Engineering Interview Questions

What do you bring to the table?

-A willingness to learn, improve, and adapt -A strong work ethic -Effective communication skills -An eye for detail -MATLAB -Technical writing -Basic CAD experience (SolidWorks)

Explain CUSEDS and your role

-CUSEDS is basically a club that brings together students that are passionate about space and it provides them with a platform to work on projects -I am currently an active member with the CubeSat design competition -In particular, I decided to get involved with the structures subteam -I modeled preliminary designs for the primary chassis structure through SolidWorks, allowing me to improve my skills -I conducted trade studies to determine optimal characteristics of the structure like manufacturability, thermal expansion, stiffness, etc

Tell me about an accomplishment that you are most proud of.

-CubeSat project, my team got to choose mission and design -My role was automation of the infrared camera with Raspberry Pi AND I handled the majority of the technical report/presentation editing, revisions, and submission -I am proud of it because I obviously put in a lot of time and effort and I was able to develop valuable skills along the way

Tell me about a time when you were involved with a team project and had a major setback

-CubeSat, dude wasn't showing up to meetings or responding to group messages. He had important components like the battery pack that we needed for testing -I decided to talk to him individually because I knew he was in another class of mine -He told me he's been overwhelmed with ROTC programs and he was taking one more class than all of us -I empathized with his situation and he still wanted to contribute, so I redistributed some tasks such that he could help the team at his own pace in his limited free time -In the end the project was successful and we all performed well on the final presentation -The situation taught me how to manage a challenging group dynamic and overcome obstacles

Engineering Design Process

-Define a mission based on a problem that needs solving or a customer that needs something done -Identify certain mission constraints that you must be aware of (budget, schedule) -Derive system requirements based on the mission objective. This may include payload requirements, orbital parameters, potential launch vehicles, and operations systems -Finally, you can design and build the spacecraft based on the outlined requirements. This is an iterative process, so you must do extensive testing and validation. You need to make changes to ensure what you're making adheres to the original mission statement -Finally, once the spacecraft is complete, you must confirm that your design falls within mission constraints and performs in accordance to the derived requirements. Then, you're ready to launch!

Tell me about a time when you has a miscommunication with a peer. How did you resolve the situation?

-EngiNearMe mentor program, leadership role to give high school students an idea of what engineering is like -At a particular time, three mentor groups and three locations, but schedule didn't indicate which group needed to be where, leading to communication breakdown -MY ROLE: I organized a spot for the mentor groups to meet so that we could sort out the situation. I highlighted the flaws in the schedule and I established a clear solution -End result: Students were able to reach the correct destinations on time and the established solution cleared up confusion for later events/activities

Three Strengths

-Flexibility/Adaptability: I am willing to adjust to any situations or tasks that require my effort, even if they involve treading unfamiliar territory or learning new things on the go. -Curiosity: Instead of avoiding duties and concepts that I have no experience with, I am interested in learning as much as I can about new subjects so I can make beneficial contributions. After all, my passion to learn allows me to explore and hone in on my future career interests. -Self-Motivation: I have an inherent personal drive and initiative to achieve certain objectives on a daily basis. On a broader note, I am motivated to fulfill my career goals, even in the face of challenges and obstacles.

Explain glider project and your role

-For my aerospace vehicle design/performance class -Throughout the semester we had learned the principles of aircraft design in terms of aerodynamics and stability, and it was finally time to apply those concepts towards developing an open-ended glider design to meet basic customer requirements (glide range, wingspan) -Team came up with multiple designs but we down-selected based on best range and aerodynamic characteristics -Conducted sensitivity analysis of design variables to optimize predicted performance -One of my role was glider fabrication, I laser cutted all the airfoils and I did most of the assembly in accordance to the down-selected concept specs -My other role was flight testing, myself and others conducted a multitude of flight tests, glider usually broke but we gained insight and made small adjustments each time to gradually improve stall tendencies and stability -Glider performed much better than we had anticipated, we obtained experimental data and compared to computational predictions and they turned out to be relatively close

Describe a time when you were involved with a team project that had a major setback. What steps did you take?

-Glider Design Lab, team member who had the necessary fabrication materials didn't show up and was intermittently responding to emails -Progress couldn't be made without those parts and the deadline was coming up shortly -I individually reached out to the missing group member to identify the issue -It turns out the group member was very ill and I went to his house to retrieve the materials -I distributed tasks so that the other group member could get things done from home (coding) while the rest worked on building the glider -I learned how to manage a challenging group dynamic to avoid frustration and disorganization -The end result was a successful final presentation and an A on the project

Tell me about your experience with MATLAB.

I've used MATLAB extensively throughout my engineering curriculum for things like data analysis, numerical integration, Monte Carlo simulation, and aerodynamics. The majority of the MATLAB I have done this semester is for my dynamics lab. The process usually involves developing theoretical models of physical systems based on the concepts we have learned in class. Then we perform experiments to compare our predictions to actual results. The MATLAB aspect involves loading in data files from sensors that measure things like position, velocity, or force, organizing the data, converting it into a useful form, analyzing it, and plotting it for comparison to theoretical models.

Why do you want to intern with Sierra Nevada?

Since I have not yet decided on a specific career path in aerospace, I want to gain some valuable experience in the industry and explore my interests further. In addition, I want to develop my technical skills by learning from industry professionals and witnessing real-world engineering solutions, especially because I know this company's developments have important aerospace applications. I believe an internship with Sierra Nevada will expose me to the systems engineering process so I can fully understand what it takes to turn mission requirements into an actual design and so I can witness how subsystems are integrated with one another to ensure mission success. After all, I don't want to limit myself to a strictly academic perspective and of course, I want to make the most out of my summer.

Tell me about your CAD/SolidWorks experience.

