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Curriculum Vitae



Education - Recent Awards - Publications - Research Experience - Teaching Experience - Work Experience
Curricular Activities - Selected Skills - Teaching Experience - Course Work - Hobbies - Portfolio - Outreach List
Last update: November 2015

Objective:
I am a US born citizen focusing on research and development in the areas of structural dynamics and elastic wave propagation of aerospace systems. My career goals are to merge developing technologies of the mathematical / physics driven material engineering community with the needs of the aerospace industry creating new methods to solve traditional engineering problems. In addition, I have a passion for space exploration and work to support a robust national space policy through civilian advocacy and community education.

Education:
      Ph.D. Aerospace Eng Sciences: Class of 2013, The University of Colorado at Boulder
      M.S. Aerospace Eng Sciences: Class of 2008, The University of Colorado at Boulder, GPA 3.86
      B.S. Aerospace Engineering: Class of 2006, The Pennsylvania State University, GPA 3.31

Recent Honors / Awards:

  1. My research was highlighted on the front page of the American Physics Society website. February '14
  2. One of fifteen US students invited by Beihang University to attend an aerospace education and policy forum in Beijing, China. July '11
  3. AIAA Foundation Numerical Analysis of Nanoscale Materials Graduate Award. June '11
  4. 1st place, student presentation competition, Phononics 2011 Conference in Santa Fe, NM. Placed first of eleven Phd presentations, each of which were competitively selected to orally present during the conference. June '11
  5. The National Science Foundation Phononics 2011 Student Travel Grant May '11
  6. Individually invited by the NASA Administrator's office to attend the Presidential Space Summit at The Kennedy Space Center on April 15th, 2010.
    -One of a few students among two-hundred guests to hear President Obama present his new policies for NASA.
  7. Chapter of the Year Award, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, Nov '09
    -Traveled with core group to accept award in Tuscon, AZ
  8. Finalist, Biennial Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise Student Paper Competition, Sep '09
    -Won second place in the Biennial Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise Student Paper Competition, held in San Diego at the ASME IDETC conference.
  9. Finalist, Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship Competition: Logan, Utah, Aug '09
    -Presented work on the DANDE spacecraft separation system at the 23rd annual Conference on Small Satellites.
    -Recognized with a $7,000 dollar scholarship for my contributions to the DANDE Satellite Project and an invitation to chair a technical session at the Small Satellite Systems and Services Symposium in Franchal, Portugal.
  10. John A. Vise Memorial Scholarship, Mar '09
    -Annual CU Aerospace Engineering Department Award for a PhD student with demonstrated excellence in academics, research, and who have contributed community service.
    -Award recognized with a $6,000 dollar scholarship.
  11. 1st Place, University Nano-Satellite Competition: AFRL, Kirtland-AFB, Jan '09
    -Core manager of graduate/undergraduate team of 40 challenged to build a 50kg spacecraft. Placing first awards manifests the spacecraft to fly aboard a DoD carrier.
    -Led the effort to design/analyze/build/test the spacecraft structural and separation subsystems.

Publications:
Peer Reviewed Journals

  1. Davis, B.L. and Hussein, M.I., “Nanophononic metamaterial: Thermal conductivity reduction by local resonance,” Physical Review Letters, 112, 055505, 2014.
  2. Davis, B.L., Hussein, M.I., “Thermal characterization of nanoscale phononic crystals using supercell lattice dynamics", AIP Advances 1, 041701 (2011)
  3. Reinke, C.M., Mehmet F.S., Davis, B.L., Hussein, M.I., Bongsang, K., Hussein, M.I., Olsson-III, R.H., El-Kady, I., “Thermal conductivity prediction of nanoscale phononic crystal slabs using a hybrid lattice dynamics-continuum mechanics technique", AIP Advances 1, 041403 (2011)

Conference Proceedings (Full Papers)

