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Electrical and computer engineer gets real-world experience with aerospace internship

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Electrical and computer engineer gets real-world experience with aerospace internship Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/01/2024 - 00:00

Charles Ferrer

Kofi Asare, a second-year electrical and computer engineering student, is taking his interest in avionics — electronics systems used on aircraft — to greater heights.

In fall 2023, Asare took a semester “off” from his coursework and completed a three-month long avionics internship at Stoke Space. The space launch company based near Seattle, Wash., aims to revolutionize access to space using 100% reusable rockets designed to fly with a 24-hour turnaround, a feat that has yet to be done.

On Sept. 17 , Stoke Space launched Hopper2, the company’s reusable rocket prototype, for a flight test meant to demonstrate the rocket’s novel hydrogen and oxygen engine capabilities.

During his internship, Asare performed a number of hardware tests facilitating vehicle testing and software testing which simulated environments for rockets as if they were flying.

“Seeing all the projects come to life like Hopper2 was such a rewarding experience after spending a while working on part of something so complex,” Asare said. “This gave a ton of motivation for all the engineers and myself to move forward at full speed!”

Based on interactions with engineers at Stoke Space and elsewhere, Asare realized how many engineering students have only classroom-based, theoretical experience, while companies need employees with real-world experience.

“The theoretical world versus the real world are two very different things. There’s lots to consider in the real world when you’re implementing ideas and that’s a huge value in this particular internship.”

In many ways, Asare saw how the calculus from his coursework literally came to life through rocket launches.

Journey to CU

Asare’s family inspired him to pursue a STEM education. His father, a radio frequency engineer, and mother immigrated from Ghana to Arvada, Colo. for a chance at better economic and educational opportunities. His sister, a fellow ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ student, is majoring in molecular and cellular developmental biology, while his brother is a mechanical engineer.

“As a little kid, I was always taking apart my toys,” said Asare. “It was always about exploring what was inside of them and having that curiosity to just dig deeper and discover what was going on behind the surface.”

While Asare said that diversity was lacking in his high school experience, participating in CU Engineering programming through the BOLD Center helped connect him with peers who have supported each other along the way.

“It was honestly eye-opening to me joining the GoldShirt program, where most people around me were from diverse ethnic backgrounds,” said Asare. “We all have that same common goal in engineering of trying to improve the world around us — that was very special for me to see.”

Why Electrical & Computer Engineering?

“Electrical engineering is a driving fundamental force behind almost everything we use in the practical world,” Asare said.

Even beyond electrical engineering, Asare said, one can study almost any type of engineering and still end up in the aerospace industry. At Stoke Space, he met engineers across disciplines such as electrical and computer, mechanical, structural engineers and computer scientists.

“When it comes to electrical at Stoke, there were lots of different disciplines I saw at play, from PCB design/assembly to flight vehicle harnessing and more, all needed to make that rocket fly,” he said. “Electrical and computer engineering is often literally behind the faces of things made in other engineering disciplines that people generally see, but don’t necessarily think about.”

Curiosity for Kofi

During his first year at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, Asare joined the Sounding Rocket Laboratory (SRL), one of ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s largest student organizations focused on developing and testing rocketry.

“Getting involved with SRL allowed me to dive into the niche of learning to build actual rockets and see them take flight,” said Asare. “What’s quite special is the ability to use professional software to gain that practical experience sought after by a lot of companies.”

Asare thrives off of collaborating together in a community while leaning in that passion for learning to get things accomplished.

With internship rocketry experience under his belt and getting back into engineering courses this semester, Asare hopes to land a future opportunity in aerospace or avionics.

Whether it’s designing rocketry on campus, developing the next generation of reusable rockets or taking flight on his own, Asare channels that curiosity without any limitations.

“That curiosity is still driving me today,” said Asare. “The further I dig, I find that there are just infinite questions to this world’s wonders but almost just as many answers and answers to be.”

Top Photo: Kofi Asare at Stoke Space in Washington State; Bottom Photo: Printed circuit board which Asare used during his internship!

Kofi Asare, a second-year electrical and computer engineering student, is taking his interest in avionics to greater heights by interning at Stoke Space, a space launch company.

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Three from ECEE earn graduating student awards from CU Engineering

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 22:15:38 +0000

Three from ECEE earn graduating student awards from CU Engineering Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/25/2022 - 16:15

Each semester, the College of Engineering and Applied Science honors students for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the CU Engineering community.

Graduating students are nominated by faculty, staff and peers. For spring 2022, three ECEE students were among the winners. Congratulations to Phaedra, Nanu and Will!

Check out the full list & award criteria

Congratulations to Phaedra Curlin, Nanu Dahal and Will Pryor!

