Poster sessions note AFRL interns’ work

  • Published
  • By Bud Cordova
  • Nucleus writer

The Air Force Research Laboratory Scholars Program summer interns held a poster session for their research in various areas such as 3-D printing and plasma created by lasers on July 27.

“The poster session highlights their accomplishments and research throughout the summer,” said Eunsook Hwang, who is in charge of technology engagement for the AFRL Space Vehicles and Directed Energy directorates.

In addition to their poster presentation, some scholars had to give a 15-minute oral presentation. The poster presentations were split into two sessions, one July 27 and the other on Wednesday. More than 70 interns presented posters at each session.

At the start of the day, several scholars and mentors received awards for their work during the summer.

“It opens so many doors to show people in science fields there are whys to be passionate about science outside of academia, and we got to put our résumés in the hands of some of the industry leaders,” said AFRL Scholars Program intern and Outstanding Scholar Award recipient Ryan Phillips.

Phillips is a graduate student and worked in the AFRL Directed Energy Directorate.

His research consisted of trying to measure radio frequencies produced by plasma ignited from multiple lasers of different colors being combined into one beam. Using the multiple-color beams produces an increase in terahertz radiation, so his premise is there should be an increase in radio frequency as well.

Terahertz is the same technology used in airport full-body scanners.

“It’s much safer to biological organisms than the radiation used in X-rays,” Phillips said.

He said his research was an uphill battle all summer, but he loved every second of it, handling technical issues and trying to measure data.

The plasma induced by lasers lasts about one millionth of a nanosecond, or a femtosecond. Physical measuring instruments cannot read this unit of time, so he had to use optical measuring devices.

Part of why Phillips is trying to measure radio frequencies is because of the communication-jamming abilities a directed energy beam can provide.

This is Phillip’s second year to be part of the AFRL Scholars Program.

“This is an amazing program. I would love to see it replicated in other Department of Defense and Department of Energy labs,” he said.

He also said the mentors are world-class and second-to-none.

“The best thing is as a scholar, you’re not a lab assistant. You’re doing actual research and work that fits into the Air Force’s mission. The mentors let you make mistakes in your research and learn from them and don’t just give you the answers,” Phillips said.

While many scholars move on to careers outside of ARFL, some, like Daniel Guillette, get hired into permanent positions. Guillette was an AFRL scholar for three summers before he was hired in 2014.

“When I started I was really fascinated by space and thought the Space Vehicles Directorate was what I wanted, but because of this program I discovered Directed Energy and it just took my career in a different direction,” he said.

Guillette is now a mentor in the program.

The scholars program is also open to high school students and undergraduates like AFRL Outstanding Scholar recipient Quinter Nyland.

Nyland started his internship as a junior in high school. This year is his third as an AFRL scholar and he recently completed his freshman year of college.

Nyland worked on 3-D printing in the Space Vehicles Directorate. His research was to use the additive manufacturing process to create structures with electronic components, like wiring, fabricated into them.

“This process is more cost-effective and reduces the amount of man hours needed to assemble and fabricate structures,” he said.

Nyland also helped set up the additive manufacturing lab for future scholars and researchers.

“The best thing about undergraduates and high school scholars is they are exposed to the options in career fields early and are able to pursuit their dreams, ” Hwang said.

AFRL pays for the scholars program mostly out of its core funding, and other AFRL directorates have begun to use the template started at Kirtland Air Force Base.

A representative from the AFRL Munitions Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida was present for the poster session to see how AFRL N.M. runs the program. The Munitions Directorate has 68 scholars this summer.

“We do this program not only to help the students but also for the new ideas that the scholars bring to AFRL,” Hwang said.