While Jocelyn Hess has returned from Europe, her research may be heading for the moon.
Hess, a junior in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was awarded a prestigious DAAD Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) internship this spring. The program gave her the opportunity to perform research at Germany’s federal aeronautics institute, the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
“I wanted to pursue a research opportunity this summer to better prepare myself for graduate school,” Hess said. “DAAD RISE is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for me to perform research while going abroad, giving me new perspectives and experiences.”
DAAD is a German organization that funds international exchange programs for students and researchers in North America and the British Isles. Only about 15% of applicants receive RISE internships each year.
Hess’s internship was based at the Institute of Materials Physics in Space, where DLR scientists are trying to determine whether infrastructure for a lunar base could be made with native materials rather than supplies shipped from Earth. Her task was to help develop a glass-fiber reinforced ceramic composite made with simulated lunar regolith.
“Working with ceramics was a new experience for me, and I learned a lot,” said Hess. “I was able to successfully sieve and sinter different fractions of lunar regolith simulant, then compression-test the sintered samples to determine the optimal sintering temperature and time.”
By the end of her stay, Hess and her team had started using the simulant in a newly fabricated regolith composite manufacturing machine, investigating the relationship between input parameters and output quality.
“This work expanded my knowledge of composites and their manufacturing techniques, which I will apply as I continue doing research on composites at UT,” Hess said. During the academic year, Hess performs research on polymer-carbon fiber and polymer-glass fiber composites with Uday Vaidya, a professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering.
Overcoming Culture Shock
While Hess eagerly dove into the ceramics side of composites research, she had more trouble adjusting to the unfamiliar interpersonal dynamics at the DLR.
“Workplace relationships are shaped by culture, so they vary greatly between Germany and the United States,” she said. “Constructive criticism is given more freely there, and the humor is very different. I did a lot of research on the culture and practiced very basic German before I went, but it was still a large culture shock, and the complete immersion meant that I had to face it head-on.”
Hess challenged herself to commit to the immersion, speaking German whenever possible and navigating without using her phone. By the end of her trip, she was talking more freely with her fellow researchers and had confidently made her way around the country—attending an organ concert at the Cologne Cathedral, touring castles, boating down the Neckar River, and hiking around Eibsee Lake at the base of the Bavarian Alps.
Though she misses the schnitzel at the 16th-century Hofbräuhaus, continuing her research on composites in Knoxville lets Hess feel connected to the work and culture she experienced this summer.
“The study of materials is exciting because it allows you to study the building blocks and foundations of the world,” said Hess. “I love being able to create and research materials I can see and touch. I feel it brings my research to life.”
Contact
Izzie Gall (865-974-7203, egall4@utk.edu)