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Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research (HYPER) Laboratory Cool. Fuel.

Leader vs. Liaison

It’s always gone without saying that the first step in team formation is to identify a leader. That’s why the team member roles we defined in ME 316 last Wednesday caught many off guard. We defined roles of Builder, Compliance, Reporter, Theory, and Liaison for each team. Note no “Leader.”

Some of you that know my background are immediately saying, “But Jake, you’re being a hypocrite, you led almost every team you’ve been on since elementary school.” While that’s mostly true, and I’ve won with more teams than not, for some reason, I stopped seeking leadership positions after high school. Why I stopped when I … » More …

Introducing, and bidding farewell to Dr. Jake Fisher

Congratulations to Jake Fisher on successfully passing his thesis defense! He is the first Ph.D. student to graduate from the HYPER laboratory and the first graduate student to start with the lab back in 2010. He’s moving on to start a small business related to cryogenic equipment manufacturing and consumer products in Redmond.

Read the full story of the achievement on his alumnus page.

How to reliably get brilliant students

 

Make them.

We’ve got an incredible group of alumni and current students from the first six years of the HYPER lab —  at last count five most outstanding students in the department, three more that won most outstanding in the college, a Goldwater honorable mention, two NASA STRF winners, and a Timmerhaus award winner. We’ve won International competitions, helped people land jobs with the most cutting edge companies in aerospace, and even spun out a company. People are noticing and asking for my recruitment and interviewing strategies. So here goes:

I don’t recruit.

Not once in the first 5 years did I recruit a student from the … » More …

System design guidelines for user facilities

Initial floor plan sketches

We’re just over 1 month into refurbishing our new lab space in suites 108 and 113 of the Thermal Fluids Research Building (TFRB). We’re following the 5-S philosophy from Lean Manufacturing: 1) Sort, 2) Systemize, 3) Shine, 4) Standardize, and 5) Sustain. Recent posts have shown we’re nearing the end of phase 1 and are starting to look towards the design of our working systems within the space. What we decide matters. So what design rules can we follow to … » More …

Thermal Fluids Research Building (TFRB) Refurbishment

With the mass outpouring of support for the development and design of a hydrogen refueling station to submit to the DOE’s H2 refuel competition, we needed an effective design and work space large enough to support everyone. Luckily, we have around 5,000 square feet of space in the Thermal Fluids Research Building (TFRB) set aside for this project. Unfortunately, this space previously contained a wood shop and spare storage facilities, leaving much to be desired from a usability perspective. Several student volunteers have been coming in every day to help fix this project, and we have some bold plans to make the space a … » More …

My opinion on great AND informative poster design

I was a first year Ph.D. student when I created my first original research poster. In engineering we’re always surrounded by these posters attempting to communicate our research as they are akin to wallpaper in the common hallways. That’s why I spent way too much time on it. I was so frustrated with how typical and common the legalistic design meme of these posters was that I wanted to break the mold. I wanted to create a visual that would stop people in their tracks outside the lab and stand alone, i.e. would tell the story without … » More …

The TFRB renovation begins!

We kicked off the renovations of TFRB suites 113 and 108 began yesterday. The spaces previously held a wood shop and furniture studio. While it’s difficult to imagine the future from the pictures below, let me just say we’re excited! We’ll definitely give the cryogenics labs at Wisconsin and MIT a run for their money on low-stakes innovation spaces.

Remember the plan is to merge an outdoor hydrogen testing area with high bay fab area, helium liquefier, student design space, and library.

20150329_161552» More …

Why the students act like, well, students

…because you treat them like students and not professionals.

One summer I was lamenting to my friends Dan Bukvich and P.K. the finish of a high school student who worked in my lab as part of the Army’s REAP program. The summer had been fine, just fine. I knew we were capable of much more. Here’s  the dialogue:

Me: “How much can you expect from a high school student?”

Dan: “Did you treat them like a high school student?”

Me: “Damn.”

(Mental note: they are soon to be professional engineers and can begin whenever they choose to. Don’t treat them like students. Definitely don’t ever … » More …