  1. Lake, M., Francis, W., Davis, B., Robust, “Highly Scalable Solar Array System”, Proceedings of the 2016 AIAA SciTech Conference, 3rd AIAA Spacecraft Structures Conference, AIAA-2016- TBD, [Pg 1-8], San Diego, California, 4-8 January 2016.
  2. Davis, B., Francis W., “High Performance Electrical Conductors in Composite Slit-Tube Booms”, Proceedings of the 2015 AIAA SciTech Conference, 2nd AIAA Spacecraft Structures Conference, AIAA-2015-0226, [Pg 1-9], Kissimmee, Florida, 5-9 January 2015.
  3. Murphey, T., Francies, W., Davis B., Mejia-Ariza, J., Santer, M., Footdale, J., Schmid, K., Soykasap, O., Guidanean, K., Warren, P., “High Strain Composites”, Proceedings of the 2015 AIAA SciTech Conference, 2nd AIAA Spacecraft Structures Conference, AIAA-2015-0942, [Pg 1-53], Kissimmee, Florida, 5-9 January 2015.
  4. Davis, B., Francis, W., Goff, J., Cross, M., Copel, D., “Big Deployables in Small Satellites” 28th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, [SSC14-VII-4, pp. 1-8], Logan, Utah, 2014.
  5. Davis, B.L., Cannella, M., Cheetham, B, "Engaging Global Youth to Participate in Their Future; Expanding the We Want Our Future Initiative to an International Audience", Global Space exploration Conference, Washington DC 2012.
  6. Davis, B.L.*, Tomchek, A.S., Flores, E.A., Liu, L. and Hussein, M.I., “Analysis of periodicity termination in phononic crystals” Proceedings of 2011 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and R&D Expo, IMECE2011-65666, [CD ROM: pp. 1- 5], Denver, Colorado, 11-17 November 2011.
  7. Davis, B.L. and Hussein, M.I., “A three-dimensional lumped parameter model of nanoscale phononic crystals,” Proceedings of 22nd ASME Biennial Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise, [CD ROM: pp. 1-6], San Diego, California, 30 August - 2 September 2009.
  8. Davis, B.L., Palo, S., “The Design and Development of a Separation System for a a Low-Cost Spherical Nanosatellite”, 23rd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, [CD-ROM: SSC09-VIII-5, pp. 1-12], Logan, Utah, 2009.
  9. Hussein, M.I., Ruzzene, M., Leamy, L.J., Durrie, J.J., Davis, B.L., “NEMS Components Design Using Intentionally Defected Dispersive Building Blocks”, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, [CD ROM: pp. 1-7], Boston, Massachusetts, 2008.
  10. Davis, B.L., Grusin, M.D., Helgesen, B., Koehler, C.J., “The Creation and Impact of Corporate Mentorship on Student-Led Satellite Projects”, 22nd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, [CD-ROM: SSC08-XII-5, pp. 1-13], Logan, Utah 2008.
    Davis, B.L., Pomeroy, B.R., “Design and Flight Data Comparison of Aluminum and Sandwich Composite Sounding Rocket Deckplates”, 17th ESA Symposium on European Rocket & Balloon Programmes and Related Research Conference, pp. 461-466, Sandefjord, Norway 2005.

Conference Proceedings (Extended Abstracts)

