Taylor Peterson
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University PhD, Aerospace Engineering
2024 - 2026 (Estimate)
University of Central Florida MS, Aerospace Engineering
2021 - 2024
Carthage College Bachelor of Arts, Physics
2017 - 2021
Resume
Click here to view a downloadable version of my resume.
About Me
I am an Aerospace Engineering PhD student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with a Master's in Aerospace Engineering and Bachelor's in Physics. Since my first year as an undergraduate I have been involved in research revolving around fluid dynamics in microgravity. During my time as an undergraduate, I built and tested payloads on parabolic flights and suborbital flights via Blue Origin to test fluid dynamics experiments. During Summer 2020 and 2021, I was selected as a NASA intern to continue working on a related project to take flight on a SpaceX Falcon 9 to be testing on the International Space Station (ISS) for 30 days. Continuing my studies in graduate school, I began focusing on two research projects; 1) studying osteoporosis in astronauts (this experiment took flight on Blue Origin's New Shepard in December 2023) and 2) studying the behavior of boiling cryogenic propellants in microgravity. I am working towards my PhD in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in fluid dynamics in microgravity. During Summer 2024, I will be interning again at NASA Kennedy Space Center to conduct computational work studying cryogenic flows.
Awards & Honors
Some images have links to press releases.
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
I was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to continue my work on cryogenic boiling in microgravity. This prestigious award is to help ensure the quality of scientific research in the industry.
ISS National Lab James A. Abrahamson Space Leader Fellowship
I was one of three students to be awarded this year long fellowship by the ISS National Lab and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS). This fellowship promotes workforce development in exceptional early-stage graduate students and allows them to work on a project in their field of study.
20 Twenties Award Nominee
I was nominated for the 20 Twenties Award for the class of 2022. This award honors currently enrolled students in higher education STEM fields to recognize students on a path to a bright career in the aerospace industry.
ORCGS Doctoral Fellowship
I was awarded this fellowship by the University of Central Florida for being an outstanding incoming doctoral student and showing excellent academic achievement, preparation, and potential for success at UCF.
Lemelson-MIT Student Prize
My team and I competed in and won the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Competition with our Modal Propellant Gauging (MPG) technology. We competed against top schools, such as Johns Hopkins and MIT, and surpassed over 200 applicants.
Sigma Pi Sigma Inductee
As recognition for demonstrating outstanding scholarship in physics, I was inducted into the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society in Spring 2021.
Society of Physics Students Chapter President
2020-2021 President of Society of Physics Students Chapter at Carthage College. As a result of being an active and inclusive chapter, we were awarded the 2020-2021 Outstanding Chapter Award.
Student Ambassador
I was selected to represent Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium at Carthage College for the 2020-2021 academic school year to help actively recruit new students wishing to pursue a career in a STEM field.
Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Scholar
Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Scholarship awardee for the 2020-2021 academic year for showing excellence in a STEM related field.
Golden Leadership Award
I was awarded this by Carthage College for my demonstration of exemplary leadership through depth in co-curricular involvement.
Wisconsin Space Grant Representative
Represented the Wisconsin Space Grant at the Space Grant 30th Anniversary in Washington D.C. in February 2020.
Experience
Past and present experiences related to my field.
Graduate Researcher - University of Central Florida (UCF)
Dr. Michael Kinzel's Computational Fluids and Aerodynamics Lab (CFAL)
This work is funded by NASA's Techflight opportunity under award #80NSSC21K0338.
Click here to read my paper on this research that was presented at the ASME Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting 2022.
Lens Free Imaging (LFI) Techflight
9/2021 - Present
UCF is working in collaboration with imec USA to research osteoporosis in astronauts in low-gravity environments. I am learning to use Star-CCM+ to create Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of microfluidics in microgravity to research bone loss in humans in space. Along with this, I have been involved in conducting lab experiments to verify the CFD work showing fluid instabilities in normal and low gravity. This experiment will fly onboard Blue Origin's New Shepard Vehicle in the coming year.
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Parabolic Flight Coach
Zero Gravity Corporation
7/2021 - Present
I have been flying with the Zero Gravity Corporation (Zero-G) since 2018. As of the summer of 2021, I was hired as a flight coach. For research flights, my role includes being part of the staff team that conducts Team Readiness Reviews (TRRs) on each experiment that flies with us. This includes ensuring the payload is safe to fly - no loose objects, no sharp corners, and no dangerous liquids/components are being brought onto the aircraft. During flight, my job is to ensure that passengers are being safe and to assist if anyone is feeling unwell. For commercial flights, I have the same responsibilities in flight. My 'on the ground' role (for both research and commercial) consists of preparing the passengers for what to expect during flight.
