Cool. Fuel.

The WSU Media team recently became the first outside group allowed to shoot onsite in Blue Origin’s 20 year history. HYPER alumni had a few important things to say. Check out the first highlight video and the following individual alumni feature videos for Ron Bliesner, Jordan Raymond, and Chelsea Crabb. You’ll find out why they chose to study the coolest fuel in the universe (hydrogen) at HYPER and why you should too!

Two months ago I was at a WSU Women’s Basketball game with my 9 year old. Trailing most of the game, they fought back and missed a shot to tie at the buzzer.

9 year old: “What was the point? They lost anyways.”

Me: “They kept fighting until the end. They did their best. All you can do is your best.”

9 year old: “But how do I know if my best will be good enough? What if it isn’t?”

Me: “You don’t know. You can’t control whether your best is good enough. All you can control is whether you are doing your best. See … » More …

(This is a preprint of my column “Cool Fuel” for Cold Facts, the magazine of the Cryogenic Society of America.)

Flash back for a moment to that time in college when the professor had a typo on the assignment that caused you to lose a night in frustration. Anger, fatigue, and disrespect come to mind as you stormed to class the next day, handed in the assignment, and pointed out the mistake, now corrected. The professor, unmoved by the display, proceeds to pull up the original research publication on which the assignment was based, where the same error appears, an error, sans erratum, that … » More …

… is practice.

We have a rule in the lab that any demonstration must first be trialed at least 5 times without error before being made public.

Why 5? 5 is a common threshold to begin using statistical methods to establish confidence (a.k.a. coverage factors and uncertainties).

In science, a single test can show a phenomena, verify a theory, and increase understanding of the Universe.

Engineering though, doesn’t care so much about understanding, as much as reproducibility. That that something, based on science, can be done over and over again, including by the public, without fail.

A key difference between science and engineering is practice. … » More …

WSU may be the best developmental engineering program in the Western US. Nowhere else will you find a more rural Research 1 class institution that is typically viewed as the #2 school in the state. These two defining traits are directly aligned with our Land-Grant founding mission to bridge the technoeconomic urban versus rural divide. Where some schools just process through people who were already performers, WSU must reap the seeds we sow. Said simply, we’re going to do our best to develop you into your best. Since we’re the only liquid hydrogen research focused lab in US academia, everyone coming in the door … » More …

I spent this morning combing through survey evaluations that included feedback from students, faculty, staff, external stakeholders, and administrators. It was amazing that many of the groups (save the administrative pool) demonstrated the same key feedback faults. Since quality  feedback is essential for continuous improvement, I have some suggestions for you who are about to complete end-of-semester evaluations (only if you want them to have an impact and cause change):

Identify your goal — it’s often clear when someone is venting to try to help themselves feel better. But, I still believe that people feel better in the long run when they see decisive … » More …

We are excited to share the latest press release of our research. A team of WSU researchers including Caleb Stauffer, Yulia Gitter, Chelsea Crabb (now at Blue Origin), and Drew Boettner (now at Stoke Space Technologies) used our Mobile Hydrogen Generation Unit to make liquid hydrogen from water and electricity in a field. They then filled a 3D printed tank with liquid hydrogen, and flew a robot into the sky.

A BIG thanks to our collaborators at MSU Raspet and Insitu who made it possible.

University, industry collaboration allows liquid hydrogen-powered UAS to take flight

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This is a pre-print of my bi-monthly column ‘Cool Fuel’ for Cold Facts, the magazine of the Cryogenics Society of America.

I had a realization the other day – most of us may be incorrectly measuring cryogenic hydrogen mass flows. Nearly all types of flow meters are affected: pressure-differential, sonic, thermal, etc. The differences arise from changing thermophysical properties of hydrogen at cryogenic temperatures and more complicated for flow metering than just adjusting for temperature and pressure. Hydrogen at room temperature sourced from a cryogenic dewar can also be affected, which covers the majority of hydrogen use. In response, this column covers the basics … » More …

Today is the completion of my first three months back at HYPER following professional leave. We are celebrating with a lab party in our new building. From graduations, to new additions, accomplishments and achievements, we have ample reasons to celebrate and reflect for the coming semester.

Graduations

The most recent round of HYPER alumni has formed, and despite my leave, shown that the lab community and culture is enough to realize dreams:

Reece Adams was the first to graduate with his MS in Materials Science in May. Reece completed measurements on polymer matrix composites at liquid hydrogen temperatures necessary to determine the Factor of … » More …

Despite vast geographical distance, The U.S. and Australia have enjoyed over 80 years of strong diplomatic relations.

80 Years of mutual understanding and camaraderie.

80 years of research collaborations and expertise sharing.

The long history of research collaborations between the U.S. and Australia has continued through Fulbright foreign exchange scholars, who conduct research exchange across the U.S. with other participating countries including Australia.

Fulbright exchange partnerships are more than just research projects, they present the opportunity for:

• exchanging research cultures between countries

• Launching technology development through identifying technology use cases globally,

• Fostering long term relations and trust between host and exchange organizations … » More …