  1. Davis, B.L. and Hussein, M.I., “Thermal transport analysis of silicon-based nanoscale phononic crystals” Proceedings of 2012 ASME 3rd Micro/Nanoscale Heat & Mass Transfer International Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, 3 ̶ 6 March 2012.
  2. Davis, B.L. and Hussein, M.I., “Thermal transport studies of silicon-based phononic-crystal thin films,” 2011 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and R&D Expo, Denver, Colorado, 11-17 November 2011.
  3. Tomchek, A.S., Flores, E.A, Liu, L., Davis, B.L. and Hussein, M.I. “Characterization of band gap resonances in finite periodic structures,” Proceedings of Phononics 2011, Paper PHONONICS-2011-0177, pp. 192-13, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, May 29-June 2, 2011.
  4. Davis, B.L. and Hussein, M.I. “Reduction of thermal conductivity in silicon slabs by unit cell nanostructuring,” Proceedings of Phononics 2011, Paper PHONONICS-2011-0174, pp. 236-237, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, May 29-June 2, 2011.
  5. Davis, B.L. and Hussein, M.I., “A building block approach to controlling phonon dynamics in nanostructures: Lattice dynamics in a Lagrangian framework,” Proceedings of the National Science Foundation CMMI Research and Innovation Conference, [Poster Presentation], Atlanta, Georgia, 4 ̶ 7 January 2011.
  6. Liu, L., Davis, B.L., Tomchek, A.S., Flores, E.A. and Hussein, M.I., “Band gap maps for flexural beams: Effects of periodicity type, properties and termination,” 2010 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and R&D Expo, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 12-19 November 2010.
  7. Hussein, M.I. and Davis, B.L., “Bloch modal analysis in lattice dynamics: Orders of magnitude reduction in model size,” Workshop on Thermal Transport at the Nanoscale, Telluride, Colorado, 21-25 June 2010.

Research Experience:

  1. PhD: Dynamics and Wave Propagation of Nano-Composites, University of Colorado, 2008-2012
    -Finite element and transfer matrix analysis of the effects of periodicity truncation in beam structures formed from phononic crystals. This work was verified with experimental vibration testing in which both mechanical shaker and hammer impact testing were conducted along with techniques for FRF data analysis and reduction.
    -Development of a Lagrangian formulation for the lattice dynamics of 3D phononic crystals.
    -Development of supercell lattice dynamics and thermal conductivity prediction models of silicon-based 3D nanophononic crystals
    -Development of supercell models for lattice dynamics calculations and thermal conductivity prediction of silicon thin-films.
  2. MS: Requirement Definition for a Lunar Outpost Analogue, University of Colorado, 2006-2008
    -Worked to translate life support system functions into hardware and operational requirements.
    -Led a focus group on requirement definition and construction of a true-scale dust vestibule mockup for NASA’s VSE Lunar Lander dust mitigation vestibule. Attended first annual PISCES conference on lunar mockup design presenting on design trade requirements.
  3. BS: Honeycomb Sandwich Composite Plate Research, Penn State University 2004-2006
    -Developed a carbon fiber and honeycomb sandwich composite deckplate as a lighter alternative to industry-standard aluminum. Mass savings of >20lbs for the 41.056 sounding rocket mission.
    -Demonstrated performance on two NASA Sounding Rocket Missions (41.035 & 41.056)

Teaching Experience:
Lectures

  1. “University Nanosat, Expert Area Telecon - Structures” June '13
    -One hour lecture to students in the University Nanosat 8 program on the topic of what they need to know to build a microsat / cubesat structure. Invited by the Air Force Research Lab, UNP Office
  2. “An Overview of Lattice Dynamics – An Exciting Research Topic” April '10
    -Presented to graduate level class on mechanical vibrations in physics.
  3. “A Lattice Dynamics Perspective to Nanomaterials: Modeling Analysis and Design”, May '09
    -Presented to the Multiscale Computation Mechanics Group.
  4. Teaching Assistant, graduate-level course on Aerospace Math with forty students, Fall '10
  5. Guest Lecturer, graduate level course on Fundamentals of Vibration Physics, Spr '10
    -Presented three lectures: Lagrangian Mechanics, Distributed Parameter Systems & Modal Reduction
  6. Teaching Assistant, junior-level course on Aerospace Structures with sixty students, Fall '09

Work Experience:

