university of waterloo

during an academic term at uwaterloo, i worked in the forming and crash lab at the university of waterloo as a part-time undergraduate research assistant.

my project was to design a high-velocity, low-energy impact test system to enable the lab to test combined compressive-shear loading of high-deformation materials. i designed two versions: a horizontal pneumatic sled, to use the existing cameras and sensor infrastructure, and a vertical, space-efficient drop tower. it was a really fun challenge in learning about impact testing, linear motion systems, pneumatics, and a first-principles approach to sizing components for appropriate impact velocity and energy targets.

more detail on the impact testing systems project page.