Friday, June 22, 2018
By:
The third week of the program is coming to an end, and right now I feel as if we are in that stage where it still seems like we just started yesterday. This, unfortunately, is not the case. Just last night, everyone I spoke with shared my perception of how quickly the time had been passing. It has only passed so quickly due to establishing a normal routine for the week, but it is hard to complain about the time passing when I enjoy working with the people here at Goddard every day.
The more I learn at NASA, the more I realize how little I actually know. This environment is appropriate for me; we discuss progress, celebrate accomplishments, solve problems analytically, and more importantly, enjoy the work we do. I am trying not to exaggerate my experiences, mainly because I have only been an intern for three weeks.
(Warning: nerd talk ahead) A little update on my project: I have been able to learn a bit more about the CAE software, COMSOL. I modeled microstrips and split ring resonators on a dielectric material of specific relative permittivity and analyzed the result of increasing the frequency of the wave travelling through the strip and varying the separation distance between the ring and the strip on the effective dielectric constant. After seeing how this affected the quality factor of the system, I was able to see how the effective dielectric constant changed with frequency. This produced a bit of surprising results, but nonetheless I was able to produce something in such a short amount of time.
Next week, I plan to model a more realistic situation: applying a superconductive material to the EM simulator and and seeing how well COMSOL can handle it in terms of looking at the impedance and phase velocity of the wave in the microstrip. Eventually, I will move onto coplanar waveguides and conduct the same types of tests: looking at the Q factor, the effective dielectric constance, impedance, and phase velocity of the system.
Aside from the project, we celebrated two birthdays this week, one at the dorm and one on a boat that toured the city. I met with executives in SPS and had a great time on the dance floor with everyone who attended. SPS is taking great care of their interns, and I am extremely grateful to be a part of such a program!
Daniel Morales