  1. The Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder Jan ’09-present
    -Research Assistant / PhD candidate in the field of thermal conductivity characterization of nanoscale phononic crystals.
  2. The Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, NM Jul ’11-Dec ‘11
    -Six-month research collaborative (with CU) in the Microsystems Technology division focusing on wave propagation in nanoscale thin films and phononic crystals.
    -Developed algorithms to determine thermal conductivity of supercells using lattice dynamics.
    -Interfaced with Sandia's high performance computing center.
  3. The Colorado Space Grant Consortium, University of Colorado Boulder May ’08-Jan ‘09
    -Grad research asst. / mentor to 60+ undergraduate students working on small spacecraft
    -Facilitated planning, personnel, state-wide activities, and lab procurement.
  4. The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder Aug ’06-Jun ‘08
    -Graduate Student Research Assistant, developing instrumentation for the Glory Spacecraft
    -Verified requirements for Total Solar Irradiance instrument to be launched in early 2010
  5. NASA Academy Internship, Goddard Space and Flight Center May ’06-Aug ‘06
    -Assisted lead system engineer in documentation support for the Glory satellite mission.
    -Determined reliability and vehicle vibration analyses presented at mission Critical Design Review.
    -Lived with 20 other NASA Academy students participating in nightly guest lectures, weekly
    tours of space related companies in the Washington DC area, traveled on four trips to various space
    active regions such as Colorado, Alabama, Texas, etc., and an academy-wide mission design study.
  6. NASA Goddard Space and Flight Center Internship May ’05-Aug ‘05
    -Supported lead system engineers for the James Webb Space Telescope satellite mission
    -Utilized DOORS™ Software to organize and refine system requirements.
  7. Sensis Corporation, Dewitt, New York (aerospace) Internship May ’04-Aug ‘04
    -Coordinated with a team to design a remote, ground based multilateration air traffic control system.
    -Sole employee responsible for technical analysis detailing remote power generation and consumption.

Selected Skills:
Material Analysis & Vibration Testing

  1. Numerical methods for modeling wave propagation and lattice dynamics including the finite element method and the transfer matrix method.
  2. Vibration testing of structural systems utilizing mechanical shakers and force hammers.
  3. Reduction and analysis of FRF data to determine applied g-load, dampening and testing quality.

Material Analysis & Vibration Testing

  1. -3D rendering and design software: expert user of 3D Solidworks design kit and proficient with other CAD packages.
  2. -Expert in mechanical system drawings, proficient in geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.
  3. -FEM Software: proficient with ANSYS and Cosmos software packages.
  4. -Programming: Expert with Mathworks-Matlab, familiar with National Instruments Labview.
  5. -Microsoft Office Suite: Expert user of entire package including Publisher and Visio.
  6. -Adobe Products: Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Illustrator
  7. -Machining/Assembly: Proficient with metal working, specifically lathe, manual/computer numerically controlled milling and waterjet machines. Expert in mechanical assembly, with experience in tapping/helicoil insertion, cleaning processes, surface coatings, electronics interfacing and staking,
  8. bolt torqueing procedures, wire harness routing and writing flight assembly procedures.

  9. -ESD Certified per NASA-STD-8739.7

Online Portfolio
      http://www.spacedavis.com/portfolio containing technical reports, CAD drawings & fun stuff.

Selected Curricular Activities:
Space Advocacy

  1. Cofounder of WeWantOurFuture.org, a space-based outreach initiative using art, creativity and imagination to inspire k-12 students to be explorers and pursue STEM related careers. To date our lesson plan & activity has impacted over two-thousand students across thirty-five states and in countries among five continents.
  2. Member of the Citizens for Space Exploration activist group. Invited to Capitol Hill on three occasions (May '08,'09,'10) to discuss student perspectives and educate space policy issues to congressional leaders.
  3. Member of the Colorado Space Business Roundtable (Nov ’07 – Present).
  4. Member of the ProSpace advocacy group, (Apr ’07 – Present). Traveled with group to DC in Apr ’07.
  5. Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), secretary of National Executive Board, overseeing 25+ chapters within the United States, competitively elected ’09 and re-elected ’10. Active member of the CU-SEDS chapter involved in organizing lectures, planetarium viewings / stargazing, policy panels, community outreach, Yuri’s night Boulder, student projects and led five out of the first past eight trips outside of the state. Authored chapters’s bylaws and elected president from '07-'08.