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Check out photos from the fall 2021 ECEE Projects Expo

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 18:10:08 +0000

Check out photos from the fall 2021 ECEE Projects Expo Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/20/2021 - 11:10

Students gathered in the new Rustandy Building in December to show off the projects they developed as part of ECEN 1400 Introduction to Digital and Analog Electronics.

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Four from ECEE honored with college Graduating Student Awards

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 22:37:45 +0000

Four from ECEE honored with college Graduating Student Awards Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/13/2021 - 15:37

Each semester, the College of Engineering and Applied Science honors students for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the CU Engineering community.

Graduating students are nominated by faculty, staff and peers. For fall 2021, four ECEE students were among the winners — congratulations to Samantha, Calvin, Nikolas and Soham!

Check out the full list & award criteria

Each semester, the College of Engineering and Applied Science honors students for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the CU Engineering community.

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Dafna rocks: Student combines her love for science and music

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 16:19:23 +0000

Dafna rocks: Student combines her love for science and music Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/27/2021 - 10:19

Erica McNamee

Music and science have interlocking qualities that are difficult to see, which means mathematicians, scientists and engineers are often also talented musicians.

Dafna Margalit, a senior at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, is one of those multi-talented people. She is pursuing a degree in electrical engineering while also creating a name for herself in the music industry.

“I feel like it’s a similar part of the brain being used, to some extent,” Margalit said.

The connection between math and music began at a young age for Margalit.

“When I was four years old, my parents put me into classical piano lessons, and I did that up until I was 18,” Margalit said, adding that her love for music evolved from there.

When Margalit and her two older siblings entered a local songwriting competition, it opened doors to the musical career that Margalit now knows. Though she had always been interested in science, it wasn’t until her senior year that she discovered computer science and decided on her collegiate path.

She was also introduced to engineering through her siblings, who are both engineers as well.

“I think part of it was always kind of wanting to be like them, but then I found myself on the way there too,” Margalit said.

With her interest in computer science, Margalit still wanted to expand her knowledge of other applications, which led to electrical engineering. She said there are resources for learning about computer science and coding online, but focusing on electrical engineering allowed her to be exposed to the hands-on aspects that she was also interested in.

Throughout her coursework, Margalit has actively tried to incorporate music into any project she can, such as creating sounds for guitar and drum set electronics in one of her first-year project classes.

Though music and electrical engineering seem like two separate entities, there are many facets that overlap between the two, especially in regards to the technical aspects.

“When it comes to the mixing process of a song, there’s a lot of science behind it,” Margalit said.

Music is a combination of soundwaves at different frequencies that correspond to pitch. When working with these soundwaves electronically, a deeper understanding of the physics behind the soundwaves can help musicians create music in a way that is pleasing to hear. Using her background in science, Margalit can understand the technology behind the music and use it to her advantage when editing songs digitally for production.

She also uses what she has learned from her engineering courses to help her in her music career.

“One thing that has been great is that a music career doesn’t just involve music,” Margalit said. “It’s also marketing and putting yourself out there, which includes things like making a website.”

She has been able to program her own website to promote her music, and her background in coding and engineering has opened up more possibilities for her to expand her career as a musician.

As she nears the end of her college career, Margalit has been thinking about what she wants to do for her career. Though she wants to continue to tour with her music, she cannot give up the parts of her life associated with engineering, and is considering finding a remote software job she can do while she works on her music career.

There is also a path she may take that seamlessly combines the two.

“Something I’m really interested in looking into is music software,” Magalit said. “I think I’d really want to look more into programming different music plugins. It’s cool because they mimic the existing hardware for things like reverb.”

As a senior in the college of engineering, Margalit has a semester and a half left in her program, is in the midst of her capstone project, and often has to find a balance between her schoolwork and her music career.

“There have been times where I’ve had a show and then I have a final the next day so I have to study during the show,” Margalit said, “but I find the balance.”

Music and science have interlocking qualities that are difficult to see, which means mathematicians, scientists and engineers are often also talented musicians. Dafna Margalit, a senior at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, is one of those multi-talented people.

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Celebrating the class of 2021

Anonymous — Wed, 05 May 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Celebrating the class of 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/05/2021 - 00:00

Watch a message from our chair; check out the list of BS, MS and PhD graduates; and see a list of student award winners.

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Undergraduate recognized by college for excellence in research

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 21:25:50 +0000

Undergraduate recognized by college for excellence in research Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/30/2021 - 15:25

Jimmy Gammell has been named an Outstanding Undergraduate for Research by the College of Engineering and Applied Science! In addition to his double-major in applied math and electrical & computer engineering, Gammell will also graduate from ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ with two academic publications under his belt.

