Air & Space Smithsonian – September 2019

a droneflyingoutsideFIU’sengineeringfacility,he

talkedtotheAeroClubmemberpilotingit.Soon,

hewashelpingdesignandbuildFIU’sentryinthe

LockheedMartinSAEAeroDesignCompetition.

Beforehissophomoreyear,Larasoughtleadership

rolesinengineeringorganizationsinaeronautics,

includingtheAmericanInstituteofAeronautics

andAstronauticsandFIU’sEdgeLab,anadvanced

3Dprintingandscanninglab.

TYPICALDAY:Laracomparesdataaboutcom-

positematerialsagainsta varietyofstressand

failurescenarios—particularlycompressiontests

underhydraulicpressesandteststhatmeasurea

material’sabilitytowithstandbeingpulledapart.

DesignersconferwithLaraaboutwhichmaterials

willperformbestundergivenconditions.Lara

blendsassumptions,data,andtheexpertiseofhis

colleaguestoprovideanswers.

BESTPARTOFTHEJOB:“Mygroupisa

goodmixtureofyoungandexperiencedengi-

neers,a combinationofyoungandold,andit’s

greatwhenit comestoworkingonprojects,”he

says.“Wegothrougha hugeflowchart.Oncewe

knowourplanofattack,that’swherewegothe

restoftheday.Andoncewemakea part,wedo

thestructuraltesting.”

ADVICEFORASPIRINGENGINEERS:“Joinpro-

fessionalclubssuchastheSocietyofHispanic

Engineers(SHPE),SocietyofWomenEngineers

(SWE),orNationalSocietyofBlackEngineers

(NSBE).Theseclubscanhelpyounetworkwith

professionalsandmeetalumniwhowereinyour

shoesandwhocanguideyoutopursueyourdream

company.”ThroughSHPE,Laraalsolearned

howtomarkethimselfatconferencesattended

bythousandsofengineeringstudentslooking

forinternshipsandjobsandkeyaerospacefirms

lookingforthebesttalent.“Itisn’talljusttechnical,”

Larasays.“Youhavetobeabletocommunicate

everythingthatyou’vedone.”

THEFUTURE:Larahopestofinisha master’sin

mechanicalengineeringinthenextfiveyears“and

hopefullytakeleadonprojects,”hesays.“I’malso

tryingtogetbackintothe‘spacerace,’soI willbe

lookingforopportunitiesinBoeingSpace.”He

sharestheoptimismofhisarchitectfather,who,he

says,taughthischildrentheycansolveanyprob-

lemandachieveanygoal.—InterviewbyJordanCox

UnbelievablebutTrue

TRIEDANDTRUSTED

THECAPSULEthatcarriedApollo 11

astronautssafelybacktoEarthin 1969

useda heatshieldmadeofepoxyresinto

protectitscontentsfromthe5,000-degree

heatofreentry.Theresin,calledAvcoat,was

designedtoerode,carryingheatawayfrom

thesurface.A halfcenturylater,NASA’sOrion

spacecraftusesthesamematerial.Brian

Hinde,LockheedMartin’sOrionStructures

andAeroshellSeniorManager,saysthatthe

mostimportantinnovationforheatshield

technologyisn’tfindingnewmaterials,but

increasingtheefficiencyofmaterialsalready

inuse.OntheApollocapsule,theAvcoatwas

injectedintothousandsofindividualcellsof

a fiberglasshoneycomb,anagonizinglyslow

process.Thetoolusedwas,inessence,“a

high-pressurecaulkgun,”saysHinde.

ForOrion,thecaulkgunatleastis gone.

Nowtheresinis producedinbillets.“Then

weveryefficientlymodeland3Dmachine

veryaccurately—bykeepingeverythinginthe

computer—theexactshapeofthetileswe

wantandbondthemon,”hesays.Thenew

processsavestimeandweight.MattGasch

ofNASAAmesResearchCenterputsinto

perspectivetherelianceontrustedmaterials.

Heatshieldsarea “singlepointoffailure,”he

says.“Theyeitherworkortheydon’t.”

—GabrielMunoz

Inanartist’sconception,LockheedMartin’s

OrionreentersEarth’satmosphere.

September 2019 AIR&SPACE 21

VOLUME 4 | NUMBER 2

NASA