I have lived in Frisco, Texas all of my life with my mom, dad, and two younger brothers. With so many boys in the house, sports was an integral part of my family. I spent the majority of my life playing football and baseball, and I still love watching both as often as I can. Ever since I was a kid, I was completely entranced by aircraft. I’ve always known that Aerospace Engineering was the career path for me. After graduating high school, I began attending Texas A&M University where I am about to enter my junior year in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. My younger brothers have both followed in my footsteps and will attend Texas A&M next year, so I really look forward to taking them to some Fightin’ Texas Aggie football games.

• Location: Fort Worth, Texas
• Current position: Technical Support Intern
• Current computer: Intel Xeon CPU W3565 @ 3.20 GHz, 24.0 GB of RAM, 64-bit Windows 10 OS
• One word that best describes how you work: Meticulous

What software or tools do you use every day?

I use Pointwise, Outlook, Spark, and Notepad++ every day for work.

What does your workspace look like?

Other than my Dr. Pepper guilty pleasure, I like to keep my workspace clean and clutter-free.

What projects are you currently working on?

Recently, I have been working on evaluating hybrid meshing strategies for a terrain geometry model with significant length scale differences. It has allowed me to use a variety of techniques to mitigate geometry issues and create meshes appropriate for this type of simulation.

What has become your meshing specialty?

I am still very green when it comes to meshing, but I’d have to say I have become more comfortable with structured meshing. I have also really enjoyed automating some of my meshing task using Glyph scripting.

Do you have any tips or tricks to share with our users?

Working through the entire Tutorial Workbook will give you a great understanding of what can be done with Pointwise. If there is anything you’re still unsure about, the User Manual is very extensive and probably has what you’re looking for.

What project are you most proud of and why?

My senior year of high school I had a mentor at Lockheed Martin. With his guidance and advice, I created a MATLAB file that simulated aircraft flying around and implemented automated collision avoidance so that they would avoid buildings, boundaries, and each other within the simulation. I am proudest of this project specifically because I went from having no knowledge of how MATLAB worked to producing a script that I was excited to present.

Are you reading any interesting technical papers we should know about?

I am getting ready to start reading AIAA-2019-2945, “Progress in Geometry Modeling and Mesh Generation Toward the CFD Vision 2030” because I was not able to attend John Chawner’s presentation at AIAA Aviation 2019.

What are your plans after you complete your internship?

I will go back to Texas A&M to complete my B.S. and then decide at that point whether I want to enter the workforce or get my M.S.

What do you do when you’re not generating meshes?

My girlfriend is a Fort Worth native, so I am with her a lot when I am not at work whether it’s grabbing dinner, going to a movie, or visiting a museum. I also enjoy watching and playing sports.

What is some of the best engineering advice you’ve ever received?

Knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

If you had to pick a place to have dinner, where would you go?

La Hacienda is a Tex Mex restaurant in Frisco that has been around longer than I’ve been alive. I have many fond memories there over the years, and they have the best enchiladas on the planet. It is by far my favorite restaurant.

When I’m at College Station, my go to restaurant no matter the time of day is always Fuego. They have fantastic soft tacos and are open 24 hours every day except Monday. The meal sizes also give you a lot of bang for your buck. What college student wouldn’t love a tasty, affordable restaurant that is always open?

Thanks, and Gig ‘em!