The Governor's School
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Governor’s School for Science and Technology Science Research Journal Spring 2012 Airborne Wind Energy: Construction, Design, and Control Magdalen Boylan Smithfield High School - Isle of Wight County Public Schools Marcus Starman Bruton High School - York County School Division Tyler Thibodeau Poquoson High School - Poquoson City Public Schools “Our mentorship was at NASA Langley Research Center, where we worked together to improve on Airborne Wind Energy Systems. We really enjoyed our mentorship; everyone at NASA was really welcoming and we felt like an integrated part of the team. Throughout the mentorship we were all able to learn about several different aspects of Airborne Wind Energy, which includes related construction materials and methods, airfoil aerodynamics, glider flight characteristics, and airfoil control.” Marcus is pursuing a physics degree at The College of William & Mary. Magdalen and Tyler are pursuing mechanical engineering degrees at Georgia Institute of Technology. Abstract In recent years, the world has come to the realization that burning fossil fuels is not a sustainable or environmentally friendly means by which to generate electricity. Several technologies have been developed to counter these issues, including wind “ power, solar energy, hydroelectric power, and nuclear power. Wind energy has emerged as the leading “green” approach to generate electricity for the energy demanding world. Problems such as the boundary layer that creates inconsistent and Wind energy has weak winds near the earth and the expensive nature of the technology have been holding back its growth. Airborne wind energy is a potential solution to these problems, as it allows access to the high-energy winds of the Jetstream. Several emerged as the variations of this technology have been designed, though the most promising of them is the single lifting craft laddermill. This system uses a ground-based generator and leading “green” uses the cycling reel in and reel out of the tethered airfoil to generate electricity. Optimizing power output requires the lifting body’s flight path to stay centered on the direction the wind is moving, which necessitated a control system that is highly approach to adaptable and allows agility in its flight. Several designs and concepts of airborne wind energy were analyzed to see if certain generate constructive methods would affect the overall performance of the airborne wind energy systems. The designs were tested by evaluating flight performance and electricity durability. The building material of choice, expanded polypropylene, did not have the characteristics needed to handle the strains of flight and repeated impacts. “The performance of these systems was assessed qualitatively through gauging controllability and contributing factors. It was hypothesized that the throw length for the airfoil and the center of gravity for the glider would play a major role in how the lifting bodies behaved, and that there would be a point at which optimal controllability was achieved. Testing revealed this to be a correct assumption. View the full articles online! Analysis of Students’ Register on Internet- Based Social Networks Abstract Register and formality are not easily described by traditional linguistics, as they are the subjective combination of choices in speech, non-verbal cues, and even the situation in which the conversation is occurring. In addition, changes in “ linguistics on the Internet have muddied the idea of sociolinguistic register. The Internet poses unique challenges to communication, as many aspects of face-to- changes in face conversation are missing, such as facial expressions and body language. Linguistics, therefore, must look at the Internet in a different way in regards to linguistics on the register. The global spread of the Internet led to specialized websites for connecting to and communicating with other people, called social networks. Social networks allow anyone with an Internet connection to connect with Internet have anyone on the social network and share posts and pictures, among other things. Recent research into the linguistics of the Internet has suggested that people are muddied the idea of unclear on the correct register to use on the Internet. Students were given an online survey in order to get a sense of their register on the Internet towards sociolinguistic peers and authoritative figures. The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software was used to analyze sample posts against baseline scores for personal and formal texts in order to assess their formality. Sampled posts were also register analyzed individually to get a sense of register from a human perspective. “ Students were found not to have made a large distinction in their register on the Internet, though linguistic interpretation on the Internet is still in the early stages. Bryce Davis Kecoughtan High School - Hampton City Schools “My mentorship has been a truly unique experience! Before I really set to work on my project, my mentor encouraged me to take her course, Study of Language, at