The Mechanical Engineering Capstone Program provided one of the most valuable experiences in my collegiate career. Each senior in mechanical engineering at Ohio University are grouped in a small teams where they must complete a product for a customer that presents key engineering challenges. My group was paired with the United States Airforce where we represented Ohio University in a design competition that spanned several colleges across the country. The competition asked the groups to design a product that would augment an existing JetCat hobbyist jet engine to meet two key deliverables: provide at least one axis of thrust vectoring, while maintaining 100% of the straight-line thrust at 0° and prevent engine windmilling at a drop launch scenario of Mach 0.8 at 20,000 ft above sea level.
Please watch this video recap of the design outcomes.