#WSGCStudentSpotlight
Junior
Carthage College
Major: Physics
Minor: Computer Science, Mathematics
Congratulations to this week’s #WSGCStudentSpotlight, Taylor Peterson! Taylor is a physics major at Carthage College and has been a part of the Modal Propellant Gauging Project since 2018. She is also the two-time recipient of an Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
Since 2008, the Modal Propellant Gauging (MPG) team has been developing and testing a fuel gauging system that can be used in microgravity environments, as traditional buoyancy and level methods of measurement are rendered ineffective in such environments. The goal of the MPG team is to develop a higher resolution, flight-ready fuel gauge that is able to work in microgravity environments by analyzing the resonance frequencies of fluid-filled tanks.
Taylor plays the important role of software and team lead on the MPG project as well as the Blue Origin payload (a smaller version of the MPG system to be put onboard a Blue Origin rocket as a research payload). She is in charge of the Data Acquisition System (DAS), working to obtain quality ground data from payloads, and analyzing it with MATLAB. Taylor also helps out with various other aspects of the payload, working with electrical components, mounting GoPros, and aiding in the Computer-Aided Drawings (CAD) in Solidworks.
Taylor is also the Mechanical Lead for both the Magneto-Active Slosh Control (MaSC) project, and Carthage’s RockSat team. She plans to continue working hard on each of these projects in her time at Carthage in hopes of successful future payload missions. After college, Taylor will pursue a career in Aerospace Engineering in hopes to contribute to the upcoming Artemis Mission to the Moon, and someday missions to Mars.
Congratulations Taylor, and best of luck in your future endeavors!