So far, my experience with CAD has involved basic modeling of parts and assemblies using the fundamental design tools and features. For example, I have modeled simple CubeSat structures and internal components. Unfortunately, I have no experience with CAD simulation, but I hope to learn more about it in the near future.

What do you know about Sierra Nevada?

Well, broadly speaking, I know Sierra Nevada is an industry leader when it comes to engineering technologies and solutions. Obviously, one of the things that stands out to me about Sierra Nevada is Dream Chaser. To me, the Dream Chaser project is an impressive and essential endeavor that will make cargo delivery and crew transportation much easier for space missions. I know Sierra Nevada is also involved with customer satellite solutions, deep-space human habitat design, aircraft systems, and military technologies.

Tell me about yourself.

I am a second-year aerospace engineering student who is passionate about space, I am actively trying to explore my interests because I don't have a particular career path set in stone yet. Beyond my aerospace curriculum, I am a member of CUSEDS and I am actively working on the structures subteam of a CubeSat design competition. In addition, I have started getting involved with CAD in SolidWorks because I know how useful it is for engineering applications. Although I've had a previous internship position in high school, it only gave me a brief taste of the industry and it didn't quite have to do with aerospace. Hence, I'd love the chance to dig deeper into the inner workings of the aerospace industry so I can refine my knowledge, skills, and experience, especially from a systems engineering perspective.

Tell me how you would deal with a disagreement with a co-worker/peer

-Instead of simply "agreeing to disagree", like some people do, I would take steps to resolve the conflict such that both of us are happy -I would first attempt to convince the co-worker why my perspective is preferable in a polite way, using viable justification. It's not to tell the person that I'm correct, it's just to show him why I believe I'm correct. I would then listen to his response/questions -I would then give the co-worker the opportunity to convince me of his side. I would diligently listen to his perspective and I would tell him my opinion -If an agreement hasn't been established at this point, I would work with that person to formulate a compromise that includes the best of both worlds. -"Agreeing to disagree" is an absolute last resort that usually results in obstructed productivity and unnecessary delays -Example: I disagreed with lab partner regarding glider wing material. I wanted to use balsa wood and he wanted to use foam. I tried to convince him that balsa would hold up better than foam. I listened to his perspective and he told me how much easier it would be to build with foam and he demonstrated to me how insulation foam is both stiff and light. We didn't need a compromise because I was convinced by his arguments. I came to realize using wood wasn't as good of an option

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

-It's difficult to say, but I see myself working with a company like Sierra Nevada on missions for space exploration and the expansion of human's horizons -I know it's ambitious but I think the colonization of Mars will happen in my lifetime, and in a few years it will be my job to contribute to that eventual goal -Even if I don't end up where I ideally want to be, I will keep refining my skills and industry knowledge in order to open up new opportunities

Give me an example of a time when you identified a potential problem and resolved the situation before it became serious.

-Kumon, extremely busy on a certain day of the week, major delays with assignment grading and data entry -Students were complaining and they could not make corrections without getting their work back -I noticed that the source of the problem was uneven staffing and I personally approached supervisor -Roles were rearranged and grading/data entry returned to smooth operations -Situation was resolved before parents noticed issue and removed their students from the program

Dream Chaser Facts

-Lifting-body spacecraft -Autonomous launch, flight, and landing capabilities -Reusable -Low 1.5 G atmospheric entry -Gentle, commercial runway landing -Folding-wing design allows for fitting in current launch vehicle fairings -Disposable cargo module, allowing for increase in amount of pressurized and unpressurized cargo that can be carried

Explain CubeSat project and your role

-My first semester of college, as you can imagine we jumped in right away -Class called Gateway to Space, each group tasked with designing a high-altitude mini-mission/experiment for CubeSat with specified mass and volume restrictions -My group was originally planning to test the viability of ADS-B for tracking the cubesat, but it was too large and expensive. We decided to test a compact infrared imager for land temperature profiling and landmark identification -I helped with sensor testing, structure fabrication but my contributions were..... -To program the Raspberry Pi to function with the infrared imager to allow for automated photo capture and storage, which was difficult because I had no prior experience with coding whatsoever -To write and orchestrate information for the reports and presentations, which involved quite a lot of technical writing -The mission was mostly a success and the thermal camera captured images as expected, but the resolution and the lack of temperature information limited the amount of insightful analysis that could be done post-flight

Three Weaknesses

-Perfectionist: I tend to be a perfectionist and I can linger on the details of a project for unnecessarily long periods, which can threaten deadlines and divert my efforts from more important tasks. -Too Much Responsibility: I often take on too much responsibility during team assignments and projects, leading me to become overwhelmed and unproductive. Sometimes I fail to realize that my team members are valuable resources and I can delegate tasks more effectively in order to get more done. -Limited Industry Knowledge: Currently, my exposure to engineering has been from a broad theoretical and academic standpoint. I don't have specialized knowledge regarding specific industry areas like deployable structures, manufacturing processes, and thermal analysis.

Explain twitter data analysis project and your role

-Provided with a spreadsheet of nearly 20,000 tweets and certain details like number of likes, location of tweet, etc -Had to extract and organize the data based on pre-defined categories -Overlayed findings on a map of the US (most liked tweet from each state, most followed user) -Allowed me to gain experience with MATLAB, specifically for handling large amounts of data and writing functions to perform necessary tasks

Explain forensic engineering internship and your role

-Very early in my engineering career, I wasn't yet sure if I wanted to do aerospace -One of my roles was to accompany engineers on property investigations to assess structural damage/failures -I was able to witness and learn from their analysis process and how they went from basic observations to scientifically-backed conclusions -I also gained exposure to technical report writing and case-related research -Overall good experience but I only got a glimpse because my skills at the time were limited