Since summer 2018, he has been working with a research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology that is studying hardware applications of neuromorphic computing and superconducting electronics. Through that project, he was the lead author on a paper for the International Conference on Neuromorphic Systems and second author on an article in the AIP Review of Scientific Instruments. He has also submitted a third paper for review, again as lead author.

Adam McCaughan, Gammell’s supervisor at NIST, said he is “possibly the best undergraduate researcher I have ever mentored” and is well-respected within their research group for his technical aptitude, problem-solving abilities and communication skills.

“Jimmy has been an outstanding undergraduate researcher, and I believe has a very promising career ahead of him,” McCaughan said. “I am looking forward to seeing the impact of his work in the next few years.”

We asked Gammell for his reflections on his time at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ and what’s next for his career.

Tell us about a moment (or moments) when you felt like you hit your stride as a engineer.

I felt I hit my stride the first time my research was accepted for publication (ICONS 2020). This was validating because it indicated that the work I was doing had value for my field of study, rather than just being a way to rehearse for activities in the future.

What was the biggest challenge for you during your engineering education? What did you learn from it?

The outbreak of COVID was challenging because almost everything was remote so I didn't have the natural separation between work, school and down time that results from doing those things in different physical locations. I was able to think about/do any of those things all of the time, which made me inefficient at all of them. I learned that it is important to set aside time to focus on one thing at a time, and also to spend time not working or thinking about working.

What is your biggest piece of advice for incoming engineering students?

I would advise them to focus on trying to understand the underlying principles of the topics they study rather than treating each of their classes as a list of facts and formulas to learn. The latter is easier in the short term, but the former will make it easier to learn new topics that build on those previously studied, and is also more-useful in actual engineering tasks because the underlying principles show up in a wide variety of applications, whereas there are so many facts and formulas that they are unlikely to memorize and retain a significant portion of those they will need in the future.

What is your plan for after graduation?

I will be pursuing a PhD in neuromorphic computing at the Center for Brain Inspired Computing at Purdue University.

Jimmy Gammell has been named an Outstanding Undergraduate for Research by the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

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Senior sets sights on one day helping other working students thrive

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 20:37:49 +0000

Senior sets sights on one day helping other working students thrive Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/09/2021 - 13:37

Emily Adams

As he prepares to graduate in May, senior electrical and computer engineering major Xavion Cowans is focused on landing his first engineering job. But he already has a long-term career vision in mind as well.

“My ultimate end game is to be able to open up my own engineering firm,” he said. “I want to be that engineering firm that gives working college students a chance.”

Cowans grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and attended community college there for two years before transferring to ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ. In addition to being a full-time student, he’s also spent much of his college career working full-time off-campus – most recently in security at Walmart – to support himself.

Transferring put him a bit behind his four-year counterparts in certain coursework, he said. And balancing school and work also meant he didn’t have the exceptionally high GPA that some companies look for in interns.

In his dream engineering firm, “I would want to make sure I target the students that are working and putting themselves through school,” Cowans said. “I think that's a task on its own, that I think is overlooked. I don't think people actually realize the amount of effort and time and stress that comes into working and going to school.”

For Cowans, that stress meant he had to choose between focusing on the grades or focusing on understanding the material. Focusing on the latter paid off by the end of his junior year, when faculty members started approaching him to be an undergraduate teaching assistant for their classes.

One of those faculty members was Instructor Arielle Blum, who tapped Cowans as a TA for her Embedded Hardware Systems course. She recognized how hard he’d worked to master the material.

“He has fought tooth-and-nail to be here and be successful,” she said. “He is truly an exemplary student and one of the best TAs I have ever had, with charisma, leadership and keen intelligence.”

Cowans said he really enjoyed being a TA – so much so that he would consider teaching in the future.

“When you're explaining a concept to somebody, it's always a nice feeling to see the light bulb go off, see things click. Their eyes open wide, and it suddenly makes sense,” he said. “You see that they got stumped on this little concept and then after you helped piece things together, then they just took off.”

Cowans said he also really enjoys the programming side of embedded systems, a role he’s playing in his capstone project team. They’re creating a smart home speaker – nicknamed Homie – that lets users maintain more data privacy than commercial devices.

“A lot of us would love to have a device like that, but we all know that Google and Amazon aren't the most honest companies,” he said. “So our solution was to create a device like that, a smart home device that didn't rely heavily on an outside data server.”

He explained that Homie can serve as its own server, or you can use a personal computer. Plus, it’s open-source, so users with the know-how can improve or customize it with their own modules.

As he and the team work out the final kinks in the design and implementation, Cowans is also learning his way around technical job interviews. A recent one didn’t go well from a technical standpoint, but he was still encouraged by the response from the interviewer.

“The hiring manager really liked me. They said I'm a people person, so that's what working security at Walmart does for you,” he said. “They’re going to give me another shot at the interview after I graduate, because they want me there.”

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