the College of William & Mary. This course went from the ground up, from the basis of phonology (sounds in language), all the way to higher-level syntactical analysis of sentence structure. The fun really began once the course ended. From designing and deploying a survey to actually writing the final paper, I learned how difficult, but unbelievably rewarding, doing research is! I feel that mentorship, and the entire Governor’s School experience, has prepared me in such a fantastic way to excel in college and future research.” Bryce will attend American University in the fall with junior status to pursue a double major in Computer Science and International Studies with a minor in Arab Studies and a translation certificate in German. He hopes to have a career in either software development or international relations with the United Nations. http://www.nhrec.org/governorsschool/pubs Imprinted Sorbents for Toxic Metals Removal: Synthesis, Characterization, and Application Kelly Ha Grafton High School - York County School Division “This year, I had the opportunity to work in the chemistry department at Hampton University, creating polymers that could potentially be used to remove lead contamination. I enjoyed my mentorship experience because I had the opportunity to utilize what I learned in my chemistry class last year, and apply this information to a project with real-world applications. I also expanded my knowledge base, such as learning how to use an atomic absorption spectrometer for solution analysis. Although I do not plan to study chemistry in college, I hope to use what I have learned this year and continue to pursue research opportunities in the future.” This fall, Kelly will be attending the University of Pennsylvania to study political science and economics. After undergraduate studies, she hopes to attend law school and eventually pursue a career as a corporate attorney. While at Penn, she also hopes to conduct research in the area of neuroscience and behavioral sciences. Specifically, she would like to study how people perceive others and what causes bias in individuals. Such research could be applicable to the legal field, as when jury members are being selected. Abstract “ Molecular imprinting is a technique for creating compounds with highly specific binding sites for a certain substrate molecule. The polymers are assembled in a structure around a specific molecule that acts as a substrate. After the compound is polymerized, the molecule is removed, leaving a cavity polymers are in the polymer that is specific to the shape and structure of that molecule. Polymers synthesized through the process of molecular imprinting could be assembled in a used as stable and selective sensors for a variety of template molecules. Ion- imprinted polymers were synthesized using a molecular imprinting approach. A particular component of molecular imprinting that was of interest was the effect structure around a of cross-linkers on the binding capacity and selectivity of imprinted polymers. specific molecule Two different percentages of cross-linker were used to synthesize polymers imprinted with lead ions, using free-radical polymerization. Various that acts as a characterization tests were completed to determine the selectiveness and binding capacities of the resultant polymers. The conclusion made, based on substrate these characterization studies, was that the percentage of cross-linker that should be used depends on the intended purpose of the polymer itself. An effective ion-imprinted polymer could potentially be used to detect and adsorb toxic lead contained in sources such as drinking water or paints. “ http://www.nhrec.org/governorsschool/pubs Accuracy of Mechanical Axis Predictions after ShapeMatch Total Knee Replacement Abstract ShapeMatch® technology is a process used in total knee arthroplasty. Unlike conventional knee replacements, ShapeMatch® knee replacements use an MRI of the patient’s knee to size the components to be used before the surgery ShapeMatch® knee instead of trying multiple sizes during the surgery. The mechanical axis of the knee“ is important during knee replacements because it is believed that if the replacements use an measurement is close to 0°, the longevity of the knee replacement increases as well as the comfort of the patient. ShapeMatch® technology claims to provide MRI of the patient’s a 0° mechanical axis. The mechanical axis of the knee is the line drawn from the femoral head through the knee joint and down to the center of the ankle knee to size the joint. Measurements need to be taken to see if this approach achieves a 0° mechanical axis in practice following a total knee replacement using ShapeMatch® technology because the pre-operative planning claims to components to be provide it. A sample of twenty-five patients undergoing the ShapeMatch® process for a total knee replacement were used to measure the mechanical axis used before the post-operatively. The mechanical axis was measured by drawing a line from the center of the femoral head to the tibial medial spine, and then from the surgery instead of tibial medial spine to the center of the ankle joint.