NASA Kennedy Space Center Intern - Advanced Engineering Development Branch (NE-L6)
Internship Abstract and Published Paper
Click here to view my internship abstract and paper for MPG-ISS.
Modal Propellant Gauging on the International Space Station (MPG-ISS)
6/2020 - 8/2020 & 6/2021 - 8/2021
I was selected for an internship at NASA Kennedy Space Center Advanced Engineering Development Branch during summer 2020 and 2021 to design and build a payload that will take flight on a SpaceX Dragon Capsule to stay onboard the International Space Station for ~30 days. During both 10 week internships, I was able to work with a team of engineers to design and construct a payload that implements Modal Propellant Gauging (MPG). MPG is a lightweight, cost-efficient, high resolution fuel gauging system for low-gravity environments. I designed and modeled the experiment using Autodesk Inventor and gained valuable skills in the software. I worked with various outside companies as well as on base laboratories at Kennedy to build custom parts for the needs of our experiment. I made a handful of connections and learned more about creating and ordering parts as an engineer, a mandatory skill in the field.
Photo courtesy of Blue Origin
Mission Team Lead, Data Acquisition and Analyst Lead, Lead Mechanical Engineer - NASA Flight Opportunities
Proceedings Papers
Click here to view both the Wisconsin Space Conference proceedings paper from 2019 and 2018.
Modal Propellant Gauging - Blue Origin Payload (MPG-BOP)
2/2018 - 5/2021
I have spent the majority of my undergraduate career helping develop MPG and preparing this payload for flight on two suborbital missions on Blue Origin's New Shepard Vehicle in January and December of 2019. I joined MPG-BOP during the second semester of my freshman year and started work on the experiment as a mechanical team member. I thoroughly enjoyed working on the mechanical design such as updating CAD files in SolidWorks and making changes to the physical system to improve the payload.
Throughout the next year, I worked my way to becoming Mission Team Lead of the MPG-BOP experiment. This gave me a handful of more responsibilities, including learning how to use the data acquisition system (SLICE Micro from DTS) and to utilize MATLAB code to generate Frequency Response Functions from the modal data.
Data Acquisition and Analyst Lead, Mechanical Engineer - NASA Flight Opportunities
Modal Propellant Gauging - Propellant Refueling and on Orbit Transfer Operations (MPG-PROTO)
9/2019 - 5/2021
The MPG-PROTO experiment is a continuation/upgrade of the MPG-BOP payload. This experiment was more complex with flow between two tanks and designed to fly on Blue Origin's New Shepard Vehicle as well as parabolic flights with the Zero G Corporation. This experiment started at Carthage in September 2019. Since then, I was greatly involved in designing this payload from scratch, sourcing parts, and led assembly of the payload. Through this, my team and I were responsible for creating the necessary documentation for future students. The main design contributions I made were done in Autodesk Inventor.
An important aspect of this experiment was monitoring the fluid dynamics inside of a spherical and cylindrical tank in microgravity, both with Propellant Management Devices (PMDs) attached inside the tank at one of the ports. The goal of the PMDs is to 'steer' the liquid towards one port during low fill fractions. Working on this experiment has cemented my ambition to pursue higher education in aerospace with a concentration in fluids.
Mission Team Lead, Lead Mechanical Engineer - NASA Flight Opportunities
Highlighted Project:
The MaSC project was highlighted by NASA Flight Opportunities. Click here to read the post on NASA's website.
Magneto-active Slosh Control (MaSC)
9/2018 - 5/2021
MaSC is a collaboration between Carthage College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. MaSC is an effort to suppress sloshing in propellant tanks in low-gravity environments using a set of Helmholtz Coils and a metallic alloy membrane inside of the tank. This experiment was built inside of an already existing payload used for a previous iteration of MPG. To accommodate for MaSC, my job was to build new cylindrical, polycarbonate tanks to have space in the tank for the metallic membrane. Along with this, I assisted in designing the coil mounts and support structures for the Helmholtz coils.
Extra
Additional opportunities.
Student Ambassador #IAmSpaceGrant Video
As the Student Ambassador at Carthage College for the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC), I was tasked with creating a video that highlights my experiences through WSGC funding. Creating this video helped me look back on the experiences that I valued the most and how they will help me build a career in Aerospace Engineering.