Tristan Eberbach, \u201925, found his research taking off\u2014to California, that is. The physics major\u2019s aerodynamics research took him from Grimsley Hall to the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California\u2019s Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eberbach began working alongside Department Head and Professor of Physics Hank Yochum and Associate Professor Kaelyn Leake in the summer of 2023 to research different techniques for layer-by-layer thin film fabrication\u2014material that can be used to help visualize and quantify pressure changes in a wind tunnel. Building on this research and an independent study his junior year focusing on wind pressure for a weather prediction device, Eberbach received an internship with NASA to work in the largest wind tunnel in the world. \u201cI was working with NASA engineers,\u201d said Eberbach. \u201cI was the only intern, so they were having me do a lot of hands-on work. I got to do a lot of sensor implementation\u2014things I would be doing in professional aerodynamics research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though certainly the most junior member of the team, Eberbach was able to make meaningful contributions. \u201cMost of the people there were engineers, and I think by having a physics background, I solved problems differently,\u201d said Eberbach. One task was to help NASA technicians find a better way to measure the performance of the wind tunnel\u2019s fan blades. Eberbach\u2019s mathematical solution allowed NASA to gather a wide range of dynamics modeling. \u201cWith my background in physics,\u201d said Eberbach, \u201cI\u2019ve gained confidence knowing that you really can bring your academic skills to bear upon the engineering or technical side of things.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eberbach returned to The Citadel ready to tackle new challenges, starting his senior year with an independent study course researching hurricane landfall movement with Assistant Professor Gabriel Williams, funded by a grant from NASA. Most recently, Eberbach completed his senior capstone, once again studying layer-by-layer thin film and testing its properties in the Grimsley Hall wind tunnel. As he begins his career in the aerospace field, one thing is clear\u2014whatever the challenge, for Eberbach, it will be a breeze. 13 numerical data to aid in computational fluid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tristan Eberbach, \u201925, found his research taking off\u2014to California, that is. The physics major\u2019s aerodynamics research took him from Grimsley Hall to the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California\u2019s Silicon Valley. Eberbach began working alongside Department Head and Professor of Physics Hank Yochum and Associate Professor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other"],"yoast_head":"\n