• Led characterization of throttle dynamics for a 3 kN liquid oxygen (LOX)-kerosene rocket engine for a hopper flight vehicle.
• Advanced the modeling approach from white-box differential equations and Simulink model to grey-box system identification using cold-flow and hotfire open-loop data to capture the nonlinear, time-delayed, and highly coupled dynamic system behavior.
• Evaluated control strategies, including PID and full state-feedback; developing a closed-loop thrust controller that maps commanded thrust to chamber pressure and propellant mass-flow targets from pressure transducer and thermocouple feedback.
• Executed cold-flow tests with deionized water and liquid nitrogen to validate throttle hardware and characterize time delays, transient response, and steady-state mass flows; led 2 hot-fire campaigns testing open-loop throttle sequences guided by cold-flow mixture ratio calculations to quantify thrust, chamber pressure, and mass-flow throttled response.
• Engineered and iterated complete throttle system hardware assembly, including a stepper-motor-to-V-port ball valve throttle coupler, hardstops, and mount in Siemens NX, designed for aluminum 3-axis CNC manufacturability and assembly.
• Assembled and validated the throttle actuation system electronics, including soldered microcontroller and voltage level shifter electronics, troubleshooting and testing using a waveform generator and oscilloscope to ensure reliable motor actuation.
