Undergraduate Research Hub

This research is dedicated to advancing gas turbine technology for greener and more cost-effective commercial air transportation. The focus lies in optimizing the High Pressure Compressor (HPC) component of NASA’s Energy Efficient Engine (EEE) which compresses air prior to entering the combustion chamber. The goal for the research project was to improve the compressor’s pressure ratio from inlet to outlet to enhance the efficiency of the combustion process. Factors affecting compressor performance, such as blade twist angle, blade geometry, and shroud and hub tip clearance, are analyzed and optimized to improve efficiency and overall performance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models were created within the Ansys software suite and successfully optimized by leveraging the San Diego Supercomputer Center. This research achieved a pressure ratio increase across the first four stages of a ten-stage compressor, surpassing NASA's 1980 model. This paper outlines the methodology, including geometry generation using Ansys BladeModeler, blade row meshing with TurboGrid, and CFX (Fluid dynamics) simulations. The optimization process involved multiple design iterations and a response surface method to attain the highest pressure ratio. The multidisciplinary approach underscores the potential of leveraging emerging technologies of CFD and High Performance Computing to significantly improve the efficiency of existing models, as exemplified by the successful optimization of the EEE’s HPC.

Arachis pintoi (Fabaceae) is a common relative of the cultivated peanut, and folds its four leaflets up to look like one at night. The adaptive significance of this behavior (foliar nyctinasty) is unknown. To test the hypothesis that leaflet folding alone can deter herbivores, a leaf preference experiment was performed on Chromacris trogon grasshoppers. Small oval cutouts were made from leaves of the grasshopper’s preferred food source, Iochroma arborescens (Solanaceae), and were combined with small pieces of tape and dry grass to construct artificial leaves resembling the day and night form of A. pintoi. In the experiment, groups of three grasshoppers were starved for 24 hours and then placed in petri dishes containing one closed and one open artificial leaf. After 30 six-hour trials, the average herbivory of open leaves was 12.3%, while closed leaves was 5.2% (p = 0.00145), indicating a significant preference for open leaves. This suggests that the folded configuration of A. pintoi leaves can be a defense against herbivory.

This paper examines how the absence of accessible healthcare intersects with the disproportionate burden that climate change places on marginalized communities. The paper reviews the current literature on the intersection of climate-related health crises and public policy, highlighting the lack of policies centered around this intersection. This review explores how the disproportionate impact of the current climate related health crisis on minority communities is a continuation of structural violence, inequality, and systemic neglect by both the government and public policy makers. Possible solutions, along with their practical and ethical limitations, are dissected. From a healthcare perspective, this paper emphasizes the need to highlight the incoming health crises, and to take measures to reform both healthcare and climate policies to tackle them.

This paper focuses on two characters from the digital game Persona 4 Golden (2008, rev. 2012) who harbor shame around their queerness. During the course of the game, these two characters – Kanji and Naoto – undergo a form of “group therapy” and self-acceptance to resolve that shame. Throughout this process, Persona 4 Golden creates an immersive experience where players become and also assist the two characters in grappling with their shame. This interaction with shame is particularly effective when queer players immerse themselves in the game, as the objectives of confronting and reconciling with characters’ queer shame compound with their own journey of navigating their queerness. Consequently, queer players may find Persona 4 Golden to be therapeutic.

Due to many historical injustices, communities of color have often felt misused by medicine at large. There is a cycle of distrust and general unpleasantness with healthcare providers. Unfortunately, the injustices haven’t stopped, as many people of color feel that those in the medical profession lack one of the basic qualities that are needed in healthcare: compassion. In many research studies about compassion, healthcare professionals and other experts define compassion. However, the people we should be asking are not the providers themselves, but the patients, as they are the ones that will know if they receive compassionate care. Focusing research like this on communities of color, especially since there is already distrust, is important. Although research on compassion has increased, there is little data on how under-resourced, culturally, and ethnically diverse communities define compassion, which can help mitigate the health disparities plaguing these communities. This study will help delineate how compassionate the healthcare industry is, and if it is not, what work can be done to make it more compassionate. A purposely made survey was created with a focus group of Black community leaders, non-profit founders, and physicians from San Diego. This survey is composed of questions that target experiences and attitudes towards physicians and healthcare providers for people from the Black community to expand on. Therefore, the Black community, across all socioeconomic groups, can be directly asked what compassion personally means to them, allowing us to finally understand ‘What Does Compassion Mean to the Black Community of San Diego?’

The adverse effects of climate change are destroying communities. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changing weather patterns are drastically threatening the living conditions and the livelihoods of people globally, forcing them to flee their homes and become “climate refugees.” Although there are many contributors to the perpetuation of climate change, including governments, corporations and individuals, this research focuses on the role of multinational enterprises, some of whom are large carbon emitters. Should they be held accountable for their direct and slow-onset contributions to the displacement of people, and if so, to what extent?