Emily Parkerson
Aerospace engineering
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Graduation date: Spring 2025
Additional details: Honors student
FURI | Fall 2024
Personal Bio-Meteorological Station Based on Cylindrical Radiation Thermometers and Turbulence Accounting Anemometers
This project seeks to develop accurate and affordable sensors to measure radiative and convective exposure that humans face in extreme heat. Many sensors exist that solely quantify radiation exposure, but accounting for convective exposure is more difficult because of the effect of turbulence characteristics including wind speed, turbulence intensity (TI), and turbulence length scale (Lt). A setup composed of multiple metal cylinders developed with readily available materials is proposed. One larger reflective cylinder will simulate the human body to measure convection only. Three cylinders of varying diameters will quantitate turbulence characteristics in outdoor flow to assess effects on convection. Radiation will be accounted for using another three-cylinder setup with varied absorption properties and constant diameters.
Mentor: Konrad Rykaczewski
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Featured project | Fall 2024
Aerospace engineering senior Emily Parkerson is fascinated by the idea of designing and building rockets for space exploration. She is currently setting her sights on solving problems on Earth through research with Konrad Rykaczewski, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. In her FURI research project, Parkerson is tackling the challenge of staying healthy in extreme heat. She is creating a personal biometeorological station, which measures the interactions between atmospheric conditions and living beings, to help people prepare for dangerously hot conditions.
What made you want to get involved in FURI?
I wanted to get involved with this program because I saw it as a great opportunity to further my research through additional funding and share what I have been working on with others through a poster presentation at the end of the semester.
Why did you choose the project you’re working on?
It gives me the opportunity to learn more about an engineering discipline that isn’t heavily covered within my major. Dr. Konrad Rykaczewski is also very enthusiastic about his research, which makes every day much more exciting. He is always willing to answer any questions I have and is happy to provide me with assistance whenever I need it.
How will your research project impact the world?
My research is focused on developing an accurate method to measure the human body’s heat transfer in extreme heat. Recent climate change effects, such as rising temperatures and long-lasting head waves, have caused a large increase in heat-related death rates. Specifically in Arizona, temperatures often remain above 100 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the summers. It can be extremely dangerous for people, especially those with underlying health conditions, to be engaging in certain activities outdoors in such temperatures. The development of an accessible personal biometeorological station that can accurately measure human exposure to extreme heat could improve human health by enabling informed behavioral decisions.
How do you see this experience helping with your career or advanced degree goals?
Through my time doing research, I have learned how to design and conduct thorough and meaningful experiments. A lot of my time in the lab is spent designing experimental setups and performing testing in a low-speed wind tunnel. Learning how to do these things has been crucial to advancing my knowledge as an aerospace engineer because I have been able to apply the theoretical knowledge I learned in classes, such as aerodynamics and thermodynamics, to real-world experiments. I have also gained other useful skills by conducting these experiments, such as automating the data analysis process in MATLAB and understanding how to interpret specific results.
What is the best advice you’ve gotten from your faculty mentor?
Dr. Konrad Rykaczewski has been extremely supportive and helpful throughout my time doing research. The best research advice I have received from him is to “get things done while they are working.” I have learned that rarely do things work perfectly and as you intend them to. Most of the research process is trial and error because, typically, few people have ventured into the specific area you are working in. There will often be issues with a prototype, testing facility, data collection software or other aspects. These issues can cause major delays in data collection or analysis timelines. Therefore, if things are working it is important to take advantage of that.
Why should other students get involved in FURI?
Other students should get involved in this program because it is an amazing opportunity to figure out what specific discipline in engineering you may be interested in. For example, I am an aerospace engineering student, but I have gained a lot of knowledge about heat transfer processes, which is a class that aerospace engineering students do not take.
In addition, participating in research has provided me with a clearer idea of what graduate school may look like. Most of the time, when you choose to work in a specific lab, there will be other master’s or PhD students also contributing to similar research. It has been a great experience working with more knowledgeable students and hearing about their experiences in graduate school.