Technical Projects

  1. DANDE Spacecraft: core manager of the 40+ student team from Jan '07-Jan '09; responsible for schedule, integration, testing, personnel and budget of +$300k. In addition cognizant engineer for the structural design and mechanical separation subsystems. Our team won 1st place of 11 universities in Jan '09 earning additional funding and a launch manifest for the 50kg spacecraft. Have since established the post-competition leadership and at the present time contribute to the effort as an adviser on a weekly basis.
  2. Microgravity Wilberforce Pendulum, A study of coupled mode systems in a microgravity environment, Adviser '08-'09, Met with team weekly during the proposal stage, established mission goals and management structure; reviewed engineering design and procedures.
  3. Microgravity, DANDE Separation System, Study and characterization of the DANDE Separation System. Wrote the proposal, assembled undergraduate flight team, established / reviewed design, traveled to Johnson Space Center, -waved as plane departed without me,- performed post-analysis and wrote final report.
  4. Student Projects Involving Rocket Investigation Techniques (SPIRIT III), Jan '04-May '06. Manager of 20 students to design, test and build the structure of a NASA sounding rocket. Team interfaced with four other Penn State teams, NASA Engineers and three international universities. SPIRIT III launched to an altitude of 185km on July 1st, 2006 from Andøya, Norway. Developed alternative sandwich composite deckplate for sounding rockets, 80% mass savings.

Collegiate Activities

  1. Chair of the CU Aerospace Graduate Student Organization (elected) '10-'11
    Committee facilitates communication between the department and its 260+ graduate students. Organizes social, professional development, even courses and community outreach activities.
  2. Curriculum development, University of Colorado, College of Engineering High School Honors Institute.
    I led the aerospace engineering curriculum for a three day overnight program entailing sixteen hours of hands-on activities for more than one-hundred students. Academics involved demonstrations (wind tunnel, torsion machines, and momentum wheel dynamics), aerospace software (ANSYS, STK), lectures and outdoor rocket launches. Individually recognized by the dean for my efforts and received high remarks from students.
  3. Mentor for a CU Undergraduate Discovery Learning Apprentice Student, '08-’09 with an undergraduate, foreign-national student working within research group. Responsible for guiding the student into a contributing role of the research team.
  4. University Park Allocation Committee (The Pennsylvania State University), May '03-May '05
    Allocated university and student funds for club travel, operations and on-campus programming. Active in 100+ requests for funding with allocation totals ranging -at times- in excess of $100k. Elected '03 and re-elected '04 by the student body of Penn State.
  5. Penn State Crew Team, Varsity Rower '02-'04

High School Activities

  1. Member of the Youth Leadership of Greater Syracuse Program '00-'02
  2. Fayetteville-Manlius HS Technical Theatre Group, participating in 100+ events, lead for 10+ productions.
    -Founding Student Member of the FMTV News Studio
  3. Fayetteville-Manlius HS Cross Country Runner '96-'02

Coursework
Graduate:                                                                        Undergraduate Electives:
      Quantum Mechanics                                                        The Space Environment
      Nano-scale Energy Transport and Conversion                 Spacecraft Propulsion
      Solid State Physics                                                           Engineering Composite Materials
      Vibration in Mechanics & Physics                                    Introduction to Astronomy
      Dynamics of Aerospace Structures                                  Sociology, Societal Problems
      Finite Element Analysis                                                    Introduction to Psychology
      Non-Linear Finite Element Analysis                                History of Germany 1890-1945
      Aerospace Mathematics in '06, TA in '10
      Space/Science Policy
      Spacecraft Habitat Design (3 courses)
      Systems Engineering
      Satellite Remote Sensing
      Statistics in Engineering

Hobbies:
Space Exploration/Policy, Spacecraft Design, Sailing, Hiking, Skiing, Rock Climbing, Technical Theatre and Lego Construction