable people, places, and experiences. As a mentor, I hope to help students connect scientific theory with hands-on experimentation, develop strong research skills, and discover the excitement of aerospace engineering.

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.

Testing thrust and fuel consumption of miniature jet engines

This project includes building a simple thrust stand and finding out a way to measure fuel flow. Miniature jet engines can be obtained from the hobby store. The project aims to use experimental method to test the actual thrust and fuel consumption of the miniature jet engine.

Designing and Building a Small Wind Tunnel to Study Airfoil Aerodynamics

In this project, the student will design and build a small, low-speed wind tunnel using a fan, flow straighteners, a contraction section, and a transparent test section. The student can use smoke, fog, tufts, or another visualization technique to observe airflow around an airfoil and investigate phenomena such as flow separation and stall at different angles of attack. The wind tunnel can also be equipped with a force-measurement system to measure lift and drag as the student varies airfoil geometry, angle of attack, and airspeed. Using these measurements, the student will calculate lift and drag coefficients, plot aerodynamic performance curves, and compare the experimental results with published airfoil data or theoretical predictions. The project introduces aerodynamic design, instrumentation, experimental uncertainty, data analysis, and validation while producing a functional research instrument that can support future experiments.

Coding skills

Matlab, C++

Languages I know

Chinese, Fluent

Teaching experience

I have mentored first-year college students on multiple engineering projects. For the portable wind tunnel with flow visualization project, I guided students to collaboratively design and build a new wind tunnel using off-the-shelf materials. For the pulsejet engine scaling law project, I guided a group of four freshmen to conduct a literature search and test the pulsejet engines in person. I also have multiple years of TA experience, and I was a peer mentor of an autistic student.