Dave Singh was awarded the MAE Department's John Marshall II Memorial Prize for excellence in aerospace-related independent work, as well as the prestigious SEAS-wide Lore von Jaskowsky Prize for “noticeable élan in undergrad research”, all in part for his senior thesis project further developing the TigerSats' orbit-simulating Helmholtz cage.  

As a continuation of his junior Independent Work project, Dave upgraded the testbed with novel smoothing control electronics and a precise, fan-blown spinup mechanism for a frictionless rotating jig, all for suspending and characterizing the electromagnetic behavior of a magnetic hysteresis rod (a simple passive device for stabilizing the initial tumble of a deployed CubeSat). 

Dave's experiment yielded novel improvements (above and beyond the literature) in the empirical model of hysteresis rod properties and behavior, improvements that can be embedded into our Attitude Stabilization Design & Simulation Tool for more accurate simulation of orbital dynamics of the crucial early stages of a CubeSat mission.

The testbed also holds promise for a wide variety of future TigerSats Lab applications, such as flightlike test of passive magnetic stabilization during pole overflight (in a typical sun-synchronous polar CubeSat orbit) or performance test of electroactive solar sails!

We wish Dave all the best in moving on to his PhD program at Stanford!

Photo credit: Tori Repp/Fotobuddy