May 20-24

May 20 - Today I was given a tour of the lab. Ann Marie showed me where a lot of the tools are, the first aid kit, etc. I was given a brief introduction to some useful applications of MATLAB by Alex. I then spent the remainder of the time becoming more familiar with the MATLAB program; by the end of the day, I was able to fit a curve to a set of data based on two parameters. I used a weighted nonlinear model.

May 21 - Today Ann Marie showed me how to run the water through the PVC pipe that is being used with the heater, tank and water pump. I spent some time applying Teflon tape to the threads of a tapered PVC end cap in order to cease the leaking from the end cap; several attempts were unsuccessful. I then did some research, and found a non-tapered end cap from Home Depot that may prove to be more useful. I also did research on finding some PVC pipe unions. For the rest of the time, I continued studying MATLAB.

May 22 - Today I did some research on finding a suitable union for the PVC pipe; the end cap will be sealed instead of opened and closed. Ann Marie had me take detailed pictures of a small piece of equipment that will be used with the fibers. I then took pictures of the cloth-covered spool of fibers, as well as the large, cloth-covered box. I also worked on lining up a 2x4 (which will be used for holding fibers) with the aforementioned apparatus. I also removed the fans from several heat sinks and attached some slip resistant material to their undersides. We needed a tool to tighten the PVC union, so I did some research and found a selection of strap wrenches for the job. I then spent some time altering the calendar, as several projects are behind schedule.

May 23 - Today I was shown how to cut fibers with the Dremel. I then cut the fibers for the 4th and 5th alcohol test. I measured the fibers’ widths and made a spreadsheet that will be used to compare the initial and final widths after alcohol contact. I continued my work on MATLAB. I then spent a significant amount of time on the calendar; I went through a large section of it and found conflicting schedules for each project for the lab based on student, tech, and graduate student positions.