NASA Glenn Academy 2006

NASA Academy 2006
Glenn Research Center
2006 GRC Academy Home

Chris A. Leitenberger

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

Aerospace Engineering
Bachelor of Science, May 2007

NASA Academy Research Project

Design and Analyses of High Temperature Shape Memory Alloy Based Actuators
NASA Principal Investigator: Dr. Dexter Johnson

Education

Some people’s passions are sports, some the arts and music. There has been little doubt, all my life, that my passion was mathematics in its applied forms. In mathematics I find a logical progression that I can apply to all aspects of my life; academic, social, and even spiritual. As such, it is no surprise to anyone that knows me that I became an engineering student; however, some would say that I am too much of a scientist for my own good.

Experience

I draw much of my professional experience from several research projects on which I have worked. The most beneficial of which was a study of the forces generated from a Biefeld Brown device using different structural configurations. This type of device shows the potential of being a very sophisticated form of electric propulsion, but the research in this field has been slow to be accepted because early in its development it was thought to be a form of anti-gravity, and has hence been considered to be an illegitimate and unattainable goal. While it has since been thought not to be anti-gravity, the previous reputation persists, making actual scientific research into the effect hard to find and fund. This project began as a personal project for which I latter successfully lobbied funding, and led a team on the first round of experiments. The data from that first round was found to be inconclusive, and the project is still ongoing.

One of the other projects on which I have worked was the construction of PZT based actuators for flight control systems. This was a project done at KU, and under Dr Ron Barrett. I also took part in the development of composite rocket tubes for the local Rocket Systems Development Organization (RSDO).

Extra-Curricular Activities

My extracurricular activities include sitting on the Engineering Student Council (ESC) and several affiliated Committees. I have assisted in the launch of a High Altitude Balloon Satellite (HABS) for the Experimental Balloon Society (XBS). As a founding member of the student chapter of the American Astronautical Society (AAS) at KU, I represented the organization in the ESC, before I held a voting position, and was then elected to Vice-President. I am a tutor for calculus level math classes. Having recently studied German for several semesters, which culminated in a summer program in Eutin, Germany, I am also a member of the German club.