By Sara Sand
B.S. HTC Engineering Physics, Class of 2017
I spent about half of the summer in the lab with Dr. Martin Kordesch building rudimentary Stirling engines. I endeavored to build an understanding of the various types of Stirling engines, improve their efficiency, and gain laboratory and machine-shop skills.
Most of my challenges consisted of ridding the engines of friction and pressure leaks in order to allow them to run with as little heat difference as possible. Usually, these challenges were overcome through a tedious process of redesigning sections of the engines and fine-tuning the weighting and positioning of many parts.
While this was a wonderfully rewarding process, I also enjoyed spending time joking with the other undergraduates in the lab, meeting more professors, and going with professors and students to get fish sandwiches for lunch. Ultimately, through my own work and through the people that I met, I learned a lot about the work of scientists and the frustration and excitement of experimentation.
Sara Sand – Intern with Dr. Martin Kordesch– sophomore at Ohio University – Honors Tutorial College – engineering physics major
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