Monthly Archives March 2021

The IRES 2021 team presented during two Skype-a-Scientist sessions, speaking to classrooms in Canada and the Philippines! Vanessa, Samantha, Benjamin and Dr. Raghavan shared how engines work with Ms. Laura Genge’s 5th grade class in Toronto and fielded questions by curious students ranging from flight, space, rockets and studying or doing research abroad. Michael took over for Samantha when the IRES team caught up with Ms. Jimenez at Xavier School in the Philippines later that week. Over 60 pre-college students and engineering students joined the session where the IRES team shared details of engine design, testing, high temperature coatings and superalloys. The team and the students also enjoyed discussing research and comparing notes on classes in the U.S. and the Philippines.

Skype-a-Scientist allows thousands of scientists to connect with teachers, classrooms, groups, and the public around the world. It gives students the opportunity to meet real scientists and get answers to their questions from them. You can learn more about this organization here.

We are excited to announce that our post–doctoral researcher, Quentin Fouliard, Ph.D., has been featured on the UCF Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) department’s website, through the Office of Technology Transfer. 

The article talks about three of Dr. Fouliard’s projects with RRG from the past four years that he has worked with the lab. These are “rare-earth doped thermal barrier coatings for improved temperature sensing,” “a phosphor thermometry device for simultaneously characterizing two or more luminescence signals,” and “a system for mapping temperature gradients of thermal barrier coatings.” 

The article is titled “Post-Doctoral Research Works to Push the Boundaries of Aerospace Materials” and can be found on the UCF MAE website here. 

We are delighted to announce that lab member Zachary Stein has been honored with the Founders’ Day Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis Award in the category of Engineering and Technology. This award is based on his thesis work focusing on the chemical degradation of high temperature ceramic coatings found within airplane engines from sand infiltration (You can read his thesis here!).  

The Founders’ Day Outstanding Thesis Award is awarded to students who has completed an Undergraduate thesis and graduated with their Bachelor’s. Every year, one student is selected from each of four categories of Engineering and Technology; Social Sciences, Business, and Education; Natural Sciences and Health Sciences; and Arts and Humanities. This award is given to theses determined by the Honors Selection Committee based on the originality of ideas as well as the thesis’ contribution to their discipline and its significance to the field through comprehensive and insightful research. 

Zac, along with the other recipients, will be honored during the Founder’s Day Convocation Ceremony scheduled to be held on April 7^th, 2021. To read more about the award and its requirements, click here. 

We are excited to announce that Quentin Fouliard has been named one of UCF’s 30 Under 30 Alumni Award Winners! This program recognizes outstanding young alumni who continue to “Reach for the Stars” in their professional and personal lives since graduating from the University of Central Florida. Quentin is a post-doctoral researcher leading a DoE UTSR project that focuses on the advancement of instrumentation methods for temperature and stress monitoring in extreme environments.  

The official list of honorees was announced February 22^nd, and the award recipients are scheduled to be honored in a celebratory event on May 22^nd. To read the complete list of winners and to learn more, check out this article.